What the Numbers Tell Us About Gun Violence in America Click on the photo to find out some of the key facts about guns and related violence. And find out what your chances are of dying at gunpoint. By Jonathan Dube Guns kill. They kill more teen-agers than any natural cause. They kill mothers and daughters, grandpas and babies, good guys and bad.
Guns also protect.
Crime victims are more than twice as likely to walk away from an assailant unharmed if they use a gun in self-defense. Gun violence is not just a crime problem either. Contrary to popular perception, most people who die looking down the barrel of a gun are killed not by criminals, but by themselves. Suicide statistics and the high rate of gun deaths among the young have led medical groups and surgeons general to make gun violence a public health issue. In such an atmosphere, it's hard to know what and whom to believe.