Letter: US gun culture deadlier than war

Here is the price we pay for the Supreme Court's misinterpretation of the Second Amendment.

A congressional study reveals that 1,396,733 Americans were killed in all wars combined, beginning with the Revolutionary War. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that there have been 1,516,863 gun-related deaths, just from 1968 to 2015.

More people have been killed by guns in this country in the past 50 years than on all our battlefields combined. But, guns don't kill.

America accounts for nearly 75 percent of all children murdered in the developed world. Children between the ages of 5 and 14 in the United States are 17 times more likely to be murdered by firearms than children in other industrialized nations. For all ages, firearm-related suicides are 10 times higher.

States where firearms are more prevalent have significantly higher rates of homicide, even after accounting for poverty, education and urbanization. A study focusing on youth in North Carolina found that most gun deaths were caused by legally purchased handguns. A recent analysis revealed that easy access to firearms doubled the risk of homicide and tripled the risk for suicide among household members. Family violence is much more likely to be lethal in homes where a firearm is present.

Research indicates, for every time a gun is used legally in self-defense, there are "four unintentional shootings, seven homicides, and 11 attempted or completed suicides."

To reword the tired adage, "people without guns kill far less."

Richard Hammes

Hilton Head Island

This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Letter: US gun culture deadlier than war."