Here are five things to know:
1. There were 586 unintentional firearm deaths in 2014, down from 824 in 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the Harvard Injury Control Research Center said those numbers are misleading because of discrepancies over what is considered unintentional.
2. Accurate counts are critical for developing policy related to unintentional deaths. With the number of unintentional deaths as low as it is, even 50 additional entries could change policy on a national level.
3. It is believed the number of unintentional gun deaths is higher than what is reported, but research from the Harvard Injury Center indicates several cases currently counted as unintentional were wrongly classified.
4. The CDC is aware of an issue among medical examiners coding “any death where a gun was fired by another person as a homicide,” but the center hasn’t quantified the full impact of that error.
5. The coding problem is difficult to change because it is challenging to categorize intention in the cases. The National Association of Medical Examiners issued guidelines regarding the classification of cases, but they are open to interpretation among medical examiners and coroners.
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