More than 17,000 dead in 2022, including nearly 650 minors: The number of victims of gun violence in the United States is staggering, according to a tally by organizations campaigning for greater control over gun sales to individuals.
– 111 deaths per day –
On average, 40,620 people are killed each year by firearms in the United States, according to the NGO Everytown For Gun Safety, or 111 people a day.
The state of Texas, where the sale of personal weapons is very little regulated, registers an average of 3,647 annual deaths by firearm, Everytown specifies.
Since the beginning of the year, at least 17,196 people have been killed by gunfire, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Among the victims, 7,626 died during homicide, voluntary or involuntary, and 9,570 died by suicide.
In 2021 there were 45,010 deaths, including 20,920 homicides, a record since 2017 (58,114), according to the Gun Violence Archive.
The shootings also left people injured. In the last almost six months, 14,247 people have suffered gunshot wounds.
– Children, also among the victims –
Children are often collateral victims of stray bullets or a found weapon, when they are not directly attacked as in the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
In 2022, 647 minors were shot to death and more than twice as many (1,594) were injured. According to this balance, 140 children under the age of 11 died and 2,898 were injured.
Last year, 1,560 minors died and 4,132 were injured.
– More than one mass shooting per day –
Since the beginning of the year, or 145 days, the United States has suffered 213 mass shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which counts incidents with at least four victims (dead or injured) in this category, not including the attacker.
“There are more mass murders than there are days in the year,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy from Connecticut said Tuesday.
In 2021, 692 were registered, a record since 2014, when the Gun Violence Archive began its count.
– Records broken –
In a country where weapons circulate freely and legislation differs from state to state, 19,350 firearm homicides were reported in 2020, a “historic” increase of almost 35% compared to 2019, and 24,245 suicides (+1.5%). ), according to the latest available statistics from US health authorities.
This is a level not seen in 25 years, but still below the peak of the 1980s.
The homicide rate stood at 6.1 per 100,000 population in 2020, a record in more than 25 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in its report released earlier this month.
For public health authorities, this increase was potentially caused by the effects of the covid-19 epidemic and poverty.
In 2021, several US cities, both large metropolises and medium-sized cities, also experienced records. Chicago, the third largest city in the country, recorded the highest number of homicides: 836. But it is Memphis, Tennessee, which has the sad record per capita, with 2,352 homicides per 100,000 people.
– 43 million weapons –
In the United States, where the right to own a gun is constitutionally guaranteed, the number of pistols, revolvers and rifles has skyrocketed in recent years.
More than 23 million guns were sold in 2020, a record, and nearly 20 million in 2021, according to data compiled by the Small Arms Analytics site.
Added to this is a growing number of “ghost” weapons, sold in parts without serial numbers, particularly popular in criminal circles.
In June 2021, 30% of American adults said they owned at least one gun, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
