WHY DOES THE UNITED STATES HAVE OVER 100 DEATHS FROM GUNS, EVERY DAY?

 

…One example showing a number of hand guns that the authorities will be melting down

 

The U.S. is the only country in the world that has major issues with gun violence and school shootings.

 

In fact, gun violence in the U.S. is considered a “health epidemic.” 

Every year, nearly 40,000 Americans are killed by guns, including more than 23,000 who die by firearm suicide.

4,000 die by firearm homicide and this equates to more than 100 gun deaths every single day. 

Every day, nearly 200 Americans visit the hospital emergency room for non-fatal firearm injuries.

In 2019, the most recent year of data available, there were 39,707 gun deaths. That is109 deaths every single day.  

Three in every five gun deaths are suicides and more than one-third are homicides, while the remainder are unintentional and of unknown intent.

Among high-income countries, the United States is an outlier in terms of gun violence.

It has been well-documented that firearm "ownership rates* are associated with increased firearm-related death rates.

The U.S. has the highest firearm ownership and the highest firearm death rates of 27 high-income countries. 

The firearm homicide rate in the U.S. is nearly 25 times higher than any other high-income country.

The firearm suicide rate is nearly 10 times that of other high-income countries.

It is a common misconception that individuals living with mental illness are responsible for gun violence.

When compared to other countries, the United States has similar rates of mental illness, yet we have much higher rates of gun violence.  To be clear, mental illness does not cause gun violence.  The problem is the access to firearms.

Many Americans celebrate guns in our culture and disregard the inherent public safety issues that a gun-friendly culture creates.

U.S. firearm ownership rates exceed those of any other high-income country

Americans own 46% of the world’s civilian-owned firearms.  Thirty percent of Americans report owning a gun, with estimates of the total number of privately-owned guns in the U.S. ranging from 265 million to nearly 400 million. 

The majority of gun owners (66%) report owning multiple guns, and it is estimated that half of all guns are in the hands of just 3% of the U.S. population.17

Gun ownership varies significantly by state. For example, one study found that gun ownership varies from 61.7% in Alaska to 5.2% in Delaware.  Higher levels of gun ownership are correlated with higher rates of suicide, homicide, unintentional firearm deaths, law enforcement killings, and violent crime.

The reality is that gun violence in the U.S. is expected to increase, especially in America’s public schools.

Copyright G. Ater 2021