Here Comes A Ten Foot Pole

Camo-Claus and lots of guns: It's Christmastime at Wal-Mart

" It’s Christmastime in America, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest seller of guns in the country, is ready for any Santa list. At the Las Vegas store, a middle-aged woman talks with a cashier to clear her background check and purchase a child-sized Crickett 22 long rifle, which comes in black and pink for $114 in a box emblazoned: “My First Rifle.” "

No way am I going to chime in on this.  People on both sides of the gun control issue are doggedly committed to their position and nothing I say here will change that. Consideration of the leading causes of death in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control is unlikely to make a difference:

• Heart disease: 611,105 
• Cancer: 584,881 
• Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 149,205 
• Accidents (unintentional injuries): 130,557 
• Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 128,978 
• Alzheimer's disease: 84,767 
• Diabetes: 75,578 
• Influenza and Pneumonia: 56,979 (of which influenza accounts for 3,697)
• Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 47,112 
• Intentional self-harm (suicide): 41,149 (half of which were by discharge of firearms)

The top ten account for roughly 1.9 million out of 2.6 million deaths.

The full report, Deaths:Final Data for 2013, includes the following under the category of Accidents:

• Motor vehicle accidents: 35,369
• Falls: 3,208
• Accidental discharge of firearms: 505
• Accidental drowning and submersion: 3,391
• Accidental poisoning and exposure to noxious substances: 38,851

Assault (homicide) accounts for 16,121 of which 11,208 are caused by discharge of firearms. (Injury by firearms is 33,636.)

I leave you with only one more statistic from the same report and you can draw your own conclusion:

• Measles: 0