Bearhawk
Regular Member
Below is what I have in a MS Word file and a PDF (minus the original tables/charts from their respective sources) but I can't seem to get them to attach. Sorry the formatting gets funky in the text version here. I don't know whether to keep it with the commentary or not? I'm thinking of making a non-commentary study and send a copy to each member of our state Congress and also to those in the federal congress. Anyhow here it is:
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I have long wondered what the comparison truly is between fatal crashes caused by alcohol related and alcohol impaired drivers vs. how many murders were committed with firearms. Not just handguns but firearms in total. This is important because alcohol impaired crashes causing a fatal accident and murders both are crimes that end with someone dead. This comparison is quite important and valid.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration considers any crash involving a person driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) greater than .01 g/dL to be alcohol related. If the BAC is .08 g/dL or greater that person is driving impaired.
I break down the numbers with respect to alcohol related and alcohol impaired. A much more compelling case could be made if we were looking at anytime someone was driving unlawfully and killed somebody. This would include those where people were killed by those without valid driver’s licenses, those texting while driving (where illegal), those talking on cell phones (where illegal), those who were speeding while driving, those driving recklessly and those who were driving while illegally in this country. I’m only including the ones alcohol related and alcohol impaired because just that alone is stark in comparison to the number of people murdered with firearms.
I quote my sources so you too can verify that they are what the NHTSA and FBI reported.
According to the NHTSA statistics from printed page 32 (pdf page 48) of
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811402EE.pdf
Persons killed in “Alcohol Related” and “Alcohol Impaired” accidents
Year BAC > .01 g/dL BAC > .08 g/dL
2005 15,985 13,582
2006 15,970 13,491
2007 15,534 13,041
2008 13,826 11,711
2009 12,744 10,839
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According to the FBI CIUS (Crime in the US) 2009 data taken from http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/expanded_information/data/shrtable_08.html
Persons Murdered by Firearms:
2005 10,158
2006 10,225
2007 10,129
2008 9,528
2009 9,146
First, one might say the numbers only show murder and leave out suicides by firearms. I thought about that and rationalized the amount of drunk drivers that were drunk only for the purpose of killing themselves would be so low it would have only a negligible effect at best. Also, I am not including people killed by a vehicle while the driver is driving illegally as I listed above.
Now, let’s take these numbers to put things into a clear perspective to see how much more likely you will be killed in an alcohol related accident than by a firearm:
Deaths by: 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 5 yr avg
Firearms 10158 10225 10129 9528 9146 49186
Alc. Related 15985 15970 15534 13826 12744 74059
Alc Impaired 13582 13491 13041 11711 10839 62664
Related/F-arm 1.57 1.56 1.53 1.45 1.39 1.51
Impaired/F-arm 1.34 1.32 1.29 1.23 1.19 1.27
As you can see, the average between 2005 and 2009 (most recent data available that I could find at the time of writing) you are more than one and a half times more likely to be killed by someone who has been drinking than you are by a firearm and more than one and a quarter times more likely to be killed by a drunk driver.
We all know guns cause fatalities and we must ban them. Common Sense says we must ban all vehicles to stop the drunk driving fatalities. We must do it for the children! Yes, I am being sarcastic. The US must start placing the blame for all crimes right on the perpetrator whether that be a murderer with a gun or a murderer with a car. It is not society’s fault, it’s not the school’s fault, it’s nobody’s fault but the perpetrator and usually it’s an innocent victim that died. Don’t forget the victim and their loved ones.
For some reason our society, media, and government will dismiss the fact that many more people are killed by alcohol related crashes than are killed by guns. Personally, I know of several folks who would like to ban guns but those exact same people will readily admit they occasionally drink and drive. That is tragic. My guns have never threatened to kill anyone…can you say the same about your car?
Driving a car is not in the bill of rights and is not a right. Drinking alcohol is not a right. However, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Emphasis on "right of the people". It is now the time to ban cars and alcohol folks!
J Waltermire
2/12/11
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I have long wondered what the comparison truly is between fatal crashes caused by alcohol related and alcohol impaired drivers vs. how many murders were committed with firearms. Not just handguns but firearms in total. This is important because alcohol impaired crashes causing a fatal accident and murders both are crimes that end with someone dead. This comparison is quite important and valid.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration considers any crash involving a person driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) greater than .01 g/dL to be alcohol related. If the BAC is .08 g/dL or greater that person is driving impaired.
I break down the numbers with respect to alcohol related and alcohol impaired. A much more compelling case could be made if we were looking at anytime someone was driving unlawfully and killed somebody. This would include those where people were killed by those without valid driver’s licenses, those texting while driving (where illegal), those talking on cell phones (where illegal), those who were speeding while driving, those driving recklessly and those who were driving while illegally in this country. I’m only including the ones alcohol related and alcohol impaired because just that alone is stark in comparison to the number of people murdered with firearms.
I quote my sources so you too can verify that they are what the NHTSA and FBI reported.
According to the NHTSA statistics from printed page 32 (pdf page 48) of
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811402EE.pdf
Persons killed in “Alcohol Related” and “Alcohol Impaired” accidents
Year BAC > .01 g/dL BAC > .08 g/dL
2005 15,985 13,582
2006 15,970 13,491
2007 15,534 13,041
2008 13,826 11,711
2009 12,744 10,839
--------------------------
According to the FBI CIUS (Crime in the US) 2009 data taken from http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/expanded_information/data/shrtable_08.html
Persons Murdered by Firearms:
2005 10,158
2006 10,225
2007 10,129
2008 9,528
2009 9,146
First, one might say the numbers only show murder and leave out suicides by firearms. I thought about that and rationalized the amount of drunk drivers that were drunk only for the purpose of killing themselves would be so low it would have only a negligible effect at best. Also, I am not including people killed by a vehicle while the driver is driving illegally as I listed above.
Now, let’s take these numbers to put things into a clear perspective to see how much more likely you will be killed in an alcohol related accident than by a firearm:
Deaths by: 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 5 yr avg
Firearms 10158 10225 10129 9528 9146 49186
Alc. Related 15985 15970 15534 13826 12744 74059
Alc Impaired 13582 13491 13041 11711 10839 62664
Related/F-arm 1.57 1.56 1.53 1.45 1.39 1.51
Impaired/F-arm 1.34 1.32 1.29 1.23 1.19 1.27
As you can see, the average between 2005 and 2009 (most recent data available that I could find at the time of writing) you are more than one and a half times more likely to be killed by someone who has been drinking than you are by a firearm and more than one and a quarter times more likely to be killed by a drunk driver.
We all know guns cause fatalities and we must ban them. Common Sense says we must ban all vehicles to stop the drunk driving fatalities. We must do it for the children! Yes, I am being sarcastic. The US must start placing the blame for all crimes right on the perpetrator whether that be a murderer with a gun or a murderer with a car. It is not society’s fault, it’s not the school’s fault, it’s nobody’s fault but the perpetrator and usually it’s an innocent victim that died. Don’t forget the victim and their loved ones.
For some reason our society, media, and government will dismiss the fact that many more people are killed by alcohol related crashes than are killed by guns. Personally, I know of several folks who would like to ban guns but those exact same people will readily admit they occasionally drink and drive. That is tragic. My guns have never threatened to kill anyone…can you say the same about your car?
Driving a car is not in the bill of rights and is not a right. Drinking alcohol is not a right. However, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Emphasis on "right of the people". It is now the time to ban cars and alcohol folks!
J Waltermire
2/12/11