Any Data on Accidental Gun Fatalities by Caliber?

[imkopaka]

I found out this morning there is something wrong with my 22 rifle (crappy little mossberg 702). It isn't cocking correctly and while I was function checking it and trying to diagnose it, it had a slam fire (or what WOULD have been a slam fire if a round had actually been in it. Safety first! ). I tried to take it apart and fix it, but the thing was so jacked up I broke a perfectly good punch trying to get the retaining pins out. Long story short, I decided to just get rid of the gun - it would cost less to replace than to fix, so I might as well just get a Ruger instead .

But this got me thinking about the slam fire and my mind wandered to stories I've heard from friends and acquaintances about people who have been accidentally shot (usually through negligence, but some through genuine bad luck). I noticed that most of the stories I've heard involved small calibers - usually 22LR. This made me wonder if there is a trend there. I did a couple minutes of researching, but mostly just got a bunch of anti-gun nonsense or stats related to assaults. Does anyone have any data on calibers as they relate to accidental shooting deaths? I feel like the results could start some interesting conversations, and depending on what is revealed it could be a good start for an information and training drive within the NRA to reduce the amount of accidental shootings.

To clarify: I'm not suggesting there are calibers that are more or less dangerous than others. My hypothesis is that smaller calibers are treated with less respect due the perception of reduced danger, causing an increase in instances of mishandling. I would like to know if the data support this hypothesis because if so, we know where to focus education to potentially reduce negligence with smaller calibers.

[Tex1961]

I think you have an interesting question... I have a theory though... In handgun calibers I would think .22 would be the most common followed by 9mm. Here is my reasoning. Most beginner shooters start out with a 22, that being said their lack of awareness and standard safety rules makes for a high potential of ND's. Followed of course by the 9mm since it is arguably the next most popular caliber today. Again due to lack of training and safety rules, I can see a large % of ND's through that caliber....

[srothstein]

I think you have an interesting question... I have a theory though... In handgun calibers I would think .22 would be the most common followed by 9mm. Here is my reasoning. Most beginner shooters start out with a 22, that being said their lack of awareness and standard safety rules makes for a high potential of ND's. Followed of course by the 9mm since it is arguably the next most popular caliber today. Again due to lack of training and safety rules, I can see a large % of ND's through that caliber....

I would guess that those two are the most common calibers in accidental shootings also. My logic is slightly different from yours though, but only slightly. I think, those two calibers are the most commonly used calibers in the US (22LR followed by 9mm). The sheer number compared to how many 10mm or 50AE weapons there are would make it seem likely to me. You have a valid point about the newcomers starting on those calibers and having more accidents through lack of training also. I add a third possible contributor though - the over-familiarity of the experienced user. A lot of new comers try to be very careful about weapons. They make mistakes based on lack of knowledge though. Experienced users, on the other hand, tend to get sloppy when they are relaxing or doing something they have repeated thousands of times. If they normally carry or use a more powerful weapon, their mind starts thinking that the 22 or 9mm is a beginner's gun and not a real weapon or dangerous. This lets them get much sloppier than they would with other weapons. We tend to relax our guards around things we have done a lot, it is just human nature.

I do agree that this would be a really interesting study to do, if someone could get the data. Number of rounds of a certain caliber sold each year to count the use of the weapons, number of weapons of each caliber sold each year as a proxy for number of them in circulation, then number of unintentional shootings with injuries (because it is highly unlikely to find reports of NDs when no one is hurt). The rate of shootings per round per weapon would be interesting and might help provide some start on reducing this problem.

[Liberty]

I wonder where long guns fit in. Some of them have poor drop or shock protection. A lot of hunters go out each fall and some have little training and safety awareness.

[Paladin]

I think Dave Kopel had some data that said that handguns had fewer accidental fatalities than an equivalent number of long guns. Makes sense as handguns are less lethal and tend to have more safety built in. I know muzzle loaders are the worst, because you have to violate a safety rule to load it.

[WildBill]

I think you have an interesting question... I have a theory though... In handgun calibers I would think .22 would be the most common followed by 9mm. Here is my reasoning. Most beginner shooters start out with a 22, that being said their lack of awareness and standard safety rules makes for a high potential of ND's. Followed of course by the 9mm since it is arguably the next most popular caliber today. Again due to lack of training and safety rules, I can see a large % of ND's through that caliber....

I would guess that those two are the most common calibers in accidental shootings also. My logic is slightly different from yours though, but only slightly. I think, those two calibers are the most commonly used calibers in the US (22LR followed by 9mm). The sheer number compared to how many 10mm or 50AE weapons there are would make it seem likely to me. You have a valid point about the newcomers starting on those calibers and having more accidents through lack of training also. I add a third possible contributor though - the over-familiarity of the experienced user. A lot of new comers try to be very careful about weapons. They make mistakes based on lack of knowledge though. Experienced users, on the other hand, tend to get sloppy when they are relaxing or doing something they have repeated thousands of times. If they normally carry or use a more powerful weapon, their mind starts thinking that the 22 or 9mm is a beginner's gun and not a real weapon or dangerous. This lets them get much sloppier than they would with other weapons. We tend to relax our guards around things we have done a lot, it is just human nature.

I do agree that this would be a really interesting study to do, if someone could get the data. Number of rounds of a certain caliber sold each year to count the use of the weapons, number of weapons of each caliber sold each year as a proxy for number of them in circulation, then number of unintentional shootings with injuries (because it is highly unlikely to find reports of NDs when no one is hurt). The rate of shootings per round per weapon would be interesting and might help provide some start on reducing this problem.

I think both of your theories are pretty logical, but the original question was about fatalities. Even if you had all of the data available, I don't think there would be enough incidents to
come to any valid statistical conclusion.