Earlier that morning, Woodham had stabbed his mother to death. Wurst had just killed one teacher, wounded another and two classmates. They dropped again in 1995, were lower still in 1996, and even lower in 1997. In 1997, with an estimated 240 million guns in America, there were 22 fatal gun accidents among children aged up to 5. Motor vehicle accidents, falls, fires, drownings, poisonings, suffocation, and other accidents all accounted for more deaths than did firearm accidents.
Suicide rates fluctuate independently of gun laws and gun ownership.
Banning guns will not affect the suicide rate - other equally deadly implements will be substituted in their place. Criminologists also tell us that rapid and certain punishment drives the crime rate down. Of the 6,000 students caught at school with guns in the past 2 years, the Clinton administration prosecuted only 13. It is a crime for a felon to buy a gun. ZERO Brady rejects were prosecuted by the Clinton administration in 1996, ZERO in 1997, and ZERO in 1998.