I saw this graphic on Facebook on gun death statistics and decided it needed to be fact-checked. The graphic appears below with the “wrong” label so that others won’t be fooled by its claims.
The argument being made here seems to be that firearms aren’t that big of a cause of death and the author of the image appears to back it up with facts. Let me show you why this is not only an apples-to-oranges comparison but also … well, cherry-picked.
Tobacco Use, 529,000: No doubt that cigarettes kill far too many people. Unlike guns, however, cigarettes mainly kill the people who use them. The CDC tells us that smokers die at a rate 10 times that of those who die from secondhand smoke (440,000 to 41,000). Now, we heavily regulate tobacco use. No advertising, no sales to minors. Cigarettes get taxed up the wazoo. Smoking has also been banned in practically every public space because people no longer want to be around smoke. Do you gun lovers really want guns to be treated like tobacco?
Medical Errors, 195,000: I haven’t tracked this statistic down but I can say that the court system provides relief whenever medical malpractice occurs. What if every victim of gun violence sued the gun manufacturer? Or gun owners were made to carry liability insurance like doctors do? Do you think that might make a dent in gun deaths? I do.
Unintentional Injuries, 118,021: CDC says falls and poisonings make up the majority of these deaths (30,000 and 39,000, respectively). Car crashes add another 38,000. All three of these are counted twice in the above graphic.
*Non-Firearm Homicides, 16,799: Wildly incorrect. This number appears to be the total number of homicides. CDC says there were 16,121 total homicides in 2013 in the U.S. If the CDC says there were 16,121 homicides and 11,208 of them were from firearms, that leaves 4,913 non-firearm homicides. That’s still too many, especially if a victim is a loved one, but it’s still less than half of the firearm homicides.
Firearm Homicides, 11,493: Roughly correct. CDC gives 11,208 for 2013.
It’s also important to consider was left out of the graphic. One big number that jumps out when reading the CDC statistics is the 21,175 Firearm Suicides. One should also consider the 505 Accidental discharge of firearms deaths which, obviously, would not count as homicides. Thus, the total of firearms deaths in 2013 is 33,173 if my math is correct.
Finally, the graphic gives us this:
According to the FBI, the #1 weapon used in violent homicides is a baseball bat.
Well, actually, no they don’t. Remember those homicide stats we were just looking at? “Assault (homicide) by other and unspecified means and their sequelae” (a.k.a, non-firearm homicides) were responsible for 4,913 deaths compared to 11,208 from firearms. Guns win, two to one. It’s not even close.
How does this rumor keep going? Because people who should know better like Georgia congressman Paul Broun keep repeating it. You would also think that people would learn to check Snopes, too.
Please do your homework when you do your math, folks.