In a letter to the editor [May 3], J.W. Austin writes, "Automobiles are responsible for far more deaths than guns by a wide margin."
The following may come as a surprise to him. For 2010, the last year for which numbers are available, the National Highway Safety Administration lists 257 traffic fatalities for Nevada. The Centers for Disease Control documented 395 total gun-related fatalities in Nevada, including 289 suicides.
In the U.S. in 2010, there were 32,885 traffic deaths and 31,672 gun deaths, including 19,392 suicides. Though nationwide more people are dying in traffic accidents, the difference between the two causes is relatively small, and shrinking.
One study, published in Bloomberg News, suggests that by 2015, guns could kill more Americans than will die in car accidents. Gun-related suicide rates alone in Utah, Nevada, Oregon and Washington are already higher than traffic fatalities.
Austin also suggests that the car of a drunk driver who causes a fatality should be confiscated. Many cars involved in these accidents are already impounded. Moreover, the license of the driver is revoked, and this is recorded in the driver's "background file" so the driver won't be able to obtain a license out of state.
Robert van Neyhof