by John Bonifield: Gun deaths in America have reached a record high…

Awaken

Nearly 40,000 people in the United States died by guns 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.

CNN’s analysis also showed that, within the total number of deaths, 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.

The disparities in how black and white men die in gun violence, state by state

The disparities in how black and white men die in gun violence, state by state

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 made up 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
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“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.”

On 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.”

Source: CNN