# Individual actions vs. statistical likelyhood

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-actions-vs-statistical-likelyhood/646967>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [January 12, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-actions-vs-statistical-likelyhood/646967 "2013-01-12T15:40:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-actions-vs-statistical-likelyhood/646967/21 "2013-01-16T12:41:59Z")

</div>

> [@DrCube](#):
>
> What does any of that have to do with the current uproar over assault weapons and school shootings? I even said that while I don’t agree with gun control, focusing on handguns is the statistically honest way to go. People don’t kill each other with rifles any more than they get struck by lightning.

The number of non-handgun related firearms homicides is about 3,000 per year: [File:Ushomicidesbyweapon.svg - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ushomicidesbyweapon.svg)

The number of long gun homicides per year is around 600. [http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/united-states](http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/united-states)

You know that both of these numbers are greater than 40, right?

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/individual-actions-vs-statistical-likelyhood/646967.md?page=1)