Americans have reason to be concerned about radical jihadist terror attacks in the homeland, but what is the appropriate level of concern? Since September 2001, a total of 151 Americans have been killed by terrorists linked to radical jihadism (includes the 49 killed in Orlando). That’s an average of only 10 per year.

Ten is not an insignificant number, but neither does it seem large enough to warrant people living in constant fear and especially when you learn:

about 100 children accidentally kill others with guns every year
51 people die from lightning strikes, and
30,000 die in accidental falls.

It’s quite remarkable, when you think about fear of dying suddenly and violently, that you are five times more likely to be killed by lightning that terrorism.

And, if Americans really want to reduce violent deaths, consider that 11,000 people, on average, are murdered with gun each year. Arguably, if more resources and smarter laws were applied in that area, there would be much less to fear.

Why the focus on terrorism?

It’s interesting that far more people used to die in Western Europe in the 1970s than in recent years. Thru the ’70s the number killed ranged between 200-400 each year, in recent years, on average, far fewer.  Number killed each year by terrorists Western Europe

Strangely, in the U.S. the degree of concern varies widely depending political party affiliation. Gallup reports that 64% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they are “very” or “somewhat” worried about themselves or a family member being a victim of a terrorist attack by the Islamic State, while only 35% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents feel the same way. One can theorize that the significant difference has to do with repeated statements from GOP leaders and also the television, radio, print and online media that Republicans are exposed to. Republicans fear terrorism far more than Democrats

A recent article in Vox notes: “…not one domestic terrorist attack since 9/11 has been committed by a foreign terrorist organization. Overall, terrorism in America is happening from homegrown radicals.

“There is a conventional wisdom that terrorism in the US is the province of foreigners and is seen as a problem of infiltration,” says David Sterman, a senior program associate with the international security program at the New America Foundation. “And while there is certainly a reason for that perception, as the September 11 attacks were conducted by people who came in from abroad, in the more than 360 cases [of jihadist terrorism] we’ve examined since September 11, we found 80 percent are US citizens and legal residents.”

The New America data reveals that since 2001, 12 refugees have been charged with terrorism-related crimes, a number dwarfed by the 346 American citizens charged with the same crime.

Causes of Accidental Deaths

A report from the National Safety Council (NSC) reveals that drug overdose has overtaken car crashes as the top cause of accidental deaths in the U.S. killing more than 42,000 people in 2014. Figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that between the years 2000 and 2014, nearly half a million people died because of drug overdoses. Every day, 78 people in the U.S. die from opioid overdose.

Thanks to vehicle safety innovations, in 2014, motor vehicle accidents killed 35,398, or 22 percent fewer compared with the figures a decade ago. The number is significantly down from a peak of more than 53,000 in 1980.