This is a great example of a selective statistic. First of all, it doesn't specify a time-frame. Is this number of deaths in a year? Is it number of deaths specifically in 2012? This could be over any given time period. But moving past that, this statistic is also presumably limited to this particular kind of rifle, because I can say with certainty that the number of deaths from guns *in general* in the year 2012 is well into the thousands.
But wait, you say, the whole point of the argument is to illustrate how little this particular weapon contributes to overall deaths in a bid to reduce the vitriol aimed at this particular weapon. Well, sure, but you're comparing it to *all* murders committed by these other three things. Were there 1,589 deaths by kitchen knife alone, or does that statistics extend to pocket knives? Were those 518 deaths solely caused by ball-peen hammers, or does that include sledgehammers? I'm guessing the open-hand includes being beaten to death as well as strangulation, but the illustrations leave the original creator of this image a gross degree of leeway. If you're comparing the deaths of one, individual type of rifle, then it's only fair to compare those to something just as arbitrary.
These kinds of deceptive illustrations are ridiculously manipulative, and they preach the kind of message that is so easy for proponents of responsible gun ownership to pounce on. In the year 2013, there have been a little over 9,000 gun deaths in the United States. *That* is a statistic. And when the statistics predominantly lean in the favor of your opponents, it is very tempting to rely on fallacious material like this as ammunition to lob against those opponents under the illusion of being unfairly treated. But that statistic does not concern me here (although it ought to concern you). What concerns me is that there are very real points to be made here, and I know plenty of good, responsible gun owners who have reasonable arguments to make in favor of reasonable gun laws. *This* is not one of them, and touting an illustration like this to try to silence the real truth out there is akin to putting your hands over your ears and saying "I can't hear you" at the top of your lungs. It's insulting to yourself, to your peers, to proponents of gun control, and to those 9,000 gun victims in 2013. Instead of making up statistics, why don't we have a real conversation where we can all at least agree on where we stand? To do otherwise is to let another year go by with another 9,000 victims that could be avoided *without* losing the right to your legal firearms.
