Why Do Gun-owners Shoot More People Accidentally Than They Shoot Criminals Deliberately

Am I more likely to kill an intruder or a family member with a gun in my house?

It's actually a poor question since it implies the WRONG comparison; it's a false dichotomyThe useful question is NOT about how many bodies are piled up on the porch.Self-Defense (e.g., deterring criminals) is NOT about how many criminals are killed, but more importantly and directly about how many loves ones (including yourself) are SAVED, and how many are saved from very terrible tortures, rapes, or other abuses.With 2.6 Million DGUs (defensive gun uses) in the US alone each year, and the small number of accidental shootings (e.g., by NON-criminals but rather unintentionally) that kill family members and other unintended victims the odds are VASTLY in your favor if you obtain a firearm and use it for self-protection.A very little, but conscientious, firearm safety training will increase *YOUR* odds of keeping your family safe from both the criminals AND keep you and them safer from your own stupidity.Notice that "rampage shootings" practically disappear, murders go down, rapes go down, and violent crime in general decreases when law-abiding citizens are allowed to exercise their right to own and carry firearms.Other false questions (that is commonly used by gun control propagandists" use the phony terms "gun murders" or "gun crimes".As if it matters to the victim whether they are killed by a criminal with a baseball bat or a firearm.  (Actually if you must die, you might well prefer the firearm.)Getting beaten to death, stabbed with a knife, or otherwise murdered or assaulted seems not to matter to gun control propagandists as long as no firearm is used.Firearms are EQUALIZERS -- they empower women, the old, the infirm, those with lesser abilities, the defender, far more than they favor criminals.  Not all weapons share this property, and certainly not to the same extent.  Victims are seldom a physical match for the typically younger, stronger, faster, healthier, more robust, larger criminal (criminals don't choose to attack people who they believe wil beat them silly.)Safe usage is NOT hard to learn; safe avoidance for children is pretty easy to teach also.  But you will see gun control advocates go crazy (BSC) when some organization like the NRA offers FREE firearm safety to schools or other organizations.Such duplicity is hardly convincing when they also claim to care about safety.-- HerbM

Should people face criminal charges for not securing guns that lead to accidental death?

I disagree with your phrasing of "accidental death".  If somebody owns a gun they have a responsibility to secure it against unauthorized use.  If they don't take reasonable steps to prevent people from accessing their guns, then they were negligent and should face charges.   This year, we've had over 40 deaths of children 12 and under where the child shot themselves or they were shot by another child.  Guns killing children: An American epidemic     Since this article has been posted, there have been even more - I know of at least two incidents.  This does not include intentional shootings where the child takes an adult's firearm and deliberately attacks somebody.  While the two types of incident are different, they share the fact that an adult was likely negligent in protecting their firearm. This is tragic and more so by the fact that the children are often related to the gun owner.  It seems harsh to punish somebody who has lost their child.  But we have so many incidents that we can't ignore them.   I am not anti-gun.  But I am for responsible gun ownership.  A responsible gun owner takes steps to ensure that their gun isn't used without their knowledge and permission.  This is by a child, a teen or an adult.  There are many different ways this can happen.  I don't care how you do it, I just care that it's effective.   28 states have some sort of law to prevent children from accessing guns.  there is an overview at Child Access Prevention Policy Summary.  This explains the general issue and it also breaks down the types of laws and which states have them. As many people have said, this should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.  This is not incompatible with having a law.  The DA decides who to press charges against and those charges face trial.  This allows discretion and difference between cases.

How many people accidentally shoot themselves, a friend or loved one in the US every year?

No numbers on this are tracked by any agency, so it's unknowable.What we do know is that in 2011, there were 14,675 unintentional, non-fatal firearms injuries in the US. Some percentage of these are self-inflicted.This includes both people who accidently shoot themselves, and people who accidently shoot someone else.It counts any emergency room visit, and it should be noted also counts things which are firearm related but not necessarily "shooting someone".As an example, a cop friend of mine was shooting at the range and a bullet hit a target, bounced back and hit him in the forehead. IIRC, he got a couple of stitches. As such, this would count in those ~15,000. But it isn't really what you are looking for.We do know, however, that 8,086 of those 14,675 were treated and released, implying minor injury. 6,305 were either hospitalized or transported to another facility, implying more serious injury. (The remainder were simply observed, left on their own, or have an unknown disposition)By contrast, there were 591 accidental shooting deaths in 2011. (Though some believe that there are a number of suicides included in that number) Those between 16-24 have the highest rate of unintentional firearms deaths and injuries

I believe that in households where people keep guns for protection, more friends and family are shot (accidentally) than intruders (purposely). Is there any data to prove or disprove this idea?

Well, the beautiful thing about this country is that my rights don’t change based on what you believe. You can whine, and cry, and beg every lawmaker in this country to take my rights away “for your safety,” but the entire reason the second amendment exists is so that that I can shoot back when weak people like you turn to the bloated federal government to do your bidding for you. I know your question is about statistics, but I firmly believe that my rights do not need to backed by facts. Safety is less important than liberty. Anyways though, here are some statistics. A quick google search led me to a wikipedia article where they state that in 2013, there were a total of 33,636 deaths by firearm injury, 11,208 are homicides, 21,175 are suicides, and 505 are accidental/negligent discharges. They also state that, “According to this study [conducted by the CDC], not only have the number of accidental firearm deaths been on the decline over the last century but they now account for less than 1% of all unintentional deaths, half of which are unintentional.” Here’s their citation for that:Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence ." Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence . Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2013.Defensive gun uses in 2017 (estimated by the Washington Post, an extremely liberal source) total about 100,000 per year. This is not considered a controversial number, it is quite average. I got this info from an NPR article about defensive gun use, they cite a NCVS study. Now that I’ve given you statistics I can tell you what I really believe. What you are saying and doing is stupid, and wrong. You are perpetuating the political ideal that the collective should be placed before the individual. If 10,000 people a day were being killed by accidental firearm disrharges and there were only one defensive use per year, I would still be fighting for that person’s rights above the others’ safety. This society is not a collective and it never will be. We are not one people, we are a group of many individuals. We can not force others to live the way we want them to. One person owning a gun is not a direct violation of your liberty or safety. When you’ve already been shot at, then we’ll talk about taking that person’s guns. Take some responsibility for your own safety and buy yourself a gun. Stop relying on our government.