Gun deaths in US reach highest level in nearly 40 years

Gun ownership in the United States is constitutionally protected by the United States Bill of Rights. Firearms are widely used in the United States of America for self-defense, hunting, and recreational uses, such as target shooting. The gun culture of the United States can be considered unique among developed countries in terms of the large number of firearms owned by civilian, generally permissive regulations, and high levels of gun violence.

According to Small Arms Survey, there are more than one billion firearms in the world as of 2017. 857 million (85 per cent) are in civilian hands, 133 million (13 per cent) are in military arsenals, and 23 million (2 per cent) are owned by law enforcement agencies. The new studies suggest that the global stockpile has increased over the past decade, largely due to civilian holdings, which grew from 650 million in 2006 to 857 million in 2017.
Roughly half of the guns owned by citizens (46 percent) are in the United States, which has the highest rate of gun ownership in the world. Gun violence in the United States results in tens of thousands of deaths and injuries annually. However, gun-related violence may or may not be considered criminal.

Nearly 40,000 people in the United States died by guns in 2017, marking the highest number of gun deaths in decades, according to a new analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's WONDER database. The data shows an increase of over 1,100 deaths from 2016.
Available on the WONDER database , data show that over the last 10 years, the age-adjusted firearm suicide rate increased 19 percent (from 5.81 to 6.93 deaths per 100,000), and the age-adjusted firearm homicide rate increased more than 14 percent (from 4.06 to 4.65 deaths per 100,000).

CNN replicated CDC analysis and found that 39,773 people died by guns in 2017, which is an increase of more than 10,000 deaths from the 28,874 in 1999. The age-adjusted rate of firearm deaths per 100,000 people rose from 10.3 per 100,000 in 1999 to 12 per 100,000 in 2017.
CNN's analysis also showed that, within the total number of deaths, 23,854 people died from suicide by guns in 2017, the highest number in 18 years. That's a difference of more than 7,000 deaths compared with 16,599 suicide deaths by guns in 1999.
The age-adjusted rate of suicide deaths by firearm rose from 6.0 in 1999 to 6.9 in 2017. Firearm deaths in the data include gun deaths by homicide and suicide, unintentional deaths, deaths in war or legal interventions, and deaths that are undetermined. When the data are analyzed by race and gender, they show that white men made up 23,927 of the total 39,773 firearm deaths last year, including suicides.

Suicide deaths are more common than any other category of gun death among both males and females and across most age categories. Males account for more than 85% of all gun deaths, regardless of intent category. Gun-related assault deaths outnumber suicide deaths in all age groups from ages 5 to 34. Gun-related assault death rates peak in the 15 to 34 age groups for both males and females. However, gun-related suicide deaths are highest for females age 45 to 54 and for males age 85 and older.

A similar analysis was first conducted by the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, a non-profit gun policy advocacy group. Adelyn Allchin, the director of public health research for the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, said in a written statement:
“In 2017, nearly 109 people died every single day from gun violence. Gun violence is a public health epidemic that requires a public health solution, which is why we must immediately enact and implement evidence-based interventions – like permit-to-purchase policies and extreme risk laws. Gun violence has been part of our day-to-day lives for far too long. It is way past time that elected leaders at every level of government work together to make gun violence rare and abnormal.”

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