The way many people around the world perceive it, the United States is a nation where bodies are piling up because Americans are constantly shooting each other. And of course, the reason\u00a0is supposed to be a crazy lack of gun control laws. Chalk this perception up to the junk press and to the nature of the news media business. In the Internet age, the unbiased reporting of nuanced and complicated facts isn\u2019t nearly as lucrative as tugging on heartstrings to generate clicks, shares, likes and comments on social media.<\/p>\n
In reality, gun-related deaths in America have been declining for decades. They are now at the lowest level in three decades. And, gun deaths are not even among the 10 leading causes of death in the U.S. These are, according to the official CDC data:<\/p>\n
Heart disease: 611,105<\/p>\n
Cancer: 584,881<\/p>\n
Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 149,205<\/p>\n
Accidents (unintentional injuries): 130,557<\/p>\n
Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 128,978<\/p>\n
Alzheimer’s disease: 84,767<\/p>\n
Diabetes: 75,578<\/p>\n
Influenza and Pneumonia: 56,979<\/p>\n
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 47,112<\/p>\n
Intentional self-harm (suicide): 41,149<\/p>\n