June 24-25, 2017: Stories of Gun Tragedies Are Common in America

 

6/24/17: A Pew Research Center survey finds 44% of Americans say they know someone who has been shot, accidentally or intentionally. For gun owners the figure is higher (51%), vs. non-gun owners (40%). This difference may have something to do with the fact 30% of gun owners admit they have “a gun that is both loaded and easily accessible to [children] all of the time when they’re at home.” 

According to USA Today, in one year, 141 minors are killed in accidental shootings in this country. 

Researchers find 84% of Americans support background checks on private gun sales. Three fourths of non-gun owners favor banning private ownership of assault rifles and high capacity magazines. A little less than half of gun owners agree. 

Studies repeatedly show much greater rates of gun-related deaths in the United States, compared to other advanced nations. According to researchers at the American Journal of Medicine the rate is ten times higher. Overall, results show that the U.S., which has the most firearms per capita in the world, suffers disproportionately compared with other high-income countries. 

These figures are consistent with the hypothesis that our firearms are killing us rather than protecting us. (See July 1, 2017.)

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6/25/17: According to the Gun Violence Archive, from 2014 to 2016, the number of road rage incidents in the U.S. more than doubled. During that span 354 drivers or passengers were wounded and 136 killed. 

This would mean more Americans died at the hands of other, armed drivers than at the hands of terrorists during that span. 

June finds Congress hard at work on “Kate’s Law,” named in honor of Kate Steinle, a young white woman tragically killed by an illegal immigrant in 2015. On Fox News her story gets wall-to-wall coverage. Bill O’Reilly devotes part of ten shows to the story and might have devoted more, save for the fact he got fired for sexually harassing co-workers. Ann Coulter joins the fray. So do Charles Krauthammer, Jesse Waters and Megyn Kelly (when not fending off O’Reilly).

 

All good people feel sympathy for the suffering family of Kate Steinle. But it might be nice if the talking heads at Fox cared about Philando Castile, or all the children who die from accidental gunshots annually, or drivers and passengers slaughtered during incidents of road rage.

Kate Steinle, second from left.