Between .
1933 and 1982, nearly one million Americans were killed by firearms in murders, suicides .
and accidents. Since 1960 alone, more than half a million have died as the result of gun .
injuries. In 1992, at least 35,000 died by gunfire. Today, among all consumer products, .
only cars outpace guns as a cause of fatal injury, and guns will likely pass them .
2003"(Cothran 18). "The Violence Policy Center is an educational foundation that .
conducts research on firearm violence. In the following viewpoint, the center argues that .
an increase in private gun ownership has led to an explosion in the number of Americans .
killed by firearms in murders, suicides, and accidents. According to the center, most of .
those killed by firearms are murdered at the hands of a relation or acquaintance, not a .
criminal"(The Violence Policy Center, 2001, para. 5).
"In addition to those killed, firearms account for an untabulated number of injuries. In 1972, the National Health Interview Survey estimated that the ratio of nonfatal shooting to fatal was five to one. Using this figure, in 1988 (the most recent year for which complete figures are available), nearly 153,000 Americans were injured by firearms"(Cothran 18).
In addition to the human toll, the monetary cost-as measured in hospitalization, rehabilitation and lost wages-is staggering. "1989 Centers for Disease Control study estimated the lifetime economic cost of firearms violence for 1985 at $ 14.4 billion, raking in third in economic toll for all injury categories"(Smith 24).
"Contray to popular perception, however, most murders don not occur as the result of an .
attack by a stranger but stem from an argument between people who know each other and .
often are related. For murders in 1992, for example, in which the relationship and .