In article <CKLqL8.4Gxs@hawnews.watson.ibm.com> mjp@austin.ibm.com (Michael J. Phelps) writes:
> Wright (1983) compare handgun attacks with long bladed knife attacks;
> as do Wilson & Sherman (1961 p 643) with findings of:
>
> mortality rate for handguns: 16.8%
> ice picks: 14.3
> butcher knives: 13.3
Kleck has made a dishonest selection of data from Wilson & Sherman:
>from the same table that the figures above were plucked from:
rifles: 7.7
Unless you think that handguns are twice as deadly as rifles, this should be a clue that something is very wrong. (Another clue, free of charge: 2/15=13.3% and 2/14=14.3%)
> [note that these rates don't address untreated woundings, so the 16%
> handgun mortality rate correlates well with Cook's 15%]
They also don't address untreated DEATHs, so the comparison is bogus.
Tim