Shirley, from what I've read in other places, those statistics are approximately correct. One that is off a bit: It's believed by studies done that as many as 300,000 people in this country die each year because of doctors, in some way, including errors in prescriptions. The difference between gun-related deaths and doctor-related deaths is that the gun deaths make the headlines. Obviously, from the numbers below, the people in the medical business aren't getting their fair share of the limelight. Part of that is due to the time it takes to determine a person's death. Partly because it's usually due to an error on the part of the doctor, not because of malice or violence, so the police aren't involved. And partly because, when a relative dies at the hands of a doctor, people don't call the newspaper, they call their lawyer. Then everyone hushes up before legal proceedings. And if it's settled out of court, as is usually the case, there's a gag clause, preventing all parties from discussing what happened, which obviously protects the medical people from allowing us potential victims to know the true risks. I look at it this way: When you consider the number of guns in this country, they are amazing safe (or I should, the gun owners/holders are surprisingly responsible and safe). On the other hand, when you look at the numbers of doctors in this country, their degree of education and experience, the number of people killed by them each year are amazingly high. As for statistics not mattering unless you're facing a gun or burying someone who was shot--keep in mind that 85% of the time, shooting victims are shot by people who know them--friends and relatives. So--who are you safer with? You family or strangers? <g> Jan G. ----Original Message Follows---- From: "bobert" <bobert@i-1.net> Reply-To: BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com To: BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [BSChat] GUNS VS DRS STATISTICS Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 13:10:21 -0700 Hi, Sheepers! Having a good day? Someone sent me this, no dates, just numbers, no author...maybe one of Heston's friends or hisself? Statistics really don't matter much unless one is staring you in the face, or you are burying one! Shirley: bobert@i-1.net Skewed - or Screwy - Statistics? which is safer? Number of gun owners in the U.S.................80,000,000 Number of accidental gun deaths per year (all age groups)...............................................1,500 Accidental deaths per gun owner..................0.0000188 Number of physicians in the U.S.......................700,000 Number of accidental deaths caused by physicians per year (all age groups).................................120,000 Accidental deaths per physician...........................0.171 (U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services) Statistically, Doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners. FACT: Not everyone has a gun, but nearly everyone has at least one doctor. Please alert your friends to this alarming threat. We must ban doctors before this gets out of hand. ********* ==== BLACKSHEEP-CHAT Mailing List ==== Creative use of your delete key is encouraged. If you disagree with the subject, CHANGE the subject. ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com