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Gun ownership up in U.S., poll says: What about firearm deaths?
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iStockphoto)
(CBS) Are Americans getting more cozy with guns?
PICTURES: Death by gun: Top 20 states with highest rates
A new poll says more Americans own guns than ever before. Forty-seven percent say they have a firearm in their house - up from 41 percent last year, CBS's The Early Show, reported. That's the highest number the poll has recorded since 1993.
The Gallup poll also found that 53 percent of Americans oppose a ban on assault rifles and semiautomatic guns - the first time more have opposed than supported a ban. A 10-year assault weapon ban signed into law by President Clinton expired in 2004.
Do more guns mean more firearm-related injuries and deaths?
That's hard to say. The National Center for Health Statistics hasn't reported on gun-related fatalities since 2007. But back then, it showed more than 31,000 Americans died from firearm injuries - 17 percent of all injury related deaths that year. Suicide accounted for about 56 percent of those deaths, while homicide accounted for 40 percent. Other firearm deaths included accidental discharge, intentional self-harm, and other unexplained firearm injuries.
Males were almost seven times more likely to die from a firearm injury than females. When it came to states, firearm death rates differed dramatically. The state with the fewest gun deaths was Hawaii with 36 deaths.
The state with the most firearm-related deaths?
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