Based on the most recent data from the National Center for Health Statistics (2013), the firearm accident death rate is 0.2 per 100,000 population. Firearms are involved in 0.5 percent of accidental deaths nationally, compared to motor vehicles (29 percent), poisoning (27 percent), falls (21 percent) and six other causes before you reach firearms.
Despite these facts, guns continue to be singled out as public enemy No. 1. Case in point: Los Angeles. On Tuesday, the L.A. City Council unanimously backed new requirements to lock up or disable handguns in homes. Their reasoning: To help prevent deadly accidents. So while they’re busy addressing cause No. 10, in turn, they’re denying the privileged few residents who are actually able to possess a gun in their oppressive gun-control city the right to defend themselves and their loved ones. Because we all know that a gun locked in a safe when you need it most is just a paperweight.
