The Gun Nuts Will Scream Bloody Murder About This

[Minimalist]

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015...in-america

At $229 billion, the toll from gun violence would have been $47 billion more than Apple's 2014 worldwide revenue and $88 billion more than what the US government budgeted for education that year. Divvied up among every man, woman, and child in the United States, it would work out to more than $700 per person.

But even the $229 billion figure ultimately doesn't capture what gun violence costs us. For starters, there are gaps in what we know about long-term medical and disability expenses specifically from gunshots. Miller's research accounts for about seven years of long-term care for victims, and for lifelong care for those with spinal-cord or traumatic brain injuries. But Kelly Bernado, a former police officer who now works as an ER nurse near Seattle, points out that survivors' life spans and medical complications can exceed expectations. One of her patients was shot as a teenager: "He was paralyzed from the neck down and could not feed himself, toilet himself, dress himself, or turn over in bed. He will live the rest of his life in a nursing home, all paid for by the taxpayers, as he is a Medicaid patient." She estimates that over the last two decades the price tag for this patient's skilled nursing care alone has been upwards of $1.7 million.

Too bad I don't give a fuck what they think.

[KUSA]

I really don't think they will give a fuck.

[Minimalist]

Nothing impresses the ammosexuals it seems....except the ability to go 'bang...bang'.

[abaris]

Too bad I don't give a fuck what they think.

Add to this the costs of all the useless wars, which are gun violence after all, and you can't do the math anymore.

[Lek]

Talk about doing the math!  We should first work on getting rid of alcohol.  The costs in lives and medical bills are way higher than for gunshot deaths and injuries.

[Napoléon]

Talk about doing the math!  We should first work on getting rid of alcohol.  The costs in lives and medical bills are way higher than for gunshot deaths and injuries.

Alcohol isn't designed with the sole intention to shoot things though dumbass.

[Minimalist]

Lek is not completely wrong there. 

Still, guns have no redeeming social value.

[Lek]

Alcohol isn't designed with the sole intention to shoot things though dumbass.

Doesn't matter what it was designed for. It's still the the cause of death and injuries to way more innocent people than guns.

[Brian37]

The gun makers and NRA have successfully brainwashed gullible gun owners that this is all about the big bad government. What is really going on is that gun makers are no different than the rest of big business. Create a lobby, get congress to pass laws that protect your profits and expand the market, poof flooded market.

The NRA used to be a safety organization when it first was created. Now it is nothing but a heat shield to protect gun maker's profits. Much like big tobacco did with "smoker's rights" lobbies.

The problem sane people have isn't gun ownership, in a perfect utopia if we didn't have all this gun death or injury from both legal and illegal guns, no one would care.

But the nutters on the right think "do nothing" is a solution and the fear sold to them by the makers and NRA lobby keeps them in that position.

[Longhorn]

Doesn't matter what it was designed for. It's still the the cause of death and injuries to way more innocent people than guns.

Alcohol consumed in moderation can have health benefits. It's used in cooking. With tea it makes a great drink for warming up. It can be a remedy for indigestion. While it's true that it causes a lot of harm when misused, guns don't really have any other uses than shooting. I see your point, but I'd still argue that guns are more dangerous and the harm from alcohol is more easily preventable than the harm from firearm use.