But more often than not, when someone is killed they are on the wrong end of a gun. According to the King County Medical Examiner, firearms have been the favored method of homicide in King County for at least the past 10 years. While the firearms homicide rate varies from year to year, it has remained fairly constant over the last decade. And in no two consecutive years did the firearms homicide rate drop. But they are considerably less convenient to the assailant and generally less fatal to the victim.
Guns are simply the easiest, quickest and most impersonal way to kill another person.
Asians, Native Americans and Hispanics make up the rest. More than any other racial group, blacks are the victims of homicide in American cities. This speaks volumes about the tragedy of black life today. However, whites were the hands-down losers in the firearms suicide category in 1992. This may suggest cultural differences in the way certain people express their anger, frustration and misery.