Gun violence becomes top cause of American youth death: research
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Gun violence becomes top cause of American youth death: research
People look at the vases of flowers installed to memorize gun violence victims at the Battery Park in New York, the United States, on Oct 8, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]
A new analysis shows that, in recent years, guns have become the leading cause of injury-related death among people ages one through 24, reported by Scientific American , an American popular science magazine.
For much of the past few decades motor vehicle crashes were the most common cause of death from injury—the leading cause of death in general—among children, teenagers and young adults in the US.
The switchover, which happened in 2017, stems from both a reduction in vehicle-related deaths and a grim uptick in gun-related fatalities.
The decline in vehicle deaths is largely the result of a concerted effort to track and study motor vehicle crashes.
Congress established the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in 1970 with the goal of saving lives and preventing traffic-related injuries. One of the agency's key actions was to create and maintain a public database of automobile deaths on US roads, allowing researchers to identify ways to improve safety.
By contrast, no such federal agency exists to regulate the safety of firearms—and it took decades just to develop a national database for tracking firearm deaths, researchers from Boston Children's Hospital noted in their paper which was published as a Perspective piece in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers credited a number of safety improvements in vehicles for saving lives among children and teens. These measures include automatic braking and side airbags, as well as booster-seat laws and graduated licensing.
All US states require that people get a license and registration in order to drive a vehicle, however, a loophole in federal law allows people in many states to buy a gun from an unlicensed dealer without so much as a background check. And federal law shields gun makers from some liability in negligence claims, including when guns fall into the hands of children—with lethal consequences, according to the research team.
Many experts assert that the high rate of gun deaths among young people is not inevitability and that it is possible to prevent such deaths by gathering data and doing research.
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The article is about gun violence among youth in America - that is the topic.
The key phrase up there is "injury related death."
Depending on the context in the article that would mean either by automobile or by gun.
Never to be confused with the leading cause of death for people ages one through 24
Whatever you want to think, Vic, but as I interpret the article, it says that gun violence has overtaken car accidents as the leading cause of death for people ages one through 24.
For injury related death. The leading cause of death for the young overall is something very sinister and in keeping with the context of the article, I'm not going to go there.
I'm intrigued.
So much for the argument used by gun advocates that car accidents cause more deaths than guns.
So, this is about the successful engineering of motor vehicles?
Whatever turns you on, squiggy.
“Whatever turns you on, squiggy.”
You’re the one who relativized and sensationalized the comparison. Rather than play with matches, I’ll use a flamethrower and say guns kill far fewer children than abortion does. Run with that one.
My comments are on the topic of the article, yours on abortion isn't, so I'll stay on topic. Would you like me to delete yours?
The problem with comparing legislation brought on by the NHTSA and fire arms legislation is that criminals don't care about the legislation. The only people any kind of legislation or safety requirements would affect are those who abide by the law.
And those who abide by the law are not concerned about the criminal code, but the criminal code is a concern to the criminals since it could mean their being isolated from decent society for quite a while. Surely there are reasons why the incarceration rate in America is the highest in the world.
The criminals don't care about the prison system. For many it's more like a family reunion or a change to catch up with friends.
A lot of stupid people.
LOL. I didn't think I was going to get a reply that would make me laugh. Thanks.
Not to mention that something like 3/5th's of all gun deaths are suicide, suicide by car is a rather low number. The CDC even reported that suicides exceed death by car accident.
Why are there so many suicides, Snuffy?
why does anybody commit suicide? How am I supposed to know the mindset of anybody else. I myself cannot understand how anybody can get so lost that they would be willing to commit suicide, but many people do all around the world. It's a mindset I just cannot understand.
But you posted an article where death caused by guns has exceeded deaths by car accidents in the US. As part of that comparison it is fair to look at the number of suicides by gun vs the number of suicides by car as well. But if you only want to talk about youth deaths, how many of those deaths are criminal on criminal vs an innocent youth?
If the number of suicides by gun are as great as you say, and not even considering all the other methods people use to commit suicide which together probably far exceed the number of gun suicides, then I assume the population of the USA should be decreasing quite rapidly. By the way, suicide by car is not impossible - such as sitting in a running car in a closed garage. I guess once EVs take over from combustible fuel engines that method will disappear. Too bad, it seems like a relatively painless way to say goodbye.
Birth rates still exceed death rates (for all deaths) in the US, but the difference is narrowing. But then you need to take into account immigration also.
So the population is still growing in the US. The rate of growth has slowed but it is still growing. Immigration now exceeds live births in the US, and the population is growing more diverse as a result.
And I never said suicide by car was impossible, just said the number is a rather low number. Please don't try to put words in my mouth.
You raised the topic of suicide by car, I didn't. I know you didn't say that suicide by car was impossible, my comment was not meant to say that you did. My comment was just meant to be emphatic, so I was NOT putting words in your mouth, and I'm sorry it appeared to you that I did.
It's now 10 pm and time for bed. This article is locked for the night and I will unlock it after I've made and had my breakfast.
Haven't started breakfast yet, but thought I'd unlock this now in case someone is busting their gut holding back their rant.
Morning sunshine..☀️☀️☀️
Same to you, sweetie. However, lots of rain here.
Almost 10 p.m. here. Time to lock up for the night. See you in the morning, if anyone's interested.
Good morning to a few, and good evening to most everyone else. This shop is now open for business.
No comments posted all day, so this article will now hibernate permanently.