Gun deaths in U.S. reach highest level in four decades
17th December 2018 · 0 Comments
Fatal shootings highest among Black men
Gun deaths in the U.S. have reached an unprecedented level, according to new data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Those numbers show that there were nearly 40,000 fatal shootings last year, 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.
A similar analysis was first conducted by the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, a non-profit gun policy advocacy group.
CNN replicated that analysis and found that 39,773 people died by guns in 2017, an increase of more than 10,000 deaths from the 28,874 in 1999. The age-adjusted rate of gun deaths per 100,000 people rose from 10.3 per 100,000 in 1999 to 12 per 100,000 in 2017.
CDC statisticians last week confirmed for CNN the accuracy of these numbers and that they show gun deaths have reached a record high dating back to at least 1979, the first year firearm deaths were coded in mortality data.
CNN’s analysis found that 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.
CNN reported that 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 comprised 23,927 of the total 39,773 firearm deaths last year, including suicides.
In 2017, the age-adjusted rate of suicide deaths by firearm was highest among white men at 14 per 100,000 – compared with:
• 2.2 among white women
• 6.1 among Black men
• 0.7 among Black women
• 3.0 among Asian men
• 0.5 among Asian women
• 9.3 among American Indian or Alaska Native men
• 1.4 among American Indian or Alaska Native women
That same year, the age-adjusted rate of homicide deaths by firearm was highest among Black men at 33 per 100,000 – compared with:
• 3.5 among white men
• 1.1 among white women
• 3.5 among Black women
• 1.4 among Asian men
• 0.5 among Asian women
• 4.8 among American Indian or Alaska Native men
• 1.2 among American Indian or Alaska Native women
Also in 2017, the age-adjusted rate of firearm deaths in legal interventions or war was highest among American Indian or Alaska Native men at 1.1 per 100,000 – compared with:
• 0.3 among white men
• 0.0 among white women
• 0.5 among Black men
• Rates for all other groups were either unreliable or not recorded
“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,” Adelyn Allchin, the director of public health research for the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, said in a written statement released last week.
“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.”
CNN reported that on last Wednesday, the National Rifle Association tweeted its long-standing position that “gun control laws are not the answer. If we want to prevent more horrific acts of violence our leaders need to stop demonizing the men and women of the @NRA and find solutions that will save lives.”
Despite having fewer residents than some major U.S. cities, New Orleans has proven to be deadlier than cities like Chicago and Los Angeles because of higher per capita fatal shootings. But in recent years nonfatal shootings in New Orleans have outpaced fatal shootings. In recent years, homicides have been trending downward in New Orleans. It was recently reported that as of Nov. 26 there were 132 homicides reported in the city, down from 152 reported over the same period in 2017.
However, crime analyst Jeff Asher reported that Louisiana had the nation’s highest murder rate for the 29th straight year in 2017 (every year since 1989) and New Orleans had the nation’s 4th highest murder rate (cities 250K+) marking the 30th straight year in the top 5 (not including 2005).
New Orleans’ murder total for 2017 was 157. In 2016 it reported 174 homicides and in 2015 had a murder total of 164.
In an interview with FOX 8 News earlier this year, Dillard criminologist Ashraf Esmail says raising the age to buy an assault weapon couldn’t hurt efforts to get a handle on violent crime.
“This can only be beneficial, you know, raising the age to 21. Generally when we look at the shootings, especially in this city, you’re looking at 18- to 24-year-olds that are engaging in these mass shootings,” Esmail said.
He added that recent crime numbers in the city are scary.
“When we look at our numbers over the last couple of years, you know, we say 174, 160, 157, it’s not that much of a difference. We’re still, if you take away even 40 murders, we’re still in the top four in terms of per capita in the nation given our population, so these numbers are still kind of frightening in regards to murder,” said Esmail.
This article originally published in the December 17, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
