Anti-gun forces will not trumpet the latest good news from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), but it is worth celebrating. Incidences of preventable firearm-related deaths reached the third lowest figure on record, demonstrating the success of industry-wide efforts to educate the shooting public on the very best safety practices.
And that’s with gun ownership in the U.S. continuing to increase.
The National Safety Council’s annual report for 2022, the last year for which statistics are available, showed the decades-long trend of increased diligence with firearms is paying off.
While there is more to do to shrink this number further, the report showed that 463 preventable injury-related deaths occurred from the misuse of a weapon. That is a remarkable 39.2% drop from two decades ago and 15.5% within the last 10 years.
Only two years since 1903 showed a lower total —2014 and 2018.
That figure becomes even more impressive when juxtaposed against other trends over the previous 10 years. Preventable fire-related fatalities soared 41.2% from 2012 to 2022, and motor vehicle deaths climbed 26.4%.
More good news came from the relationship between firearm-related fatalities and overall injury-related deaths. When calculated as a percentage, the most recent figures show the former accounted for just 0.2% of the total, down 0.1% from previous figures.
As reported by the NSSF, the firearm industry trade association, the rate of death from accidental injury from a gun is literally one in a million. When compared to fatal auto accidents, an individual in 2022 was 138 times more likely to lose their life to a highway accident than a weapon accident.
Besides the plunge in firearm-related fatalities, the most startling number related to poisoning. These preventable tragedies soared from 36,332 in 2012 to 102,958 just ten years later.
A 183.4% spike. And poisonings increased an unimaginable 486.7% over two decades.
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