, Columnist
The Costs of Southern Gun Culture
Bullets and blood flow most freely in the South, as hospitalization expenses from firearms injuries show.
The might of gun rights.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
It's difficult to do a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of American gun culture. It fuels a multibillion-dollar industry employing around 142,000, and it kills more than 30,000 and injures an additional 70,000 annually.
A new study by researchers at Stanford University tries to come to grips with one of the less frequently mentioned costs of gun culture -- the hospitalization expenses resulting from firearm injuries.