I am an adult who lives alone. I don’t own a gun, or have one in my home.
Who is more likely to shoot me? A criminal with malicious intent, or someone else in possession of a gun? In the former category I would include, for examples, being robbed at gunpoint, a gang shootout where I am hit by a stray bullet, etc. In the latter category I would include hunters who miss their targets, neighbors who miss a home invader or who have an accidental discharge while handing a gun, cops who miss their target, celebratory idiots who fire guns up in the air, etc.
I realize the odds of any of these things happening is very low, I’d just like to know am I more likely to be shot as a result of criminal activity or purely by accident? Also, I know the odds of an accidental shooting are much higher for people who have guns in their own homes, which isn’t the case with me.
When I lived out in the woods, the occasional spent round would fall on the roof during deer season.
That is the most near that I have come to being shot at.
That’s a valid bit of data, so I’ll add that I don’t live in a rural area where I might reasonably think that hunters are operating within range of my home.
This will depend entirely on where you live … in a crime ridden inner city neighborhood, then a criminal with malicious intent … in the forested countryside, then someone else in possession of a gun.
If you did own a gun, then most likely you’d shoot yourself …
So unintentional firearm deaths are extremely low. And if we delve deeper into the homicide statistics, I would be a lot would be criminal-on-criminal activity. Get along with your neighbors and don’t hang out with criminals and your chance of getting shot is exceedingly low.
It is impossible to know your personal statistics but it is likely that the answer is a criminal. According to the gun violence archive there have been 23,000 incidents of gun violence in the USA this year. Of that total only a little over 1,000 were accidental shootings. I have read that about half of accidental shooting are self inflicted. I am not sure if the 23K number involves suicides as well but even if it did it seems like accidental shootings are way outnumbered by intentional shootings.
I think this is a bit misleading … shooting someone with intent is more likely to kill, one would be actually aiming the gun … unintentional shootings are not aimed and stand a far better chance of just wounding, which isn’t included in the data you presented. The OP asks about being injured and from the other posts I suspect he would most likely be injured by a stray bullet during hunting season, or perhaps the upstairs neighbor dropping his gun off the balcony.
And I’m not only asking about death here, but about wounding, whether intentional or not. I imagine the number of non-fatal shootings is substantially higher than fatal ones.
I agree that accidental killings are far outnumbered by intentional ones, but I don’t have any idea whether that applies to woundings. Shit, I sure wouldn’t go hunting with Dick Cheney!
You may want to add to your list of possible events: egotistical, self-centered people, mostly men.
I am referring to vehicle drivers with a grudge (who carry firearms), those you accidentally bump into on the street or elsewhere (who carry firearms), etc. Gone are the days someone cuts you off in traffic and your response is to flip them the bird and leave it at that. It’s not uncommon the jerk who cut you off is now offended by your expressive finger and decides to retaliate with waving the gun he has on the seat, pointing it at you, or maybe even firing it.
Maybe the OP’s girlfriend owns a gun … if so then she’d be high on the list of those most likely to shoot the OP.
A few years ago we had a Californian come up for bear hunting season and he thought it was a good idea to dress up in a bear suit so he could get closer to the bears … the day ended tragically I’m afraid.
Obviously when assessing your chance of being shot by a criminal, your own behavior is key.
Are you yourself a rival criminal?
Do you resist when mugged, or politely hand over your wallet?
Do you date the girlfriends of dangerous men? (Or date dangerous women?)
I’d guess carrying a weapon increases your chance of being shot — are there stats for that?
This would, as has been mentioned, depend entirely on where you live and how you live your life there. General statistical cites are only the vaguest indication. This is an extension of the usual discussion or implication that murder rates in different localities, or countries, quantitatively indicate the risk of particular individuals in them, which they just don’t. The risk is extremely skewed toward certain types of people and patterns of behavior and away from others. General stats can put an upper limit on things which people might fear but turn out to be extremely rare overall, but aren’t much help in judging the personal likelihood of things which aren’t so extremely rare. For example for road rage shootings, very rare to begin with, but surely highly skewed by whether the victim shouted or made obscene gestures to the shooter. I don’t give people the finger if they cut me off, and only honk to alert someone of danger.
Personally I would induce, living in the same place in the US, NY area, for 20+ years, that my chance of being shot is so tiny that it’s useless to try to quantify it by sub category. Whatever the national stat is for each possibility, mine is far lower because there’s no hunting anywhere near, nobody shooting off guns for fun, much lower than average crime rate, I’m not involved in any aspect of the illegal drug trade even as retail customer, I don’t know any angry people with guns, etc.
