New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) showed that the number of gun-related fatalities in the United States last year were the highest they’ve been in four decades.
The data, available on CDC Wonder, indicates that almost 40,000 people were killed by firearms in 2017, as analyzed by CNN. Gun-related deaths were first entered into the system’s mortality section in 1979, according to the news station.
About 60% of the 40,000 deaths last year were reportedly ruled as suicides, which equated to 23,854 people killing themselves using a firearm. In 1999, there were less than 29,000 deaths due to guns, according to the CDC’s data.
Vox reported that “the gun death rate hit 12.2 per 100,000 people in 2017, up from 12 in 2016 and 10.3 in 1999.” The numbers are staggering and surpass those killed in automobile-related accidents, according to the media outlet.
“There’s new CDC data out about gun deaths in America. Last year saw the most gun deaths in 40 years, nearly 40,000 people,” Hillary Clinton reacted via Twitter on Sunday. “What is wrong with us? This is not a problem we should have at all, let alone one that’s getting worse.”
There’s new CDC data out about gun deaths in America. Last year saw the most gun deaths in 40 years, nearly 40,000 people. What is wrong with us? This is not a problem we should have at all, let alone one that’s getting worse.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) December 16, 2018
Adelyn Allchin, the director of public health research for the Educational fund to Stop Gun Violence, broke down the number of deaths in 2017 in a statement to NY Daily News.
“In 2017, nearly 109 people died every single day from gun violence,” she stated. “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.”
This is Fenway Park in Boston, MA and home of the @RedSox. It holds 40,000 people. A #FenwayPark full of people died in the US last year from #GunViolence according to data from the CDC.
Almost 24K of those deaths were from suicide. pic.twitter.com/8dnii2jkgl
— Aquatic Ecologist (@H2OEcologist) December 16, 2018
[Feature Photo: Pexels]
