Q: How many gun-related deaths are there in the U.S. each year? Can you break that down by murders and suicides?
— Keith Watkins, Brookhaven
A: There were 31,328 gun deaths by homicide, suicide or accident in the U.S. in 2010, Bloomberg News reported in December, using statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The FBI reported that guns were used to murder 8,874 people that year and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention reported that 19,392 people used guns to commit suicide in 2010. The total number of gun deaths in the U.S. stood at 37,666 in 1993, fell to 28,393 in 2000 and is projected to reach 32,929 in 2015. On average, about 85 Americans — 53 of which are suicides — are fatally shot daily, according to the article. In 2011, 8,583 people were murdered by firearms in the U.S., according to the FBI, continuing a downward trend since 2006. That year, 10,225 were murdered by guns, followed by 10,129 in 2007, 9,528 in 2008 and 9,199 in 2009 . In 2010, 38,364 people in the U.S. committed suicide, an increase from 36,909 the previous year, and about half of them used firearms.
Q: Is the television program “666 Park Avenue” going to come back on?
— Mary Thomas, Atlanta
A: ABC has canceled "666 Park Avenue." The network cut off any future episodes of the show after it's initial order of 13, according to TV Guide. "666 Park Avenue" went from about 7 million viewers to less than 4 million in two months and was canceled in November.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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