A blockbuster revelation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported by both the Seattle Times and Tacoma News Tribune, shows that homicide is no longer among the top 15 causes of death in the United States, during a period when firearm ownership and concealed carry is increasing.
This poses a dilemma for gun prohibitionists at Washington CeaseFire, the Violence Policy Center and Brady Campaign. Of course, all three include firearm-related deaths from suicide and accidents (both still in the Top 10) as “gun violence,” but that may be a bit misleading. It depends upon one’s personal and political perspective.
Gun rights activists are already discussing the news, which broke Wednesday, on the GunRightsMedia forum. And Larry Keane, vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, had this to say:
"This statistic simply serves to further demonstrate that the lawful possession and use of firearms by law abiding Americans whom have chosen to exercise their fundamental constitutional right to keep and bear arms that is protected by Second Amendment does not cause crime. In fact, as firearms ownership increases and there have never been more firearms in civilian possession in the history of the United States, crime including homicide continues to decline throughout the country."—Lawrence Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel
As this column reported, Washington State closed out 2011 with approximately 349,000 active concealed pistol licenses. Throughout the past 12 months, the number of armed private citizens has continued to climb. In addition to all of those carrying concealed, there is a small but growing cadre of Open Carry advocates.
For everyone’s edification, here are the top 15 causes of death in the United States during 2010, listed by the CDC:
1. Heart disease
2. Cancer
3. Chronic lower respiratory diseases
4. Stroke/disease of blood vessels in the brain
5. Accidents
6. Alzheimer's disease
7. Diabetes
8. Kidney disease
9. Flu and pneumonia
10. Suicide
11. Septicemia (blood infections)
12. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis
13. High blood pressure
14. Parkinson's disease
15. Pneumonitis
Why more people are arming up is probably due to a combination of reasons. Stories like this one in the Tacoma News Tribune, showing a higher-than-predicted budget shortfall that will lead to public safety layoffs could be one reason.
Concern over the future remains high, with mixed economic forecasts leaving a confusing picture at best for average citizens.
Yet with all of these firearms in circulation, the homicide rate has gone down. That’s not what gun ban organizations had forecast repeatedly during their glory days of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Time has demonstrated that these groups were consistently wrong about so many things.
PLEASE FORWARD the link to this column and share with all of your chat lists and forums
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE by clicking on the link above
And Don’t forget to visit:
VISIT THESE GUN RIGHTS EXAMINERS ON-LINE:
Atlanta Ed Stone | Austin Howard Nemerov | Boston Ron Bokleman | Charlotte Paul Valone | Cheyenne Anthony Bouchard | Chicago Don Gwinn | Cleveland Daniel White | DC Mike Stollenwerk | Denver Dan Bidstrup | Des Moines Sean McClanahan |Detroit Rob Reed | Fort Smith Steve D. Jones | Knoxville Liston Matthews | Los Angeles John Longenecker | Minneapolis John Pierce | National David Codrea | Seattle Dave Workman | St. Louis Kurt Hofmann | Tucson Chris Woodard | Oakland Yih-Chau Chang | Gaithersburg Gary Roehm
ALSO VISIT:
‘Winning Firearms Freedom One Lawsuit at a Time’
CITIZENS COMMITTEE FOR THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS
READ:
America Fights Back: Armed Self-Defense in a Violent Age
These Dogs Don’t Hunt: The Democrats’ War on Guns
Assault on Weapons: The Campaign to Eliminate Your Guns
Shooting Blanks: Facts Don’t Matter to the Gun Ban Crowd
Washington State Gun Rights and Responsibilities
Comments