14 States Had More Gun Deaths than Car Deaths in 2010

Mother Jones

It's little surprise that many of these states—including Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Utah, and Virginia—are notorious for lax gun laws. What's more, the numbers aren't driven just by "bad guys with guns." Nationally, close to two-thirds of gun deaths are suicides, and the split is much higher in states such as Alaska, which reported more than twice as many gun suicides as traffic deaths in 2010. Utah (the "most depressed" state, whose suicide problem we cover in detail here), Nevada, Oregon, and Washington are also seeing more gun suicides than traffic fatalities. Idaho, Montana, and others are close behind. We'll leave you with this chart showing the most recent nationwide numbers available:

Gun Deaths to Exceed Traffic Fatalities by 2015

Wait a minute.  Doesn't that chart show gun deaths INCREASING since about the year 2000? That's not what our pro-gun friends keep telling us.  Thaaat's why they always go back to 1993.  Now I get it.

Tho obvious point of the chart is that the much beloved car comparisons will soon be a thing of the past.  For me, they never worked anyway.  But the poor, persecuted gun-rights fanatics are going to be minus one of their favorite talking points come 2015.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

More on Cars vs. Guns

The Clarion published an article about the cars vs. guns situation in Indiana. It contained the following point,

“The bottom line is that one-third of American households have guns, while 90 percent have vehicles,” said VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand during a brief Wednesday telephone interview. 

“That firearms deaths have exceeded car fatalities in 10 states, and are on a trajectory in the very near future to intersect on a national level, is a tragedy.”

Now that's a slam dunk. The frequency of use and the proliferation of cars compared to guns means guns are 10 times or 100 times more dangerous than cars.

But don't expect any gun-rights folks to admit it.  They've been using the car comparison for so long, it would be too embarrassing to turn around now.  They've got too much invested in the argument.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.