Cars Are Safer Guns Are Not

For a long time in the US, people under 24 years old were more likely to be killed in car accidents than from guns. Within the last few years that has dramatically shifted.

“From 2000 to 2020, the number of firearm-related deaths in the one-to-24-year-old age group increased … to 10.28 per 100,000… reveal. During the same period, motor-vehicle-related deaths declined … to 8.31 per 100,000.” – from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

“The decline in vehicle deaths is largely the result of a concerted effort to track and study traffic accidents.” – Scientific American

Meanwhile, US federal agencies, like the CDC and NIH, are prohibited from studying gun deaths. Studying car-related deaths led to understandings and insights that directed useful action, demonstrating the effect of studying a deadly situation. Also in the meantime, gun deaths are increasing with no apparent mechanism for halting the trend.