1/1000th of 1 percent of ALL hunters in the US, it is a very low number. Of course, as already mentioned, it's not so good for those who died, or their families and friends, but it does show that Hunter Safety classes are paying off.
I haved lived in, and hunted in, Florida, Georgia & Tennessee. I don't know if Florida still does, but Georgia and Tennessee both require proof that you have successfully passed a State Certified Hunters Safety Class before you can even purchase a hunting license. Here in Tennessee, I took the class for the first time when I was in 8th grade. The County Game Warden, still to this day, comes to the school twice a year for students. Since our County is also bordered by the Tennessee River, and a lake at the Watts Bar Dam Hydroelectric Nuclear Plant, we also have a large boating/fishing population. The Game Warden teaches Boaters Safety and Hunters Safety classes.
They also use the schools at night for the classes for others who need to complete the course. When my son took the class 4 years ago, I attended with him even though I didn't HAVE to. I figure that a "refresher class" can do no harm at all. I have taken the Tennessee class 3 times and the Georgia class twice. When I hunted in Florida, they accepted my certificate from Georgia, so I didn't have to take the class there.
I was raised around guns, and had the safety rules hammered into me for as far back as I can remember. My kids were raised the same way. As far as I am concerned, I think that gun safety should be taught in schools starting at Kindergarten or 1st grade so children know that guns are not toys, and know what to do if they encounter one.... "Don't touch it, go find an adult". Quell the "curiosity" at a young age and push gun safety as much as they do "Stranger Danger". Children are more often kidnapped or molested by people that they know rather than strangers, and are more apt to discover a gun at home, left out by an idiot parent, than finding one on the street, in a park, etc.
I hope that helped answer your question. Sorry it was so long, but teaching gun safety is a very passionate issue with me.
One last note: many fatal hunting accidents are caused by falls from tree stands, when the person doesn't use a safety harness to secure theirself from falling out of the stand if they fall asleep, many more are from idiots using a rope to raise or lower a LOADED gun up to, or down from, their tree stands and it snags on a branch and fires, and some are from idiots shooting at the first thing that moves, not being sure of their target, or what is beyond it.
EDUCATE, EDUCATE, AND EDUCATE!!
Peace,
Ghost
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