The Cost
The costs of the right to bear arms include the cost of deaths, of medical care for the injured, of support for those who survive with disability, of destitution when families have lost their breadwinner, of society’s lost investment in education of children, and of security costs made necessary by gun rights.
Some of these costs were covered in the book by Cook and Ludwig, “Gun Violence: The Real Cost,” published in 2000. We can adjust the costs that they cover for inflation and population growth, use other sources for those costs estimated more recently, and make reasonable estimates for the costs that remain. With those calculations we conclude that the right to bear arms costs every American at least $46.21 a year. This estimate uses a low value for a human life of $216,200, the cost of a 6-year annuity that pays the median wage earner’s income. It does not include the cost of school security. It does not include suicide by gunshot. Using more usual death benefits and including school security would raise the estimate.
Most of these costs are now paid through taxes. These costs and the associated tax burden make the right to bear arms fundamentally different from other rights in the Constitution.
The cost of $46.21 a year is a small cost, and for most Americans it is not a great cost. Although small, it is hard to justify any charge to everyone for a right for a few. Those who wish to bear arms are not bearing the costs.