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Gun Violence
Gun Violence Gun violence, in the United States especially, is a growing concern and highly debated topic when the discussion of gun control is brought up. Here are several facts that I found to be troubling, and even disturbing. * The average of guns deaths in the annual is less than 50 in Japan compared to more than 10,000 in the United States. (http://www.heedinggodscall.org/content/pfctoolkit-10)
The number of gun related deaths in the United States dwarfs that of Japan annually, perhaps a sign of the overwhelming amount of gang violence in the U.S. * The per capita gun death rate in Louisiana is the highest annually in the United States at 19.04%. The lowest per capita death rate is help in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Hawaii at a mere 2.02%. (http://www.heedinggodscall.org/content/pfctoolkit-10)
Per 100,000 people, almost twenty percent of the population would die in a gun related homicide. That number seems incredibly high. * Lifetime U.S. medical costs for gunshot injuries are an estimated $2.3 billion, with U.S. taxpayers paying $1.1 billion, almost half of the total. (http://www.heedinggodscall.org/content/pfctoolkit-10)
In an effort to keep that number down, it might be smart to put a little more funding into law enforcement to keep guns out of criminal’s hands in the first place. * Guns in a household triple the risk of a family member being killed by a gun. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8371731)
I don’t know how I feel about this statistic as the use of a firearm for protection can save a life even though this stat says that the gun in the household makes it immediately more dangerous. * A 1993 study gathered that 2.45 million crimes are thwarted by guns in the United States every year. (LaPierre, Wayne (1994). Guns, Crime, and Freedom. Regnery Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 0-89526-477-3.)
This is the other side of gun possession seen as a positive. With guns as a protection, regular citizens can protect themselves from potential danger.

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