Gun Digest
 

Accidental Deaths by Firearms Dropped to All-Time Low in 2008

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Gun owners and users appeared to be more safety conscious than ever, considering that data recently released by the National Center for Health Statistics revealed that fatal accidents involving firearms dropped to a record low in 2008.

According to a press release by the National Rifle Association, “in 2008, the number and per capita rate of firearm accident deaths fell to an all-time low. There were 592 firearm accident deaths (0.19 such accidents per 100,000 population) in 2008, as compared to 613 accidents (.20 per 100,000) in 2007. In 2008, the chance of a child dying in a firearm accident was roughly one in a million.”

Firearm accidents represented just 0.5% of all accidental deaths, “well below the percentages accounted for by motor vehicle accidents, falls, fires, poisonings, and several other more common types of mishaps.”

In related news, “Firearm homicides (including self-defense, but excluding lawful shootings by police) declined in 2008. More recent data reported by the FBI, shows that criminal homicides declined in 2008, again in 2009, and again in 2010, to a 47-year low.”

Source:  NRA 12/22/11:


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