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U.S. gun deaths surged 35% in 2020, higher for Black people

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© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Firearms Unknown sells AR-15-style rifles in Oceanside (California), U.S.A, 12 April 2021. REUTERS/Bing Gaan

Daniel Trotta

(Reuters) – Gun deaths in the United States rose by 35% between 1994 and 2020, making it the most deadly year since 1994. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report on Tuesday.

According to data, African Americans in general were four times as likely to be shot by guns than the entire population and twelve times more than those who are white.

There has been a lot of discussion about gun violence and the 2020 coronavirus epidemic. An FBI report in 2017 showed an increase in homicides by 30%.

The CDC report adds more detail to this by putting the gun-related homicide rate at its highest point in 26 year.

According to the report, firearm murders rose by 4.6 per 100,000 in 2019 and 6.1 in 2020. There was a strong correlation with poverty.

African Americans had 26.6 deaths per 100k, which is 39.5% more than 2019. The rate for white Americans was 2.2% per 100,000.

In 2020 there were 19,350 gun-homicides. 62% of these deaths occurred in Africa, while 21% was among whites.

In 2020, gun suicides were counted separately at 24,245 In 2020, the rate of gun suicides per 100,000 was at 8.1. This is little different from 2019.

Study found that the causes of increasing inequality are “unclear” and “potentially complex,” and the COVID-19 epidemic might have “exacerbated economic and social stressors.”

However, race was a factor. Other minorities also had higher gun-related deaths.

The report stated that “Longstanding structural inequities” and “structural racism” have led to limited educational, housing and economic opportunities.

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