Note: I wrote this post a few weeks before the Uvalde school shooting. Little did I know....
For more than 60 years, motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of injury-related death among young people. Beginning in 2017, however, gun-related injuries took their place to become the common cause of death from injury. Between 2000 and 2020, the number of gun-related deaths among children, adolescents, and young adults increased from 6998 to 10,186.
Substantial federal funding has been devoted to research on
motor vehicle crashes as well as automobile safety. We have the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a federal agency whose mission is to
save lives and prevent injuries caused by road-traffic crashes. This agency
collects data on motor-vehicle related deaths, conducts research such as crash
tests, implements vehicular safety improvements, and much more. Seat belts,
airbags, automatic emergency braking, and rear-facing cameras are among the
improvements that have made cars safer. What’s more, drivers must be licensed,
and vehicles registered.
In contrast, guns are one of the few products for which safety
isn’t regulated by a designated federal agency, and it’s taken 20 years to build
a firearm-related database that includes data from all 50 states. To make
matters worse, many states have made it easier for children and young adults,
as well as adults with criminal records, to gain access to firearms, not to mention
allowing people to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. And the firearms available
to civilians have become more lethal, in part because manufacturers are increasingly
selling weapons designed for military use.
Of course, you knew most of this. Still, I think it's worth mentioning.
Another note: I'm doing fine following my knee replacement surgery on May 17. Today, May 27, I climbed stairs for the first time so I could get to my desktop computer.
For an introduction to this blog, see I Just Say No; for a list of blog topics, click the Topics tab.
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