Gun Control Stats and Facts
- 35,000 people are killed yearly by guns in the United States in addition to some 200,000 injuries, many of which are serious or disabling
- only motor vehicles outpace firearms as a cause of fatal injury
- 75% of an estimated 30 million American adults who own handguns own them for self-defense
- 1994 national survey showed 23 million defensive gun uses in a year
- 1995-181 children under the age of 15 were shot and killed in gun-related accidents, according to the National Center for Health Statistics
- 1997-homocides caused by firearms in England, Wales, and Scotland totaled at 64 next to the United States' 12,397 homocides
- according to The Journal of the American Medical Association, gunshot wounds cost America $2.3 billion a year in medical treatment and almost half of that is paid for with taxpayer's dollars
- although only about one-third of the firearms in the nation are handguns, they account for over 75% of all armed violence in the United States
- recent Harris Poll found that 69% of the public and 57% of gun owners want stricter gun control laws
- CBS News poll says that two-thirds of the public said Congress should pass stricter gun control laws this year, and the same percentage would favor registering all firearms
- 80% of gun owners favor a three-day waiting period
- the Brady Bill (which is a waiting period bill) has prevented as many as 250,000 handgun purchases since its passage in 1993
- about .2% of home burglaries result in the firearms death or injury of the intruder or by the householder
- at least 150,000 guns are stolen every year, most of them handguns
