new peak of 40,000 deaths per year

Three years ago, we signed in these pages a text describing the extent of gun death in the United States.

Posted on 09 September 2019 at 11 am

Robert Choinière
demographer *

The most recent data were on the year 2014 and established the death toll at 33,000. Three years later, the count reaches for 2017, the last available year, a new peak of 40,000 deaths.

The previous report stated that the number of firearm deaths was changing year-over-year in line with the size of the American population, so that the mortality rate remained stable over time. This is no longer the case: from 2014 to 2017, the rate has increased by 11%.

Data analysis shows that 60% of firearm deaths relate to suicides and 37% to homicides. Surprisingly, the killings, the events we hear about regularly, account for less than 1% of all firearm homicides.

The most recent statistics show that two subgroups of the population are the most affected: black men aged 15 to 54, mainly by homicide, and white men aged 75 and over, mostly by suicide.

For the past 20 years, the National Rifle Association has been lobbying to prevent the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from obtaining sufficient funds to carry out extensive research to better establish the best interventions to reduce this scourge, including those that go through control. firearms.

Many organizations, including several associations of health professionals, are now in the debate. These organizations also point out that the strategies to be used in the prevention of injuries and deaths by firearms can be inspired, for example, by those that have reduced the harmful effects of tobacco use or accidents. the road.

One thing is certain: these strategies can not be limited to prohibiting access to automatic weapons, since the vast majority of firearm deaths involve handguns. These strategies must therefore cover a broad spectrum, including permit eligibility, weapons storage, mental health and research.

* The author has worked for over 30 years in the field of population health, including the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec and the Public Health Department of Montreal.