Donnie Mills, 28, told police he was attempting to unload a semi-automatic pistol when he inadvertently fired it and shot himself in the hand. The bullet passed through Mills’ hand and struck his friend, 25-year-old Andrew Morgan, in the leg.Just your typical story about gun stupidity. Every single day there are several of these in the national news. Whenever I try to say it's a problem, the gun-rights folks point out that there are 100 million gun owners and only 600 of them die each year from accidents. They say this as if it makes it OK.
Daniel Wagnon, an investigator with the Grimes County Sheriff Office, said he has no reason to doubt Mills’ and Morgan’s explanations for the incident, and that it’s not uncommon for a weapon handler to unintentionally fire a semi-automatic weapon.
“You’ve got your magazine for ammunition as well as the cartridge in the barrel,” Wagnon said. “There still can be a round in the chamber that can fire — you have to check.”
Wagnon said that to his knowledge Mills did not have a license to carry a concealed weapon, but did not need one because he was on private property.
No charges have been filed and authorities aren’t pursuing any, Wagnon said.
Well here's an interesting statistic from that same article.
According to the University of Utah, 600 people in the United States were killed in accidental deaths from firearms in 2010. Each year, approximately 200,000 people sustain non-fatal injuries from firearms, the university reported.Did you catch that number of wounded people each year? Most of them went to the emergency room, in many cases by ambulance, cops were called out. Afterwards they missed work, in some cases permanently.
From an old New York Times article, the costs have probably gone up, the average cost of a gunshot-wound visit to the emergency room was about $50,000. That makes $10 billion a year just for the "accidents."
What's your opinion? Is it about time to take this more seriously.
Please leave a comment.
And those are just the direct costs. Indirect costs would include the work lost by relatives caring for those who are seriously injured, medical costs during the recovery or long-term care periods, emotional counseling years down the line, and increased insurance rates.
ReplyDeleteFreedom ain't free, bro. The serious answer is that I shouldn't be compelled by the state to pay for other people's mistakes.
DeleteAnd yet you do pay for them, through increased health insurance premiums, increased hospital costs, and increased taxes, all of which stem in part from the violence that those programs have to fix.
DeleteAnd as for your opinion on "freedom," 100K shootings a year don't make us free, they enslave us with fear.
"they enslave us with fear."
DeleteI'm not enslaved by fear. Quit projecting your irrationalities onto others.
You have no idea what I do or do not pay for. Your fear does not determine my freedom. Go push a cardboard train down the street.
DeleteOregonian, by your line of reasoning, we must control what everyone eats. After all, diet has a far greater effect on general health than guns. We must ban motorcycles and bicycles. Not to mention alcohol, tobacco, matches, knives, swimming pools, and on and on. To achieve perfect safety, we must have government control over every aspect of our lives.
DeleteFortunately, Americans won't tolerate your kind of government.
Oregonian, by your line of reasoning, we must control what everyone eats.
Deleteman assaults wife with sandwich
True story, brah.
That guy with the sandwich should definitely lose his gun rights.
DeleteI hope that he loses a whole lot more than that.
DeleteEach year, approximately 200,000 people sustain non-fatal injuries from firearms, the university reported.
ReplyDeleteSomeone should notify the CDC, then.
Overall Firearm Gunshot Nonfatal Injuries and Rates per 100,000
2010, United States, All Races, Both Sexes, All Ages
Disposition: All Cases 73,505
Disposition: Hospitalized 34,572
Those above include all gunshot injuries, including victims of violent crime, gang activity and legal intervention.
The ones below are accidental, nonfatal injuries.
Unintentional Firearm Gunshot Nonfatal Injuries and Rates per 100,000 2010, United States, All Races, Both Sexes, All Ages
Disposition: All Cases 14,161
Disposition: Hospitalized 4,485
and for comparison
Unintentional Dog Bite Nonfatal Injuries and Rates per 100,000 2010, United States, All Races, Both Sexes, All Ages
Disposition: All Cases 342,060
Disposition: Hospitalized 5,687
Who was it that suggested getting a dog for protection instead of a gun?
But dogs are fuzzy and cute, while guns are cold and evil.
DeleteOf course, how inconsiderate of me.
DeleteWe'll use bug spray and other chemicals for comparison
Unintentional Poisoning Nonfatal Injuries and Rates per 100,000 2010, United States, All Races, Both Sexes, All Ages
Disposition: All Cases 831,295
Disposition: Hospitalized 182,559
And why bug spray? 'Cause
Unintentional Other Bite/Sting Nonfatal Injuries and Rates per 100,000 2010, United States, All Races, Both Sexes, All Ages
Disposition: All Cases 1,145,713
WOW! Who wudda thunk it. But, I suppose using bug spray beats the hell out of trying to swat the bugs. 'Cause
Unintentional Overexertion Nonfatal Injuries and Rates per 100,000 2010, United States, All Races, Both Sexes, All Ages
Disposition: All Cases 3,430,040
Wowzers! It looks like it's safer to target practice than kill bugs.
The problem is that it is quite possible that we don't have full statistics from the CDC, because of the obstructions to compiling statistics on firearms.
DeleteMost dogs are not large enough to be lethal.
You can easily deal with a dog attack with a cattle prod or a whiffle bat (also good on misbehaving/aggressive stallions). Not even remotely true with dogs; but to be fair, increasingly homeowners ARE being required to have homeowner's insurance coverage for animals (not just dogs) and in the case where there are breeds that are known to be more problematic there are insurance companies which refuse coverage, and there are residential areas which have breed bans.
I read last week a llama killed an elderly woman; and last week a hog farmer was not only killed but eaten by his hogs -- leaving behind his dentures and a few odd bits of him.
I could make a better argument for both dogs and pesticides that they have greater positive uses and benefits, and that they are of course not intended to be lethal (in most cases) any more than lawn mowers, coconuts, or bathroom fixtures like bathtubs or showers, in which regard they differ entirely from firearms.
dog gone said..."The problem is that it is quite possible that we don't have full statistics from the CDC, because of the obstructions to compiling statistics on firearms."
DeleteI didn't realize that hospitals and police were 'obstructed' from reporting gunshot wounds to CDC. If you could provide a source, I'd appreciate it. I won't hold my breath, though, because in every jurisdiction, gunshot wounds, suspected child abuse and suspected spouse abuse are required by law to be reported to police.
dog gone continued with..."I could make a better argument for both dogs and pesticides that they have greater positive uses and benefits, and that they are of course not intended to be lethal..."
Of course dogs aren't intended to be lethal, but pesticides? Really? I'm sure when you read this you'll be embarrassed that a statement like that is attributed to you.
pes·ti·cide/ˈpestəˌsīd/ A substance used for destroying insects or other organisms harmful to cultivated plants or to animals.
Hmmm... I don't know about you, but when something is designed to destroy a living insect or organism, it seems to me that it's meant to be lethal. Perhaps you have a different understanding of 'destroy'.
I must point out, though, that if you place your bug poison out of reach, you increase your chances of being injured.
Unintentional Fall Nonfatal Injuries and Rates per 100,000 2010, United States, All Races, Both Sexes, All Ages
Disposition: All Cases 9,146,026
It appears that you are 645 times MORE likely to be injured from falling than being shot by a mean old ugly evil gun.
Keep trying, dog gone, maybe one day you'll get lucky and actually be able to do some critical thinking on your own and use some common sense
side note. I responded to your comment over at Joan's blog, but of course, when she requested a discussion about gun violence, she just wanted to talk to herself. She didn't post my reply. I guess it's hard when you're always being proven wrong.
Guns and dogs, a new comparison. When the argument fails, resort to silly comparisons.
DeleteFailing argument? is it opposite day? While you may think it's a silly comparison,it really puts things into perspective. You once told me "think of the kids, man". Let's think of the kids.
DeleteUnintentional Firearm Gunshot Nonfatal Injuries and Rates per 100,000 2010, United States, All Races, Both Sexes, Ages 0 to 17
Disposition: All Cases 1,289
Unintentional Dog Bite Nonfatal Injuries and Rates per 100,000 2010, United States, All Races, Both Sexes, Ages 0 to 17
Disposition: All Cases 134,508
Yep, that's 104 times MORE injuries to kids from dogs than guns, but hey everybody, let's get a dog for security, 'cause a dog injury is better than a gunshot injury because, well, just because.
Dog Gone, a dog is not intended to be lethal? Well, we can debate the question of intent, but surely you're aware that dogs are predators, at least in their ancestry? Even those doglets could kill if they get ahold of someone's neck.
DeleteThe problem here is that you like dogs and you hate guns. Because of that, you can't see that guns have a variety of uses that don't involve shooting another human being. You also refuse to accept that sometimes, shooting another human being is the only way to protect innocent humans. If you merely were a pacifist yourself and didn't want to control others (in other words, you were consistently pacifist), I'd not object. But you do feel the need to run our lives, and that's not something that we will tolerate.
Mikeb, you label as silly anything that you disagree with. I've tried to get you to see that life is dangerous. We cannot eliminate all the dangers and still have an interesting existence. We cannot eliminate all the dangers and still have freedom. Dogs and cars and alcohol and skateboards and swimming pools and so on are a part of that. So are guns.
and this in the news this morning. I didn't even have to look for it.
Deletehttp://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57526976/pit-bull-mauls-newborn-to-death-in-detroit/?tag=categoryDoorTopNews;catDoorTopNews#postComments