Do you believe that something that affects only 0.0067% of the US Teen Population (ages 12 to 19) is a national crisis, would you agree?

Sgt Jeffrey Clish — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 18:42:29 -0400

I'm not too big of an advocate one way or the other, but when I hear comments like this I immediately do my own research and want to make sure others do as well. Look past the rhetoric, and even the issue itself, and look at the facts in the context of the big picture - read that National level issue. Look for yourself but the numbers from the CDC, National Vital Statics System, and Census says that in 2012, 16,375 kids aged 12 to 19 died from various causes. That represents only 0.0519% of the total 31.5M kids in that age group for 2012 - not a bad mortality rate. Of those deaths, only 2,129 (~13%) were from homicide (not sure how many of those were from a gun but for argument sake lets say all of them were). So, of the total teen population, only 0.0067% of them fell victim to a gun related death. So I ask, can we argue that any event, regardless of what the event is, that only has a 0.0067% chance of happening warrant a national policy shift?

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 14 at 2015 6:46 PM

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 18:46:26 -0400

I think you're right that we use statistics poorly in many cases. We also jump on bandwagons of "fact" often without checking into them to see if they're true. I'll be perfectly honest, I took the numbers you just posted as true and did not verify them.

But I also don't think this dictates a need for a national policy shift.

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Sep 14 at 2015 6:46 PM

SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 18:46:38 -0400

Sgt Jeffrey Clish thanks, I agree the Teen Population is going thru changes, and America needs to look at the cause/effect of the mortality rate and try to combat it. I have teenagers and this hits home.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 14 at 2015 6:46 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 18:46:47 -0400

Absolutely not. We need to educate kids on firearms and stop making them so taboo. Some of the most responsible kids I've encountered lived in families that owned guns and from a young age taught their children responsible behavior around firearms. I've also had the privilege of having some of those parents bring their children to the gun range I worked at for further instruction from me (someone outside the household) to ensure their kids have the best knowledge base available to them.

Response by CSM Carl Cunningham made Sep 14 at 2015 6:47 PM

CSM Carl Cunningham — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 18:47:22 -0400

If it is that small, then it is not a national crisis.

Response by SGT David T. made Sep 14 at 2015 6:52 PM

SGT David T. — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 18:52:54 -0400

Nothing invokes greater emotion than dead kids. Policy changes in this arena are about control and they use dead kids to get it. Every death is tragic but that is life, and life is cheap. People die in droves every single day, some young some old and a bunch in between. Are we going to ban/control cars, alcohol, or fast food restaurants (all of which kill more people)? When is enough, enough? We need to place blame with the individual and not have these knee jerk reactions that will not make any difference whatsoever.

Response by LTC Kevin B. made Sep 14 at 2015 7:44 PM

LTC Kevin B. — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 19:44:50 -0400

Let me respond with a question. At what point do you think it would warrant a policy shift?

Response by Sgt Jay Jones made Sep 14 at 2015 9:30 PM

Sgt Jay Jones — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 21:30:15 -0400

Sgt Jeffrey Clash would it be a national crisis if YOUR CHILD was one of the 0.0067%?

Response by Cpl Chris Rice made Sep 15 at 2015 6:23 PM

Cpl Chris Rice — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 18:23:31 -0400

Nice numbers, I don't have a good answer for the question, but a well researched point nonetheless

Response by PO1 John Miller made Sep 17 at 2015 8:12 AM

PO1 John Miller — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 08:12:28 -0400

I'm just a layman but it looked to me like the data supports that firearm deaths are the lowest out of all recorded causes. So no, no reason to call it a "national crisis."