Health department corrects gunshot death report

State organization now says only 5 accidental deaths in 2014, not 105

NASHVILLE — A publicized report that Tennessee had 105 accidental gunshot deaths during 2014 — more than any state in the nation — was wrong and there were actually just five such fatalities, according to the state Department of Health.

The Safe Tennessee Project, an organization that focuses on gun violence, initially reported the 105 deaths earlier this month, saying the surprisingly high figure had been verified at the time by both the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health.

“As an organization focused on reducing firearm injuries and deaths in our state, we are pleased to discover that the 2014 number was actually the lowest number in over a decade,” said Beth Joslin Roth, policy director for the group after the department issued a news release Thursday saying it had “manually” reviewed death certificates rather than relying on computer- generated data.

“At this point we do not know where the data error occurred. We are continuing to review the process to identify that and prevent it from occurring in the future,” department spokesman Woody McMillan wrote in an email.

In its news release, the department said the manual review found just five confirmed accidental gunshot deaths during the year, though there were eight cases in which death certificates were unclear but “a review of the autopsies for those cases indicated none of those eight were accidental deaths.”

“We regret any confusion that may have arisen when data errors affected the number of deaths attributed to the accidental discharge of firearms in our state,” said Deputy Commissioner Michael Warren in the release. “Even one accidental death is too many, and all firearm owners need to have a heightened sense of awareness about protecting themselves and others from the harm a loaded weapon may cause. We strongly encourage all firearm owners to take the proper training necessary to reduce the risk of accidents.”

Joslin said in an email that the

Safe Tennessee Project, using media reports, found at least 13 accidental gunshot deaths in Tennessee during 2015 and at least 12 so far this year “with the majority being children.”

“So we know that we must remain committed to encouraging responsible gun ownership and especially responsible gun storage,” she said. “We can only begin to address gun violence in our state when we are certain we have the most accurate data. I want to thank the Department of Health for correcting these errors and we look forward to working with them to ensure all public health data as it pertains to gun violence is reported as accurately as possible.”

The department has provided statistics on accidental gun deaths in Tennessee since 1999, though it has not produced a 2015 number yet. The highest number reported was 49 in 2001; the lowest, until 2014, was 17 in 2008.