When I served in the United States Army, I trained with an M-14. That weapon, which was phased out in 1968, was the last firearm I handled. My service was in a medical capacity, and although I knew people who had been shot, I was not called upon to shoot anyone.
I do not care to see or be around firearms. I realize other people like them, and bully for them. Most of those people who are passionate about firearms never served in a military medical capacity, or for that matter, any military capacity at all.
My Army service ended a long time ago, but I started thinking about how many people I have known since that time who have been shot. It's a fair number, and I offer it up for comparison to others' experiences.
In 1972 I was a rock band roadie. The bass player in the band I worked for, the Sons of Champlin, was a longtime friend, and his older brother was a high school classmate of mine. On a night in 1972, we were at the Nassau Coliseum in New York doing a show with the Grateful Dead, when Bill Graham personally brought us the news that the bass player's mother, father and brother had all been murdered. Their house, which I had been to many times, was then set afire by the assailant. The killer was arrested as he walked down the street with a shotgun, and he eventually served about 20 years for this.
Two other women of my acquaintance were murdered, one by a drug dealer in a deal gone bad, and the other, only 20 years old, by her husband.
I have known half a dozen people who took their own lives, but only two used a firearm to do it. One was a middle-aged man who had suffered from a disastrous relationship. The other was the 14-year old younger sister of an adult friend, who found a revolver in her grandfather's closet and used it right away.
Not everyone I know who has been shot died from stopping a bullet. Three of my friends have been wounded, all are Black men.
The first was the loser in a shootout that took place before I hired him 15 years ago. Five years ago he had to go back to prison to do 3+ years of hard time for a weapons charge, specifically a sawed off, loaded shotgun in the possession of an ex-felon. On paper he sounds like a dangerous guy, but in reality he is a good friend who would probably take a bullet for me. He has never come to work armed, and that's all I care about.
Another black friend wasn't a participant in the gunfight that wounded him, but he was close enough to be in harm's way.
The last victim and the most recent was shot by a deputy, who apparently feared for his life so much that he shot the 5'6" victim from behind The confrontation was sparked by a traffic stop for driving on a suspended license, and the attempted escape by the driver. The deputy claimed that the driver had tried to run him down, but the position of the vehicles does not support this, the victim was not charged with assault, and the victim was not wounded from the front. That oughta teach him.
There's the count for comparison, and I'm interested to know whether it is a "typical" count or an aberration.
Ironically, despite my complete lack of interest in firearms, I'm close enough to the clandestine market that I could have pretty much any weapon I cared to pay for, up to and including fully automatic and big bore. It's that easy.