Deaths from gun violence vs. deaths from terrorism, in one chart

Deaths from gun violence vs. deaths from terrorism, in one chart

by Zack Beauchamp at Vox

http://www.vox.com/2015/10/1/9437187/obama-guns-terrorism-deaths

"SNIP.................


Okay.

Here's what that looks like (at least, for 2001-2011, the period for which we could find the most reliable data quickly courtesy of the State Department, the Justice Department, and the Council on Foreign Relations' Micah Zenko):

........

Over ten thousand Americans are killed every year by gun violence. By contrast, so few Americans have been killed by terrorist attacks since 9/11 that, when you chart the two together, the terrorism death count approximates zero for every year except 2001. This comparison, if anything, understates the gap: far more Americans die every year from (easily preventable) gun suicides than gun homicides.

The point Obama is making is clear: we spend huge amounts of money every year fighting terrorism, yet are unwilling, at the national level, to take even minor steps (like requiring background checks on all gun sales nationally) to stop gun violence.

"We spent over a trillion dollars, and passed countless laws, and devote entire agencies to preventing terrorist attacks on our soil, and rightfully so" Obama said. "And yet we have a Congress that explicitly blocks us from even collecting data on how we could potentially reduce gun deaths. How can that be?"




...................SNIP"