Statistics

1 post

Three Degrees of Untruth

These are the 2006 mortality statistics, straight from the CDC National Vital Statistics System (NVSS).  The actual report you want is R00.1-Y89.9 [pdf].  The relevant statistics begin on page 4515 (727 in the browser).

And yes, they do a great job of burying this stuff.

Want to know how many children under the age of 15 died of negligent discharges from handguns in 2006?  9.  Homicides?  29.

I’ll start with interpretations and follow with the original data.  The data is broken up into three categories:

  • Handgun discharge
  • Rifle, shotgun, and larger firearm discharge
  • Discharge from other and unspecified firearms

In each case, the first number is an aggregate of all types of firearm, while the second includes only handguns.

We’ll begin with unintentional and accidental shootings (W32-34).

Total: 642/107
All Children under 10: 31/6
All Children under 15: 57/9
Age 15-19: 100/26
Age 19-24: 93/21
Age 15-24: 193/47
Age 30-50: 161/15

All said, there were 642 deaths from negligent discharges. 

Continued...