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kimrees wrote:Hi RX8er,

I'm happy to reply to your concerns here in an open forum.

Sorry, I meant to say that there are about the same number of deaths caused by gun operators as there are caused by car drivers. (I word it this way so I don't get the old "guns don't kill people" rhetoric.) That number includes suicides... from each instrument. I also want to point out that cars are used for far more manhours than guns are. Also, a gun is an instrument of killing. Cars are not (typically). If you were to compare the number of deaths related to each on a per hour use, I'm certain the rate would be extremely different. We can debate this obtuse car vs gun argument for days, but it's merely propaganda rhetoric.

Unfortunately, the deaths that children suffer from guns are largely homicides and not accidents. And I agree that it's not necessarily a gun issue. Children aged 6 and under who are killed by a family member are most often killed by something other than a gun. Does that mean we should say guns are safe and everyone who passes a background check should have them? Personally, I don't think so. That's just my opinion.

At any rate, if you'd like another chart, send me some data and I'll send you an invoice. :)

Cheers.
Kim

RX8er wrote:It is a a group of young folks in Oregon: http://www.periscopic.com/our-company/#/connect" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I decided to send them an email:

From: RX8er
Sent: Monday, May 6, 2013 2:17 PM
To: 'emerge@periscopic.com'
Subject: Gun Deaths / Lost Years

Nice chart and I understand the intent but I’d be interested to see the data and chart where you don’t calculate from a possibility standpoint. Why not remove those years that statistically won’t be there as a result of a death from another form. You could easily take those years out that might include a death from drug overdoses, knife, car accidents, accidental deaths and suicide. The CDC has this data and will give a more accurate representation. I think it would also be a good idea to compare this chart against those other types of deaths and suicide using a side by side model. There are a whole lot more years lost to most, if not all other types of deaths than by gun deaths alone.

I don't know if the data is even available, but I would also like to see how many years were saved because of a gun. For example, when someone shoot a bad guy robbing a store or a cop shoots a gang member. That surely has to improve our society as a whole.

Thanks,
Brian

K.Mooneyham wrote:More "cooked" data. I don't want to make light of people being murdered with firearms because I don't think its a laughing matter. But compared to how many folks are killed in car wrecks? That number is much higher. Also, can we take out all the gang-bangers, and victims of gang-bangers, from that little graphic? What would that cut the numbers down to? That is what I mean by "cooked" data. Just like that junk "90% want gun control" thing they keep tossing around, when the Gallup poll showed that only 4% of Americans care about it. Can anyone even give a straight answer where the 90% thing came from? Maybe it was a Twitter thing...maybe they called a hundred people in NYC...maybe they polled a bunch of college students in Berkeley, California...maybe they just made it up. Gallup has their own issues, but at least they TRY to act like a pollster is supposed to. As far as I'm concerned, this slick little graphic is nothing more than a smoke and mirrors exercise designed to wow the ignorant low-information voter.