An analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals a record high of gun deaths in the United States. The 2017 gun deaths mark the highest number of gun deaths in about 40 years.
Record Number Of Gun Deaths
Based on data from the CDC’s WONDER database, there were 39,773 people who died by guns in 2017 alone. This is a 10,000 deaths increase from the number of gun deaths in 1999, increasing the rate of firearm death ratio from 10.3 per 100,000 in 1999 to 12 per 100,000 in 2017.
Furthermore, the number of gun deaths in 2017 was the highest since at least 1979, when firearm deaths were first coded into the database. This means that the number of 2017 gun deaths was the highest in nearly 40 years.
Suicide By Gun
The data included deaths by firearms via suicide, homicide, unintentional deaths, war or legal interventions, and undetermined deaths. Perhaps more pronounced among the deaths are the suicide deaths, comprising 23,854 of the total number of gun deaths in 2017, which shows a 7,000 deaths increase from the suicide deaths by gun in 1999.
Of the suicide by gun deaths in 2017, over 18,000 of them were of white males, while nearly 3,000 were of white women, followed by black men, Asian men, American Indian or Alaska native men, black women, Asian women, and American Indian or Alaska native women.
Public Health Epidemic
All in all, there were about 109 gun deaths every day in the United States in 2017. According to experts, this shows that gun deaths are becoming a public health epidemic that needs a solution. They further state that it can no longer be a part of Americans’ day-to-day lives and that it needs to be addressed with the help of leaders from every government level.
For instance a study just last May found that the states with stricter gun laws had lower death rates among young adults. However, the National Rifle Association tweeted just this past week that gun controls are not the answer but instead for leaders to "stop demonizing" the organization and find solutions to save lives.
