Gun violence death rate in the US highest in more than 25 years

The number of gun homicides increased 35% in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic raging in the United States, to the highest level since 1994, according to a CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report published today. 5. The gun homicide rate rises to 6.1 per 100,000 people in 2020 from 4.6 per 100,000 in 2019.

Excluding suicides, more than 19,000 people have died from gun violence in 2020 compared with more than 14,000 the year before, according to a CDC report based on death certificates. The study did not include those who died as a result of a firearm accident or where a cause could not be determined.

Gun-violent homicides are on the rise of all people, of all ages, of most racial groups, men and women, in every region of this country.

Americans of color suffered the most, with the gun violence homicide rate increasing by nearly 40 percent, to 26.6 per 100,000 or nearly 12,000, about 12 times higher than the rate among white Americans. . The disparity is even larger among boys, with gun homicide rates 21.6 times higher for black men aged 10 to 24 years than for white men of the same age.

Gun homicides have increased by 35% in 2020 in the US. (Photo: Reuters)

Gun homicides rose 27%, to 8.1 per 100,000 people in Native Americans, nearly 26% among Hispanics to 4.5 per 100,000, and about 28% among whites to 2 ,2 per 100,000 people. The gun homicide rate fell 4.2% among Asian Americans, to 1 in 100,000.

The number of gun-related suicides increased 1.5% to 8.1 per 100,000 people in the first year of the pandemic. The gun suicide rate is highest among Native Americans at 10.9 per 100,000 and whites at 10.4 per 100,000.

The gun homicide rate is five times higher for men than for women, and the highest age for gun homicide is among those between the ages of 25 and 44.

In the US, 79% of homicides and 53% of suicides involve guns in 2020, according to the CDC. More than 24,000 gun-related suicides in 2020.

According to research, gun homicides and suicides are strongly linked to poverty. The counties with the highest poverty rates in the US recorded gun homicide and suicide rates 4.5 and 1.3 times higher, respectively, than the counties with the lowest poverty levels.

While the study did not investigate the reason for the dramatic increase in gun homicides, the CDC said, the pandemic may have played some role by disrupting social services, schools, and public services. employment and housing as well as increasing social isolation.

The pandemic has caused millions of people in the US to lose their jobs, with the unemployment rate reaching 14.7% in April 2020, the height of the crisis. The economic downturn hit minority communities hard, especially Americans of color. It was also a historic year of social unrest, including the murder of George Floyd, a man of color, by a Minneapolis police officer that led to nationwide protests.

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