US Gun Death Rate Hits 28-Year High Last Year at 15 per 100,000 People

Gun Death Rates Steadily Increased Over the Past Decade... Surged During COVID-19
1.1 Million Lives Lost Since 1990... Black Male Death Rate 23 Times That of White Males

[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 29th (local time) that the gun death rate in the United States last year reached its highest level in 28 years.

According to a report released on the same day by the online journal "JAMA Network Open," published by the American Medical Association, 48,953 people died from gun incidents last year in the U.S., the highest number ever recorded. This amounts to 15 gun-related deaths per 100,000 people.

Research teams including Assistant Professor Chris Lees of Emory University School of Medicine analyzed data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 1990 through last year. The analysis showed that while the U.S. gun death rate decreased during the 1990s, it has steadily increased over the past decade, with a sharp rise during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since 1990, more than 1.1 million people in the U.S. have died from gun incidents, with males accounting for 86% of these deaths.

The research team noted that although males overwhelmingly die from gun incidents, the rates among females and children are also increasing.

Gun deaths showed an overall increasing trend regardless of gender and race, but the gaps between genders and races were very large.

In the case of last year, Black males aged 20 to 24 had the highest gun death rate, with 142 deaths per 100,000 people, representing a 74% increase compared to 2014.

The gun death rate for Black males was found to be 23 times higher than that of White males. The gun death rate for Hispanic males was also four times higher than that of White males.

The gun suicide rate was highest among White males aged 80 to 84, with 47 deaths per 100,000 people, a 41% increase compared to 2017.

Regionally, since 1990, the gun death rate in the West has decreased, while the gun death rate in the South has increased.