The Cost of Gun Violence

++Mother Jones has a special investigative report by Mark Follman, Julia Lurie and Jaeah Lee. It is based on the research by Ted Miller. 

++For the use of this post,I am using Ted Miller's figures from his studies on the cost of gun violence. The full article if gripping and clearly what good investigative journalism is all about.

++Guns kill 33,000 Americans and injure 80,000 per year. Guns are used in 70% of homicides and more than 50% of the suicides in the United States.93% of gun suicide victims are white. 80% of suicide attempts with a gun are successful. 93% of gun suicides are white.

++ 57% of gun homicide victims are black.Black men are 10 times more likely to be shot and killed than white men. Black women are more than 3 times more likely to be shot than white women.

++84% of gun homicide victims and 88% of gun suicide victims are men. For every gun homicide there are 5 other injuries from assaults with guns.

++This year among 15 to 24-year olds, gun deaths are about to surpass car accidents as the leading cause of deaths.

++When I came down with a severe case of malaria,the local doctor here that specializes in it also made his living treating gun shot wounds. Each gun injury requiring hospitalization costs about $583,000.
Each death about $6 million in total costs.

++The average American life's is worth $6.2 million. The EPA's model sets it at $7.9 million and The Department of Transportation is $9.2 million.

++The price of a murder--from police response and investigation all the way to prison time is $441,000.

++The total cost of Gun Violence is $229 billion per year. It costs each of us $700 a year. It costs almost as much as Medicaid spending.And it is about $50 billion more than APPLE's annual revenues.

++Ted Miller breaks the cost down into lost quality of life, victims' lost wages and productivity, and the actual direct costs. 

++Houston, we have a serious problem. Will the Mother Jones's investigative report lead to any government action. Hell no, Ted Cruz thinks we didn't defend guns enough after the Newtown slaughter at Sandy Hook grammar school.