Deaths from firearms are a severe public health issue. According to a report, there were 45,222 firearm-related deaths in the United States in 2020 alone, which equates to nearly 124 people dying every day. Of the figure, 4,300 are children and teenagers, about 12 per day.
In the published data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), gun-related death surpassed car accidents as the main cause of death in the United States. The report established that men make up 86 percent of all firearm fatalities and 87 percent of nonfatal gunshot injuries.
It also noted that the prevalence of firearm violence varies by age and race/ethnicity:
“Firearm homicide rates are highest among teens and young adults 15-34 years of age and among Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Hispanic or Latino populations. Firearm suicide rates are highest among adults 75 years of age and older and among American Indian or Alaska Native and non-Hispanic white populations.”
The right to own a gun is now a debatable menace to America’s societal peace, one that in recent years has become explosive. In spite of the terror, the National Rifle Association (NRA) sits at the centre of the U.S. gun control lobbying.
Read Also: For African-Americans tired of U.S. hostility, Ghana is still calling – Karen Attiah
The NRA spent around $250 million (£200 million) on lobbying in 2020 alone, significantly more than all of the country’s gun control advocacy groups combined. Every year it budgets roughly $3 million per year on lobbying to affect gun legislation; the total amount spent on lobbying in 2014 was $3.3 million. The association’s powerful lobbying opposes all measures of gun control, claiming that more guns make the country safer.
A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that between January and April 2021, 3% of the population (about 7.5 million US people) became first-time gun owners following the Covid-19 pandemic.
As a result, 11 million people, including 5 million children, were exposed to home weapons. According to the publication:
“Approximately half of all new gun owners were female (50% in 2019 and 47% in 2020 to 2021), 20% were Black (21% in 2019 and in 2020–2021), and 20% were Hispanic (20% in 2019 and 19% in 2020–2021). By contrast, other recent purchasers who were not new gun owners were predominantly male (70%) and White (74%), as were gun owners overall (63% male, 73% White).”
Although the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the freedom to keep and bear weapons. Critics are increasingly perplexed as to why a statement written over two and half centuries ago in response to a revolutionary conflict still echoes wildly in 2020s.
The surge in gun-related deaths among Americans aged 1 to 19 was part of a nationwide 33.4 percent increase in firearm homicides, according to a more recent study, which was published May 19 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The publication referenced the CDC data however seeking to provide an updated report of the former.
Their report made comparisons between the leading causes of deaths in America, ceding to the research conclusion that prior to 2016, firearm-related injuries were second to motor vehicle crashes (including traffic-related and nontraffic-related) as the main cause of death among children and adolescents.
Read Also: Assistant Secretary Witkowsky of the US heads to Ghana in first Africa trip
However, since 2016, the chasm has shrunk, “and in 2020, firearm-related injuries became the leading cause of death in that age group.”
Fatal incidences like the 2012 Sandy Hook primary school shooting (where 6 adults and 20 children were shot dead) and the more recent 2022 Texas school shooting (where 19 students and 2 teachers were shot dead) – on both cases by lone gunmen, have thrown America’s gun culture in a perilous spotlight.
The high rates of gun violence in the United States have sickened a large number of Americans. Today’s calls are stronger than ever to limit gun ownership and ban semi-automatic weapons that aren’t needed to protect anyone’s life or property.
Abeeb Lekan Sodiq is a Managing Editor & Writer at theafricandream.net. He is as well a Graphics Designer and also known as Arakunrin Lekan.
