Fewer Americans are being killed or injured in gun-related incidents, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The death rate declined 26 percent between 1993 and 1998 -- and the injury rate fell by nearly half. The death rate hit its lowest point since 1966.

• CDC figures put gun-related deaths at 30,708 in 1998 -- and injuries at 64,484.

• That's 11.4 deaths per 100,000 population -- and 23.9 injuries per 100,000.

• Of particular concern, the CDC said, was the striking rate of gun suicides among elderly men -- an average of 27.7 per 100,000 over the five-year period.

• For women, the rate was 1.8 per 100,000 for those over 65.

Analysts predicted that incidents of suicide among the elderly will only increase as the population ages. Men were victims of five of every six gun deaths and seven out of every eight gun-related injuries during the five-year period.

Guns remain the second leading cause of injury-related deaths in the United States, trailing only auto accidents.

Source: Associated Press, "Gun Deaths Decline 26 Percent Since '93," Washington Times, April 13, 2001.