Gun deaths in US rise to highest level in 20 years, data shows
Source: The Guardian
A steady rise in suicides involving firearms has pushed the rate of gun deaths in the US to its highest rate in more than 20 years, with almost 40,000 people killed in shootings in 2017, according to new figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDCs Wonder database shows that in 2017, 39,773 people in the US lost their lives at the point of a gun, marking the onward march of firearm fatalities in a country renowned for its lax approach to gun controls. When adjusted for age fluctuations, that represents a total of 12 deaths per 100,000 people up from 10.1 in 2010 and the highest rate since 1996.
What that bare statistic represents in terms of human tragedy is most starkly reflected when set alongside those of other countries. According to a recent study from the Jama Network, it compares with rates of 0.2 deaths per 100,000 people in Japan, 0.3 in the UK, 0.9 in Germany and 2.1 in Canada.
Jama found that just six countries in the world are responsible for more than half of all 250,000 gun deaths a year around the globe. The US is among those six, together with Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and Guatemala.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/13/us-gun-deaths-levels-cdc-2017
HopeAgain
(4,407 posts)Make the guns and they will be used...
justhanginon
(3,290 posts)23.2 per 100,000 people according to Wkipedia. You don't have to be a genius to figure that number must have increased by a large number since that was from five years ago. The cost in lost wages, medical bills and just plain human suffering would be staggering. And for what????
underpants
(182,772 posts)This is just so sad.
Submariner
(12,503 posts)and decides to use it on himself soon.
KG
(28,751 posts)NickB79
(19,233 posts)Lots of depressed, hopeless people out there
Unfortunately, reducing suicide by gun requires more than a few new gun laws, though there are some you could implement that might help.