That's a good point about good cops vs bad cops. I do remember seeing an article about how most people think crime has increased in the past 20 or so years when, in reality, it has decreased and we are just more aware of it now because of the internet.
I only have the numbers for 2017, and the numbers are probably rather surprising for many.
In 2017, we saw 39,773 people die from guns - accidental, suicide, police shooting, violent crime, etc. It’s all wrapped up into that number.
This is the breakup of gun deaths in 2017 (source):
23,854 people committed suicide.
14,452 people were killed by a gun (excluding law enforcement).
553 people were killed by law enforcement.
486 people were accidentally killed by a gun.
338 people were killed by a gun in undetermined circumstances.
Please keep in mind that we are a population of roughly 330 million people. You have a .004% chance of being murdered by a gun in America.
Do you know what does kill most people in America? Health issues. Here are the top 12 deadliest killers in America in 2019 (source):
Heart Disease - kills an average of 635,260 people yearly, responsible for 23.1% of total deaths.
Cancer - kills an average of 598,038 people yearly, responsible for 21.7% of total deaths.
Accidents (unintentional injuries) - kills an average of 161,374 people yearly, responsible for 5.9% of total deaths.
Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases - kills an average of 154,596 people yearly, responsible for 5.6% of total deaths.
Stroke - kills an average of 142,142 people yearly, responsible for 5.18% of total deaths.
Alzheimer’s Disease - kills an average of 116,103 people yearly, responsible for 4.23% of total deaths.
Diabetes - kills an average of 80,058 people yearly, responsible for 2.9% of total deaths.
Influenza and Pneumonia - kills an average of 51,537 people yearly, responsible for 1.88% of total deaths.
Kidney Disease - kills an average of 50,046 people yearly, responsible for 1.8% of total deaths.
Suicide - kills an average of 44,965 people yearly, responsible for 1.64% of total deaths.
Septicemia - kills an average of 38,940 people yearly, responsible for 1.42% of total deaths.
Chronic Liver Disease and Cirrhosis - kills an average of 38,170 people yearly, responsible for 1.39% of total deaths.
Of those listed, 10 out of 12 are due to health reasons. You can argue 11 out of 12 are due to health reasons as suicide is usually in part to poor mental health. 1 out of 12 (accidental deaths) is due to people being careless in one way or another. Deaths by malicious intent don’t make the top 12 list, which leads me to assume it makes up to 1.38% or less of total deaths in America.
But, because accidental deaths do include some gun deaths, let’s look at the breakdown for accidental gun deaths. In 2017, we saw a total of 169,936 people who were accidentally killed. These are the breakdowns of the accidental deaths of that year (source):
Poisoning (Including Drug Overdose) - killed 64,795 people, responsible for 38.1% of total accidental deaths.
Motor-vehicle - killed 40,231 people, responsible for 23.7% of total accidental deaths.
Falls - killed 36,338 people, responsible for 21.4% of total accidental deaths.
Nontransport Residual - killed 8,925 people, responsible for 5.3% of total accidental deaths.
Suffocation by Inhalation or Ingestion - killed 5,216 people, responsible for 3.1% of total accidental deaths.
Drowning - killed 3,709 people, responsible for 2.2% of total accidental deaths.
Fires, Flames, Smoke - killed 2,812 people, responsible for 1.7% of total accidental deaths.
Mechanical Suffocation - killed 1,730 people, responsible for 1.01% of total accidental deaths.
Transport Residual - killed 1,503 people, responsible for 0.88% of total accidental deaths
Natural Heat, Cold - killed 1,269 people, responsible for 0.74% of total accidental deaths.
Stuck By, Against - killed 806 people, responsible for 0.47% of total accidental deaths.
Machinery - killed 572 people, responsible for 0.34% of total accidental deaths.
Firearms - killed 486 people, responsible for 0.29% of total accidental deaths.
Water Transportation - killed 466 people, responsible for 0.27% of total accidental deaths.
Rail Transportation - killed 439 people, responsible for 0.25% of total accidental deaths.
Air Transportation - killed 385 people, responsible for 0.23% of total accidental deaths.
Electric Current - killed 254 people, responsible for 0.15% of total accidental deaths.
Accidental death by firearms isn’t even in the top 10. It’s in the bottom 5. It’s responsible for less than 1/3rd of a percent of total accident deaths. And, to remind you, accidental deaths make up to, on average, 5.9% of total deaths.
Just to cover all basis, the number of people who died from accidental firearm deaths in 2016 was 495. We saw a decrease in accidental gun death by 1.8%.
So, yeah, tell me about our gun death issue.
