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               CDC: Gun, Auto Accident Death Rates Are Same in US

   by VOA News

   Guns and motor vehicles are killing people at the same rate for the
   first time in decades in the United States.

   In data recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and
   Prevention, the death rate for guns and vehicles in 2014 both stood at
   10.3 deaths per 100,000 people.

   However, in 21 states and the District of Columbia, guns kill more
   people than vehicles.

   In 2005, guns killed more people than autos in just two states --
   Alaska and Maryland, plus the District of Columbia.

   Decrease in auto death rate

   Meanwhile, regulations and improved technology have contributed to the
   plummeting motor vehicle death rate since 1950.

   Gun homicide death rates have also fallen, but that is offset by rising
   gun suicide rates.

   It is easy and legal for the vast majority of people in the U.S. to buy
   guns, including assault rifles.

   That fact is regularly mentioned in the news with the country's[1]
   string of mass killings - the latest earlier this month when a
   radicalized Muslim couple killed 14 people and wounded 22 others at a
   holiday party in San Bernardino, California.

   NRA opposition

   The National Rifle Association, a strong lobbying group, has been
   successful in blocking gun control regulation, despite calls by
   President Barack Obama for Congress to take action against certain
   types of gun sales.

   Some Americans maintain that the Second Amendment to the Constitution,
   which guarantees the right to bear arms, means there must be no
   restrictions.  Other Americans say some restrictions are necessary in
   an attempt to cut down on the number of deaths by gunfire.

   The Second Amendment, ratified in 1791 as part of the 10-amendment Bill
   of Rights, reads, "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the
   security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear
   arms, shall not be infringed."
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   [2]http://www.voanews.com/content/death-rate-for-guns-and-vehicles-is-s
   ame-in-us/3110089.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/mass-shootings-in-us/3085938.html
   2. http://www.voanews.com/content/death-rate-for-guns-and-vehicles-is-same-in-us/3110089.html