Which Is More Deadly? - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Guns Magazine, March, 2000 by Massad Ayoob

One of the Big Lies used by those who would ban your civil right to own firearms and your human right to protect yourself is that there is an epidemic of accidental handgun deaths among the young. Another is that gun owners callously ignore such deaths of the innocent.

The truth, of course, is the reverse in both cases. The National Rifle Association has long been the spearhead of firearms safety education in this country, and a collective effort by the NBA and responsible gun owners has seen continuing reduction in accidental firearms deaths among the young over past decades. Let's look at some numbers that come, not from the firearms press, but from a best-selling mainstream newsstand magazine. All are from 1996, presumably the most recent year for which such figures exist.

3,017: Children killed in automobile accidents.

1,034: Children killed in accidental drownings.

197: Children killed in bicycle accidents.

138: Children killed in handgun accidents.

The above figures were presented by James Petersen for Playboy (October '99). Another figure was going around on the Internet that I was unable to verify at press time. Attributed to a Shreveport newspaper, it alleged that more kids have been killed by faulty automobile air bags than in all "school shootings" combined.