Firearm-related deaths in the United States dropped 21 percent over the five-year period from 1993 to 1997 and nonfatal firearm-related injuries fell 41 percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A new CDCP study looked at all gunshot wounds "whether intentional, accidental or self-inflicted" reported at emergency rooms.

• The report said there were 39,595 gun-related deaths in 1993, about 15.4 per 100,000 people.

• That number fell to 32,436 in 1997, about 12.1 per 100,000.

• The figures also include suicides and accidental deaths, both of which dropped by 10.9 percent and 38.1 percent, respectively.

• Nonfatal shootings fell from 104,390 to 64,207, or from 40.5 per 100,000 to 24.0.

The drop in gun-related deaths was not unexpected -- homicide rates in the 1990s have fallen to levels not seen since the 1960s, and about two-thirds of all homicides are committed with guns.

Source: "Nonfatal and Fatal Firearm-Related Injuries -- United States, 1993-1997," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly, November 19, 1999, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Washington, D.C.