NSSF Report: Hunting Is One of the Safest Activities in America

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) said that hunting proves to be safer than playing football or baseball, according to federal data. The NSSF, the gun industry’s top trade association, released the 2017 edition of its Firearms-Related Accident Statistics Report this past Wednesday.

The findings are based on data collected from the Consumer Product Safety Commission and its National Electronic Injury Surveillance System to parse out the injury rates for popular recreational activities — from football to gymnastics to hunting and everything in between.

Based on data findings for more than two dozen sport categories, only one activity appears safer than hunting with firearms: billiards. The injury rate for pool players comes in at 15 per 100,000 participants. Hunting ranks second at 38 injuries per 100,000. By comparison, injuries occur at a rate of 1,019 per 100,000 baseball players and 5,127 per 100,000 football players.

According to the report, around 17.6 million Americans hunted in 2015. The CPSC received just under 6,700 reports of injuries sustained by hunters that same year — about .04 percent of all participants. Read the complete article.