Current:Home > MyGun deaths hit their highest level ever in 2021, with 1 person dead every 11 minutes-LoTradeCoin
Gun deaths hit their highest level ever in 2021, with 1 person dead every 11 minutes
View Date:2024-12-24 07:45:51
Gun deaths in the United States reached an all-time high in 2021 for the second year in a row, with firearms violence the single leading cause of death for children and young adults, according to a new study released by Johns Hopkins University.
The annual study, which relies on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported a total of 48,830 Americans lost their lives to gun violence in 2021. The latest data works out to one gun death every 11 minutes, according U.S. Gun Violence in 2021: An Accounting of a Public Health Crisis.
The report found 26,328 suicides involving a firearm took place in 2021 and 20,958 homicides. The gun suicide rate represented an 8.3% increase from 2020 — the largest one-year increase in more than four decades. The gun homicide rate was up 7.6%.
Further, the gun homicide rate rose 45% from 2019 to 2021, while the rate for homicides not involving a gun rose just 7% in the same period. Likewise, while the rate of suicides by firearm increased 10% over the same period, it was down 8% when looking at suicides by other means.
"Guns are driving this increase," says Ari Davis, a lead author on the study.
"I think in some ways that's not surprising, because we've seen large increases in gun purchasing," Davis says. "We've seen a large number of states make it much easier to carry a gun in public, concealed carry, and to purchase a gun without having to go through some of the vetting process that other states have."
The report outlines alarming increases of gun homicides among racial and ethnic minorities. From 2019 to 2021, the gun homicide rate increased by 49% for African Americans and 44% for Hispanics/Latinos. That figure rose by 55% among American Indians/Alaska Natives.
In 2021, the deadliest year in U.S. history due to the pandemic, guns also outpaced COVID-19, car crashes and cancers as the leading cause of death among children and teens — most notably among Black children and teens. While there were more suicides than homicides for the general population, nearly two-thirds of gun deaths for children and teens were homicides.
The study points out that the rise in gun deaths coincides with record gun sales.
"Millions of first-time purchasers, including Black and Hispanic/Latino people, and women of all races and ethnicities, bought guns during the pandemic at unprecedented levels," it says.
It also notes that "states with the lowest gun death rates in 2021 have some of the strongest gun violence prevention laws in the country," with someone in Mississippi — with the highest rate of gun violence, according to the study — 10 times more likely to die of gun violence than in Massachusetts, which ranked lowest.
The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence gives Massachusetts a grade of "A-" for the strength of its gun laws, compared to an "F" for Mississippi.
Davis, the study co-author, says that looking ahead to the CDC's provisional data for the first nine months of 2022 offers little in the way of optimism.
"We're [seeing] about the same level as in 2021," he says. "So, it's smoothing off, but it's not dropping back down to what we saw pre-pandemic."
veryGood! (977)
Related
- Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul VIP fight package costs a whopping $2M. Here's who bought it.
- US Open Cup final: How to watch Los Angeles FC vs. Sporting Kansas City
- Transform Your Bathroom Into a Relaxing Spa With These Must-Have Products
- Presidents Cup TV, streaming, rosters for US vs. International tournament
- ‘Heretic’ and Hugh Grant debut with $11 million, but ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ tops box office again
- California fire agency employee charged with arson spent months as inmate firefighter
- Sen. Raphael Warnock is working on children’s book inspired by the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000
- Climate change destroyed an Alaska village. Its residents are starting over in a new town
- Mississippi woman pleads guilty to stealing Social Security funds
- I Won't Do My Laundry Without These Amazon Essentials Starting at $6
Ranking
- Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul press conference highlights: 'Problem Child' goads 'Iron Mike'
- No forgiveness: Family of Oklahoma man gunned down rejects death row inmate's pleas
- How Halle Berry Ended Up Explaining Menopause to Mike Tyson
- Zelenskyy is visiting the White House as a partisan divide grows over Ukraine war
- Detroit-area police win appeal over liability in death of woman in custody
- Revisiting 2024 PCCAs Host Shania Twain’s Evolution That Will Impress You Very Much
- The Masked Singer's First Season 12 Celebrity Reveal Is a Total Touchdown
- Suspect arrested after Tucson junior college student killed on the University of Arizona campus
Recommendation
-
Taylor Swift's Dad Scott Swift Photobombs Couples Pic With Travis Kelce
-
These are the top 5 states with the worst-behaved drivers: Ohio? Texas? You're good.
-
Detroit judge who put teen in handcuffs during field trip is demoted to speeding tickets
-
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Attorney Says He’s “Very Eager” to Testify in Upcoming Trial
-
Paraguay vs. Argentina live updates: Watch Messi play World Cup qualifying match tonight
-
Halsey Hospitalized After Very Scary Seizure
-
Napheesa Collier matches WNBA scoring record as Lynx knock out Diana Taurasi and the Mercury
-
Browns QB Deshaun Watson won't ask for designed runs: 'I'm not a running back'