Summary
The United States remains far behind most other affluent countries in terms of life expectancy. One of the possible causes of this life expectancy gap is the widespread availability of firearms and the resulting high number of U.S. firearm fatalities: 10,801 homicides in 2000. The European Union experienced 1,260 homicides, Japan only 22. Using multiple decrement techniques, I show that firearm violence shortens the life of an average American by 104 days (151 days for white males, 362 days for black males). Among all fatal injuries, only motor vehicle accidents have a stronger effect. I estimate that the elimination of all firearm deaths in the United States would increase the male life expectancy more than the total eradication of all colon and prostate cancers. My results suggest that the insurance premium increases paid by Americans as a result of firearm violence are probably of the same order of magnitude as the total medical costs due to gunshots or the increased cost of administering the criminal justice system due to gun crime.
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Extract
The Cost of Firearm Deaths in the United States: Reduced Life Expectancies and Increased Insurance Costs
VIOLENT DEATHS DUE TO FIREARMS: A U.S. PHENOMENON?
Life expectancy in the United States reached a new high of 74.1 years for males and 79.5 years for females in 2000 (National Center for Health Statistics, 2002). However, the United States remains far behind most other affluent countries, with U.S. life expectancy ranking 30th for males and 29th for females among the 35 countries and territories that had a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, expressed in purchasing power, of at least $20,000 in 2000 (author's calculations from Central Intelligence Agency data, 2002). Even within the United States, the gap between the life expectancies of Caucasians and African Americans remains significant: 74.8 years versus 68.2 years for males, 80.0 years versus 74.9 years for females.1Several factors have been proposed to account for the relatively low U.S. life expectancy compared to peer countries, including higher infant mortality, income inequality, and lack of a strong primary care system (Starfield, 2000). The World Health Organization points out that certain population subgroups, such as Native Americans and African Americans from rural areas and poor urban neighborhoods, live in conditions of poverty similar to those in developing c...See the full content of this document
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