U.S. gun deaths since Newtown exceed Iraq war deaths: (Gun Control Reform Activism Group)
The number of Americans killed from gun violence since last Decembers shooting massacre in Newtown, CT, has surpassed the total number of U.S. military casualties during the nine-year war in Iraq.
According to Slates gun deaths project, which has been tallying the total number killed from gun violence less than six months ago, there have been 4,499 gun deaths in the U.S. The Defense Department has counted 4,409 U.S. armed forces killed in the Iraq war.
The news of the gun death toll since the 20 children and six adults were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School comes a week after the Violence Policy Center released a state-by-state analysis of government data comparing firearm deaths and motor vehicle deaths. The study showed that gun-related fatalities exceeded motor vehicle deaths in 12 states and the District of Columbia during 2010, the latest year for which data are available....
The Newtown tragedy prompted calls for tighter gun control, and the death toll of gun violence compared to the death toll from a nine-year war in Iraq is striking.
Gun control advocacy groups like Mayor Michael Bloombergs Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords PAC, Americans For Responsible Solutions, have targeted Republican lawmakers who struck down a bill that aimed to expand background checks. One of the bills authors, Sen. Joe Manchin, has pledged to re-introduce the bill on the Senate floor.
http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/us-0 via msnbc