Gunshot deaths in Snohomish County

When 20 children died in the Sandy Hook shooting in Connecticut in December, many people rushed to the Internet to argue about guns. As so often happens, emotions took over. It's almost an American tradition, debating gun laws. People on both sides toss out stats.

Let's fact-check one of the big ones: Is it true that more people die from traffic accidents than gun violence?

Not here. As the tables below and the accompanying graphics show, more people in Snohomish County die from gunshot wounds, according to data kept by the county Medical Examiner's Office.

Four out of five gun deaths reported here since 2007 were ruled suicides and, for a number of reasons, rarely resulted in news reports.

Conversely, nearly every fatal car accident that occurs around here gets some mention. Roughly 30 to 40 people die in the county each year in traffic accidents. On average, about 45 people die from gunshot wounds.

Guns are a significant factor in homicides here. Snohomish County reported 18 homicides in 2012. Of those, 10 involved firearms.

About 4,500 people die in the county every year, the great majority of them from natural causes or accidents. For technical reasons, almost all firearm deaths are classified as homicides or suicides, including fatal accidental shootings.

The most common causes of accidental deaths are falls and fractures and drug and alcohol overdoses, followed by car accidents.

About 100 people fatally overdose here every year. Some of those deaths are suicides, but many are accidents. It's not always possible to say for sure.

That's 100 deaths just from drugs and alcohol -- more than double those from bullets.

More online

• Annual report of the county medical examiner
• Need to Know report on how we die

Firearm deaths vs. traffic fatalities

Year	Firearm deaths	Traffic accident deaths
2007	38	31
2008	33	29
2009	62	42
2010	50	28
2011	44	38
Total	227	168

 

Firearm deaths

Year	Firearm suicide	Firearm homicide	All firearm deaths
2007	25	13	38
2008	24	9	33
2009	51	11	62
2010	46	4	50
2011	39	5	44
Total	185	42	227

 

Accidental deaths

Year	Accidental fall	Accidental overdose or poisoning	Traffic accident	All accidental
2007	96	98	31	225
2008	130	110	29	269
2009	123	110	42	275
2010	129	98	28	255
2011	137	149	38	324
Total	615	565	168	1,348

 

Non-accidental violent deaths

Year	Suicide	Homicide	Total non-accidental violent deaths
2007	72	19	91
2008	61	13	74
2009	94	22	116
2010	103	13	116
2011	95	11	106
Total	425	78	503