Facts:
- In 2004, there were 29,569 firearm-related deaths in the United States. Of these, 16,750 (57%) were suicides, 11,624 (39%) were homicides, and 884 (3%) were undetermined/unintentional firearm deaths.
- In the United States in 2002, 67% of all murders and 54% of suicides were by firearm.
- There are approximately 192 million privately owned guns in the United States--65 million of these are handguns.
- In 2004, firearms were used to murder 56 people in Australia, 184 people in Canada, 73 people in England and Wales, 5 people in New Zealand, and 11,344 in America.
- Having a gun in the home triples the risk of homicide in the home.
- Having a gun in the home increase the risk of suicide fivefold.
- 40% of all gun purchases are made through secondary sales-- where background checks are not required
National Links:
Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence
www.bradycenter.org
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
www.atf.treas.gov
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
www.cdc.gov
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
www.csgv.org
Freedom States Alliance
www.freedomstatesalliance.org
Gun Free Kids
http://www.gunfreekids.org/
Legal Community Against Gun Violence
www.lcav.org
Mayors Against Illegal Guns
www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org
Pax
www.paxusa.org
States United
www.supgv.org
Student Pledge Against Gun Violence
www.pledge.org
Violence Policy Center
www.vpc.org
Blogs:
New England Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence
necpgv.blogspot.com
NJ Voices
http://blog.nj.com/njv_bryan_miller/
Under Fire
http://blogs.timesunion.com/underfire/
