America has a growing criminal gun fatality problem. It is a critical conundrum we can’t continue to ignore. Neither can we continue to ignore the misleading and biased statistical data regarding criminal gun deaths. Liberals, including the mainstream media, consistently label all gun deaths as criminal gun deaths. You will probably be surprised at the relatively few criminal gun deaths compared to all gun deaths and other preventable deaths as I have researched and presented below.
You will often see and hear that America had 45,222 gun deaths in 2021. Every gun death is a tragedy and deserves our deepest sympathy and prayers for associated family and friends. However, we need to be aware of what that number includes. Of the total 2021 gun deaths, 24,292, or 54%, were suicides by guns. Shootings by law enforcement in the line of duty accounted for 611, or 1%, of the deaths. Accidental gun discharges caused 535, or 1%, of the deaths. And 400, or 1%, of the deaths were from undetermined causes. That leaves 19,384, or 43%, of the deaths caused by criminal activity. That 43% is horrific and a significant increase over prior years. But it is less than half of the total gun deaths.
These deaths by gun wielding criminals pale in comparison to the 107,622 people who died last year from drug overdoses. Yet, the silence accompanying these drug deaths compared to the uproar over criminal gun deaths is heartbreaking and inexcusable. Drug overdose deaths at over five times the number of criminal gun deaths should spur a huge outcry from our leaders for stronger drug control. Of those drug deaths, 71,238, or two-thirds, were Fentanyl related. The primary Fentanyl source is from free-flowing drug entry into the country through our wide-open southern boarder. Drug overdose deaths from Fentanyl alone would almost cease if President Biden would simply fix our open border atrocity. But, no, the left must continue to fan the flames of gun control while guaranteeing another 100,000-plus deaths from drugs this year. A real war on drugs would also reduce overall crime substantially.
There were 42,915 traffic fatalities last year–over twice the number killed by criminal gun activity. Maybe we need a national effort to lower our vehicle accident deaths more than a nation-wide frenzy to restrict guns.
According to a Johns Hopkins study, over 250,000 people die each year from preventable medical errors. Your doctor poses a 13-times greater risk to you than a criminal with a gun. A national campaign that reduced medical errors by just 10% would save many more lives than criminal gun violence kills.
Please don’t misinterpret me as being insensitive to or defending criminal gun deaths. They represent a national cultural failure that must be addressed. But we need to keep the problem in proper perspective. Let’s consider all aspects of the enigma including the nation’s social and moral decline along with our eroding family values. Our mental health priorities need to be reexamined. We must broaden the view of the problem and rank it fairly with the many other fatal societal weaknesses that need to be corrected. Then, we must proceed with caution being careful to tread very lightly on our precious constitutional rights and liberties that should never be compromised.
“Please don’t misinterpret me as being insensitive to or defending criminal gun deaths.”
You misrepresent yourself in denying this.
Thank you, Terry, for your continued thoughtful response to today’s current chaos. You have added a perspective that needs to be published more widely. I have sent it to my family and friends.