Causes of Death in 1900 vs. Today: One Chart Puts Firearms & Natural Disasters Threat in Perspective

IJ Review reports:

In light of the federal government’s drive to enforce stricter environmental regulations for the reason of combatting manmade “climate change,” it should be said that 98% fewer people are dying from extreme weather events or natural disasters than in the 1920s. Extreme weather events currently comprise about 0.07% of all fatalities globally.

We’re also being told about the danger posed by law-abiding citizens possessing firearms. But where is that threat on this chart? Let me help you: It’s not there. Deaths from firearms totalled 31,672 in 2010 (just to keep the comparisons apples to apples). In that year, around 19,392 of those deaths were from firearms-related suicides (half of all suicides).

What about accidents? Around 570 of those were from firearms of a total of 126,100 accidents. Firearms murders, mostly by handgun, came to about 8,775 counts (of 12,996 total murders) in 2010, according to FBI statistics.

Where does this put these in the big picture? Deaths from heart disease in 2010 were 595,444 total, while deaths from cancer were 573,855. One factor for such high rates to keep in mind is that Americans are dying from causes that strike those who live longer than human beings ever did before (risk factors go up after age 47).

Some people don't want to be confused by the facts.