From: bb063@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Christopher J. Crobaugh)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
Subject: Do guns kill their owners?
Date: 12 Oct 1992 10:31:46 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc4.ins.cwru.edu


An earlier post prompted me to find this piece (where it was
hiding in a remote corner of my hard drive) and post it in 
response to Peter Boucher (sp?). IT's in interesting little piece
that has some good statistical information in it.

Found this on the Cleveland, Ohio FREE-NET system. Sort of
interesting. - Chris Crobaugh (216) 327-6655
(The Lorain County Firearms Defense Association &
The Ohio Constitution Defense Council


From: uk09365@nx20.mik.uky.edu (robert i kesten)
Subject: The 43-1 Study
Date: Tue Jun 23 17:35:31 1992

The 43:1 ratio of gun related deaths to justifiable homocides has
been quoted and debated often in this and other fora.

Feel free to comment and analyze:

Here is the cite to the original article:

"Protection or Peril? An Analysis of Firearm-Related Deaths  in the
Home," Arthur L. Kellermann and Donald T. Reay,
The New England Journal of Medicine 314, no., 24 (June 12,
1986): 1557-1560.

The article is reprinted in:

The Gun Control Debate, You Decide
ed. Lee Nisbet, Prometheus Books, 1990, 239-244.

Procedure:

        The medical examiner case files for every firearm
related death in King County, Washington (1980 population =
1,270,000 including Seattle = 494,000 and Bellevue = 74,000)
between January 1, 1978 and December 31, 1983 was reviewed.
Incomplete records were corroborated with information from
police case files and interviews of investigating officers.

        "Gunshot deaths involving the intentional shooting of one
person by another were considered homocides.  Self-protection
homocides were considered "justifiable" if they involved the
killing of a felon during the commission of a crime; they were
considered "self-defense" if that was the determination of the
investigating police department and the King County prosecutor's
office.  All homocides resulting in criminal charges and all
unsolved homocides were considered criminal homocides."

Data:

6 year period
743 deaths from firearms (= 9.75 / 100,000 per year)
= 22.7 percent of all violent deaths in King County
  excluding traffic deaths
= 45% of all homocides (national avg. = 61%)
= 49% of all suicides  (national avg. = 57%)
= <1% of all accidental deaths
= 5.7% of deaths in undetermined circumstances

inside a house or dwelling = 473 deaths (63.7%)
in the home where the firearm invovled was kept = 398 (53.6%)

breakdown of 398 deaths in home where gun was kept:

suicides  = 333 (83.7%)
homocides =  50 (12.6%)
accidents =  12 (3%)
unknown   =   3 (0.7) 

breakdown of suicides with guns in home where gun was kept: male
victim   = 265 (80%)
female victim =  68 (20%)
blood tested for ethanol = 245 (74%)
blood alcohol test positive = 86 (35% of those tested)
blood alcohol level above 100 mg/dl = 60 (24.5% of those tested)
handgun used = 226 (68%)
long gun used = 107 (32%)

breakdown of homocides with guns in home where gun was kept: male
victim   = 30 (60%)
female victim = 20 (40%)
blood tested for ethanol = 47 (94%)
blood alcohol test positive = 27 (54% of those tested)
blood alcohol level above 100 mg/dl = 10 (21% of those tested)
handgun used = 34 (68%)
long gun used = 16 (32%)
occurred during altercation in the home = 42 (84%)
  self-defense during altercation = 7 of 42 (17%)
justifiable homomcide of burglars = 2 of 50 (4%)
resulted in criminal charges = 41 of 50 (82%)
total self-defense and justifiable = 9 of 50 (18%)

breakdown of accidental deaths with guns in home where gun was
kept: male victim = 12 (100%)
blood alcohol test positive = 2 (17%)
handgun used = 11 (92%)

deaths excluding suicides = 65 (50 homocide, 12 accident, 3
unknown) victim was stranger = 2 (3%)
victim was friend or acquaintance = 24 (37%)
victim was resident = 36 (55%)
  victim of homocide was resident = 29 (45% of total, 58% of
homocides)      resident shot by family member except spouse = 11
(31%)      by spouse = 9 (25%)
     by self = 7 (19%)
     by roommate = 6 (17%)
     by other = 3 (8%)

Conclusions:

ratio of killed by stranger to killed by person known = 12:1 ratio
of accidental deaths to self-protection homocides = 3:1 ratio of
criminal homocides to self-protection homocides = 4.6:1 ratio of
suicides to self-protection homocides = 37:1

ratio of suicides, criminal homocides, and accidental deaths  to
homocides for self-protection = 43:1

------------------ end ------------

-- 
bb063@Cleveland.Freenet.Edu  Chris Crobaugh - (216) 327-6655 (V)
"Those who would sacrifice essential liberties for a little 
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." B. Franklin
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns