Why It’s OK That Firearms and Automotive Death Rates Are Now “The Same”

By Robert Farago

“For the first time in more than 60 years, firearms and automobiles are killing Americans at an identical rate, according to new mortality data released this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),” washingtonpost.com reports. “The convergence of the trend lines above is driven primarily by a sharp drop in the rate of motor vehicle fatalities since 1950.” And there you have it. Gun ownership isn’t getting more dangerous, driving is becoming less dangerous. In fact, the chart above is entirely misleading, as the article’s text indicates . . .

Gun homicide rates have actually fallen in recent years, but those gains have been offset by rising gun suicide rates. Today, suicides account for roughly two out of every three gun deaths.

Take a moment to take that in. If you remove firearms-related suicides from the overall stats, “gun violence” is falling. Those two lines wouldn’t meet. If you removed criminals from the population of Americans killed by “gun violence” the “gun violence” line would be bumping along the bottom of that chart. Oh wait, here’s the chart!

Gun control has no effect on suicide, as evidenced by …Read the Rest

Source:: Truth About Guns