Prev Next
Featured Quizzes
Politix Daily Headlines
Featured Debates
Issues

See all 17 issues

People
White House

See all people

GUN FACTS

How Many Gun Deaths Since Sandy Hook?

And is it relevant to the gun law debate?

Next>

by Mary Noble

Senior Editor t

Image: screenshot

Are you interested in how many Americans are killed by people with guns? Until recently, the numbers were surprisingly hard to come by. But now you can see the total number - currently 2453 since the Newtown massacre - via this infographic from Slate.

You can click on each figure in the graphic to find out the source of the reported death, usually a local news website.

Slate is partnering with anonymous Twitter user @GunDeaths, who started collecting the data in summer 2012. As he explains, his aim is to tweet "every gun death in North America regardless of cause and without comment." He invites Americans to tweet him reports of gun deaths to "help us tell the story behind the statistics."

Via Slate. H/T Politix user PNWest.

Posted 5am PST.
Like this article? B Vote Up
?

Should the number of gun deaths influence the debate on gun control?

View results

Comments (view in Forum)

  • AntiPorcheria
    !
    It would only become relevant if the graph listed total deaths by licensed gun owners vs total deaths by illegal gun owners. One would also have to omit deaths by Law Enforcement.

    This graph is a red herring.
  • jmiller94
    !
    @seedtick the policy didn't kill anyone, not anymore than a gun has ever killed anyone by itself. Gun control has made countless victims though, by taking away those victims ability to defend themselves.
  • o
    NTBFW
    !
    @seedtick not true. Look at gun free zones. I would say the aurora theater was directly caused by gun control.
  • u
    seedtick
    !
    @NTBFW Both of you miss my point. It is offered in the context of the liberal argument...they think that the lack of gun control kills people. I am just as much against gun control as you are.

  • View all 29 replies >

  • DerivePI
    !
    32,367 deaths in 2011. We need to eliminate the cause of these useless deaths. Even if we save just one or two, isn't that worth it?

    Of course these were the deaths caused by automobiles. So, everyone just put your keys in the jar that's coming around and get a good pair of walking shoes.
  • PayThatCEO
    !
    Automobiles are a necessary part of life. So are ladders, bathtubs, stairways and other things that can cause our demise. Usually if someone dies using one of these things it's called an accident.

    Usually when someone dies from a gun it's called murder.
  • Drake_Burrwood
    !
    Often times Gun control advocates say "isn't it worth it if it saves just One"; Actually no, since gun control policies may save that one but kill even more. If both sets could be saved. Those saved by "legal carry" and those by "gun control" we would be getting somewhere.
  • stepped_in_it
    !
    @PayThatCEO Nearly 11,000 deaths in 2011.......that's the number of automobile related deaths involving drunk driving. Is alcohol also being banned. Or how about ALL cars have installed a device that prevents drunk drivers from driving. Why not! So if it's a pain for the rest of us law abiding citizens....we just might save one life!(sounds silly now....huh)
  • u
    Slowmo
    !
    @Drake_Burrwood that's right. And I wonder how many times a criminal decided against committing a violent act because he thought that his potential target had a gun in the house or that they might be able to defend themselves. There's a reason that home robberies in Australia have started happening more often with the homeowners at home. And there's a reason that gun control advocates don't include statistics in their arguments.
  • DerivePI
    !
    @stepped_in_it - We could require cars to have a gas tank that is limited to 100 miles of travel maximum before refilling and outlaw sports cars as too dangerous (looking). We have to do something!

  • View all 42 replies >

  • methinks
    !
    1. How many deaths were caused by crazed lunatics?
    2. How many were caused by responsible gun owners?
    3. How many were caused by gang bangers in the inner cities with illegal guns?

    (I'll put my money on #3)
  • ZombieMedic
    !
    @methinks Yep, more than half of deaths in the US and other countries by gun are suicide, so there is 50+% there. Then the next biggest chunks are accidental, killings by police, and gang members killing gang members. Then it's justifiable homicide, aka self defense and criminal homicides.

    But of course the gun phobics and control freaks ignore the fact that guns are used to prevent over 1 million violent crimes a year. Even the FBI has admitted it's closer to 1.5 million times a year on average, and some sources say it's over 2 million times.

    That's a lot of potential lives that could be lost if people didn't have firearms to protect themselves with.
  • frigginhell
    !
    @ZombieMedic Yes, let's not get concerned with the fact that guns kill people when talking about guns. Facts are clearly not relevant in any fashion. Opinion and spin and unsupported theories are by far more meaningful. I'm not saying these numbers are gospel or reflect anything aside from the number of people who died as the result of a firearm. I'm saying that in some fashion that does matter. 2500 dead people do matter. The next 2500 people will matter as well. But there's an excuse for every single one of them isn't there?

  • View all 7 replies >

  • u
    culinary
    !
    I voted no because regardless of the number, and how much gun control you have, it is not going to stop acriminal intent on killing. They will get a gun, or weapon of some kind, and kill. No kind of "control" is going to stop a killer. All this does is push people into emotional thoughts such as, "if we took the guns off the street, they couldn't kill". When the reality is they would just get it through illegal means or use another weapon.
  • Medicinebow
    !
    @PayThatCEO I've always agreed that punishments for criminal use of a firearm should have very stiff penalties. Apparently the current trend is to make more laws that simply make criminals out of the law abiding. I say enforce the current laws and enhance background checks.
  • PayThatCEO
    !
    @Medicinebow

    I'm for a federal gun crime law. Across the board, every state. Using a gun in the commission of a crime would be a federal offense with a sentence of no less than 25 years.

    Such crimes used to carry stiff sentences. Armed robbery was once considered very serious. Not anymore. Now it's a couple years, maybe.

    A federal violent crime law would definitely help knock down the gang violence and send a message that this activity won't be tolerated. Get the non-violent people out of jail and put the violent ones in there for a long time.
  • Jmotofreak72
    !
    @PayThatCEO I agree. The career criminals know the loopholes how to plea their way out of punishment. Use the laws we have and make them stick. If you do the crime take the punishment.
  • wonka45ACP
    !
    @PayThatCEO You might be on to something, the feds want to dictate what each state does about gun control as a whole, but when someone is killed on state property it's state problem, and when they are killed on fed property in that same state its a fed problem doesn't sound right does ot?

  • View all 7 replies >

  • PayThatCEO
    !
    methinks, there was no "reply" on your comment. Anyway, I agree with you. And again, I'll ask...why are we not demanding stronger sentences for gun crimes?
  • Medicinebow
    !
    The issue is CRIMINALS not guns. I care about people...big bunches. And it is people doing the crimes so I say put them in jail for a very long time. But you are correct, a gun is just metal and polymer and wood. By its self a gun does nothing. The issue arises when people misuse them. The issue isn't gun control...its people control.
  • Zazziness
    !
    @NTBFW So then it would be appropriate to consider these statistics and delve into them further. Not ignore them as so many people chose.
  • GuyFawkes
    !
    Is yours a serious comment? It isn't well thought out. The majority of these 'gun deaths' are criminals being killed by good people defending themselves. The media and kumbaya types never want to hear about the roughly 1 million times a year when a firearm is used to SAVE a life. It doesn't square with their faulty reasoning, which is dangerous to all of us. What- going to call the police when an assailant is already in your home? Even the Sheriffs Assoc. urges good people to defend themselves because they realize 'when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.'
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Period.
  • o
    NTBFW
    !
    @Zazziness I think there is a crime problem. Since .000008% of people per gun are shot it only makes sense to go after the culprit not the tool. Had the criminal been prosecuted this number could be lower.

  • View all 30 replies >

  • u
    Slowmo
    !
    This number presented in this way doesn't paint an accurate picture. Guns didnt kill these people. People killed these people. The guns are just a tool. This representation suggests that guns walked up and shot someone or that they talked someone into killing. It's just an attempt to tug on heart strings to further an agenda under a guise of "safety".
  • PNWest
    !
    That number represents the number of people killed by guns since the Newtown gun massacre. Nothing more and nothing less. The bodies continue to pile up.
  • u
    culinary
    !
    @PNWest this is a tragedy, I agree. And it is a parenting issue, not a gun control issue. A child that age should know how to handle a gun and the xonsequences of doing so. Next example....
  • PNWest
    !
    @culinary Next example - http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houst...
    Another small child playing with his dad's weapon. Another parenting issue no doubt. Easy access to guns had nothing to do with it I guess. The bodies keep piling up.

    In case you want more here's another for you. Easy access to guns made it easy for granny to kill her little grandchildren - http://news.yahoo.com/cops-grandma-shot-self-... More bodies.

    We can go on all day if you want. http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/201...

  • View all 27 replies >

  • ZombieMedic
    !
    Completely irrelevant, since most of the deaths are suicides, accidents, or killings by police and law enforcement or self-defense. The few criminal ones are usually gang members killing gang members, ironically enough in the areas where there is the most gun control, since criminals congregate in areas where more non gang people are unarmed, for obvious reasons.

    What about the number of times that a citizen has used a firearm to prevent a crime, as most instances of a gun saving a life never required even a shot fired, much less having to kill someone. The number of crimes stopped and/or prevented each year in the U.S. is over 1 million, no matter whose statistics are used. Even the FBI admited in reports that guns are used to prevent over 1.5 million crimes a year, and some numbers are as high as 2+ million crimes prevented or stopped by citizens with guns. That definitely cuts down on the number of homicides!
  • PNWest
    !
    It is far harder to push people out of windows. But since the thought occurred to you maybe you could post some examples of people dying from being pushed out of windows. How bout posting 10 or so?

  • View all 8 replies >

  • o
    NTBFW
    !
    The point should by why are they being shot. Who is doing the shooting? The guns aren't just going off by themselves. It's criminals doing the shooting. Go after the criminals. Anyone that doesn't agree that we can reduce these numbers significantly by focusing on criminals is not being honest. None of my guns shot any one what's different about mine? They look just as scary as any. They work the same.
  • o
    NTBFW
    !
    @PNWest must you always find the exception? I didn't even look at it. What I want from you is a realistic discussion. I won't even bother if you won't use some level of honesty. I will discuss solutions to a crime problem but I'm am sick of your flippant responses. You are wasting everyone's time.
  • PNWest
    !
    @NTBFW Realistically speaking roughly 30,000 people die by gun each year in the USA. Realistically speaking a gun is much more likely to end up shooting someone you know rather than a bad guy. Realistically speaking gun deaths per capita in the US are far higher than they are in other western democracies that have stringent gun safety laws. And finally realistically speaking you are not the judge of who is wasting people's time here. If you don't like my flippant comments then feel free to ignore them.
  • o
    NTBFW
    !
    @PNWest realistically I may as well ignore them since your mind is made up by using one statistic to base your opinion on. You know nothing about guns. But you want to ignore people that do know something about them. When you throw a number out and don't break it down by cause then yes you are wasting everyone's time that is trying to find a solution to the problem. A real solution anyway. Not the typical liberal plan of doing the wrong thing and believing that good intention are the same as good results.

  • View all 33 replies >

  • PNWest
    !
    @NTBFW Let's do a bit of math. First your 0.000008% isn't "the chance of being shot". To be honest it is about the chance of you being killed by a gun since the Newtown gun massacre.-(2480/310,000,00). That comes down to about 1 in 125,000. The odds of being shot and not dying are obviously much higher.
  • Mbjhug
    !
    @NTBFW I believe you have to take into account location. You may well be able to say this with a straight face to people out in westbumblefuck Pennsylvania, but about those living in downtown Philly? I'd say your chances SKYROCKET when you move to a heavily populated area. Just make sure you keep that in perspective as well.
  • o
    NTBFW
    !
    @Mbjhug my point is that statistics can be manipulated. Take Philly for example. What's different between Philly and my city? I would wager that there are more guns per capita in my city by far than Philly. The difference is people and criminals. I can't recall a shooting much less a shooting death in my city. I'm 48. It is crime and criminals. If PnWest could look at the problem from a crime perspective. It would have more relevance. One of the reason our crime is so rare is because obviously we have less people. But our refusal to tolerate criminals. It's amazing when the citizens of a community refuse to tolerate criminals. It works. What is stopping this from working as well as it could is lack of prosecution and penalties. No gun control measure imaginable can effect crimes committed by my guns. The only possible effect is for me to become a victim because I can't defend myself.
  • Knuckleballer
    !
    Totally irrelevant. First, the numbers you're using don't break down the reason for the death by firearm... a Cop killing someone about to toss a hand grenade into a pre-school is counted the same as a chicago Gang Banger poppin some caps into a competing drug dealer.

    Certainly both are dead but one is a service to society while the other is ........ well a service to society in a slightly different way.

    It's NOT about guns, it's about crime and until we as a society decide to stop pussyfooting around with criminals, violent crime will continue to plague us.
  • PNWest
    !
    How is a list of everyone that has been killed by guns since the Newtown gun massacre misleading in any way? It's just numbers. Lots of them, each representing some poor soul who has died by gun violence.
  • Ryuo
    !
    Sandy Hook affected my views on Gun Control, but not the way the MSM would have you believe. The Second Amendment had never been "my" issue, but I suddenly realized nobody else was going to protect my kids from mutants, certainly not the government, so I raced over to galleryofguns.com to buy my first firearm. Sold out - I'm not the only one following this line of reasoning.
  • wonka45ACP
    !
    @PNWest I get where your comming form now' It's absolute with you, these people
    are dead because of a gun, or that's what you think? Why then don't we all put it to a vote to destroy every firearm in the USA' all of them. and then only the strong will survive, Is that a good plan for you?
  • kathyparsell
    !
    These numbers should show that even with stricter gun laws, criminals will continue to kill with guns. Notice that they want to know someone was killed with a gun, but don't care who killed or why!
  • Armed_Veteran
    !
    A better question would be how many malicious gun deaths since Sandy Hook have been from someone using an AR-15 style rifle. My guess would be not many if any. Of the 12,664 murders in 2011, only 323 were committed with a rifle (2.55%), and AR's are only a portion of that number.
  • u
    BelinKS
    !
    It's irrelevant since the second amendment secures our right to bear arms. Those statistics include deaths by police shootings, self defense shootings, suicides and gang shootings whose guns are not bought legally in the first place. I stand by my right to own and bear arms!
  • u
    BelinKS
    !
    @wonka45ACP
    It will be again when people stop voting in these liberals who talk the talk but don't walk the walk! I'd like the liberals see their freedoms come back when conservatives are in office. Have you seen conservatives take your rights away? Obama is the worst I've ever seen! He wants to be a dictator! Why do you think Hillary wanted out? She did not believe in what Obama was doing to our country. She came up with health care reform while her husband was president. He asked her to, then ignored all the work she did. Her's was pretty good. Healthcare went down the toilet with the advent of HMO's. working in the healthcare field I saw it from both sides. Worst thing ever! Want to reform healthcare, get rid of HMOs!
  • u
    tomincali
    !
    did a search and replaced gun deaths with stabbing deaths and found only pages of shootings in the search.

    same thing in my town,every gunshot fired weather it hit a person or was some fool making noise was reported yet those who were stabbed did not make the news.seems the media has a one track agenda right now..
  • ZombieMedic
    !
    There is definitely an agenda! Just look at Politix, everyday there are stories about guns now. They must be getting some $ from Obama's big lobbying group now, epsecially since it's not just reporting but the polls are slanted as well.
  • SavageMazx
    !
    @ZombieMedic Politix is based in California. Their bias leans towards Pro Gay, Anti gun....that's just the facts, that being said, Politix Mary has actually taken several on my suggested fair and balanced articles regarding gun politics. I guess if you want a forum where everyone agrees, this is probably not the place for you.
  • R Load more comments...