Myth: Accidental gun fatalities are a serious problem

Fact: Firearm misuse causes only a small number of accidental deaths in the U.S.¹ For example, compared to accidental death from firearms, you are:

• Four times more likely to burn to death or drown,

• 17 times more likely to be poisoned,

• 19 times more likely to fall, and

• 53 times more likely to die in an automobile accident.

Fact: In 2001, there were only 65 accidental gun deaths for children under age 13. About 11 times as many children die from drowning.²

Fact: In 1993, there were 1,334 drownings and 528 firearm-related accidental deaths from ages 0-19. Firearms outnumber pools by a factor of over 30:1. Thus, the risk of drowning in a pool is nearly 100 times higher than from a firearm-related accident for everyone, and nearly 500 times for ages 0-5.³

This is an excerpt from “Gun Facts” by Guy Smith, available free from http://www.gunfacts.info