Firearm Deaths: A U.S. Crisis Compared to Other Nations

10/30/24 The Guardian, Jessica Glenza: Some US states have firearm death rates comparable to countries in conflict, report says

An excerpt:

“A new report by the Commonwealth Fund finds some US states have firearm death rates comparable to countries in conflict…For instance, Mississippi’s rate of firearm-related violence (28.5 per 100,000 people) was nearly double that of Haiti (15.1 per 100,000) in 2021…

Rhode Island, which has the lowest firearm death rate in the US (three per 100,000) is still 23 times higher than the United Kingdom (0.13 per 100,000) and nearly 1.3 times higher than France (2.3 per 100,000).

The US overall is in the 93rd percentile of all countries and territories for overall firearm mortality, at 13.5 deaths per 100,000 people…

In another example, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and New Mexico all have higher firearm mortality rates than Mexico, where decades of violence between state forces and rival drug cartels has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and left more than 115,000 people missing…

More than half of all firearm-related deaths (56.1%) in 2022 were from suicide…the rate of firearm deaths among American children is 72 times higher in the US than in the UK (36.4 deaths per million versus 0.5 deaths per million)

Related: The Commonwealth Fund Report (10/30/24): Comparing Deaths from Gun Violence in the U.S. with Other Countries. The report has many charts showing U.S and each states data.

My take: The fact that the U.S firearm mortality rates can be compared unfavorably to places with violent reputations like Haiti and Mexico is awful. What’s worse is the capitulation by most to not even try to improve the situation.

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