Gun Violence Deaths on the Rise in US
The number of gun violence death victims who perish before reaching medical care has seen a significant rise in the past two decades. A recent study published in JAMA Surgery reveals that 57% of gun homicides occur at the crime scene in 2021, representing an increase of 9% compared to 1999.
Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that over 48,000 gun-related fatalities occurred in the U.S. in 2021, marking a staggering 23% increase from 2019 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to experts, the transition towards more lethal and military-style weapons is a key factor contributing to increasingly lethal shootings.
"More and more, we're seeing a shift towards military-style weapons with higher speeds and lethality," said Dr. Eric Fleegler, a pediatrician at Boston Children's Hospital.
"This includes larger magazine capacities, enabling more rounds to be fired, the ability to fire rounds with higher speed, and honestly, larger, faster bullets inflict more damage on the human body."
Firearms, in particular handguns, are the most common murder weapons, and they are used in the majority of homicides involving firearms. However, assault rifles like the AR-15 are being used with increasing frequency.
Based on FBI data, nearly 4% of firearms homicides in 2021 involved rifles, resulting in 447 deaths. Compared to 2015, the number of fatalities due to rifle homicides has more than doubled, and their frequency has nearly tripled.
Other external factors could also play a role in where victims die, such as an increased demand for ambulances that affects the availability of emergency transport services.
Despite these factors, experts believe that better and more reliable data on gun violence is essential.
For instance, CDC data lacks clear definitions to differentiate fatalities occurrences, and many are coded as "other" or "unknown." Experts argue that the true scale of the American gun epidemic exceeds the reported death count.
"Gun violence deaths are horrific tragedies, but unfortunately, they are only the tip of the iceberg," said Dr. Matthew Baum, a professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
"Many more people suffer physically from gun violence, causing significant emotional damage to families and communities, and reliable data are needed to understand this fully."
While more questions remain to be answered, experts agree that this latest study reinforces that focusing on reducing gun violence requires addressing the types of weapons available.
"It reinforces the idea that we might want to consider measures that limit magazine capacity and access to high-caliber weapons," said Ali Davis, a policy advisor at the Center for Gun Violence Solutions at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
