The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has demanded that more be done to make DIYers aware of the dangers of nail guns following a massive rise in injuries provoked by the tools.

Indeed, the CDC says that since 1991, nail gun-inflicted injuries have risen by 200 per cent, averaging 37,000 victims a year between 2001-2005. However, "work-related nail gun injuries had stayed stable since 1998", Reuters notes, meaning that cack-handed amateurs were bearing the brunt.

A CDC report concluded: "This increase likely corresponds to an increase in availability during the 1990s of inexpensive pneumatic nail guns and air compressors in home hardware stores."

The CDC's probe does not, sadly, reveal how many of the 37,000 annual injuries were due to users nailing themselves to roofs through their wedding tackle. ®

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