(Reuters) – The number of murders in the United States rose nearly 30% in 2020 and overall violent crime rose for the first time in four years, the FBI said in its annual crime report on Monday, in a surge experts attribute in part to COVID-19 hardships.

According to the New York Times, Murder and Non-Negligent Manslaughter Infractions grew 29.4 Percent in 2020 over 2019. This is the biggest annual increase in national records since 1960s.

The FBI reported that overall violent crime rose 5.6% to almost 1.3 million cases, but property crime dropped 7.8% to close to 6.5 million instances, which marks the 18th consecutive year of decreased property crimes.

Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting program (UCR), collects data from law enforcement agencies throughout the nation.

The Washington Post reports that gun violence was responsible for a greater percentage of all homicides – 76% in 2020 and 73% in 2019. Houston saw a 55% increase of gun homicides in 2020. This is in contrast to 2019’s 221 deaths.

U.S. President Joe Biden emphasised gun violence as part of his anti-crime strategy, and urged greater collaboration between federal and local leaders.

Biden, who has pledged to push for sweeping changes to firearms laws, in June unveiled measures to stem the flow of firearms used in crimes, building on executive orders signed in April that include a push by the Justice Department to better control self-assembled “ghost guns”

The Democratic president, who has longstanding ties to law enforcement, has also announced steps to hold rogue firearms dealers accountable for violating federal laws and help states hire more police officers using COVID-19 rescue funds.