The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that gun murders in America reached their highest point in over 25 years, during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

According to a CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, gun-related homicides rose by 35% in the initial year of the pandemic. This was the highest rate since 1994. In 2020, the homicide rate due to firearms rose to 6.1% per 100,000 people, compared with 4.6% per 100,000 in 2019.

According to the CDC, there were more than 19,000 gun deaths in 2020, compared to more than 14,000 last year. Gun violence killed more people in all racial categories, including men and women of all ages, as well in urban and rural areas of the country.

Black Americans are most at risk, as the gun violence homicide rate rose nearly 40 percent to 26.6 per 100,000. That’s 12 times the rate for white Americans. Even more stark was the disparity among Black men, with the gun homicide rate being 21.6x higher than that of white males between the ages of 10 and 24.

Gun-homicides among Native Americans rose by 27%, to 8.1 per 100,000. Hispanics saw a similar increase at 4.5 per 100,000. Whites experienced a slight decline of 28% to 2.2 for 100,000. Asian Americans saw a decrease of 4.2% in gun homicides, to per 100,000.

Separately suicides with firearms rose 1.5%, to 8.1 per 100,000 people in the first year after the pandemic. At 10.4 percent per 100,000 persons, the suicide rate was highest for whites and Native Americans respectively at 10.9 percent per 100,000.

The CDC reports that guns were responsible for 79% (of 53%) of U.S. homicides.

According to the study, suicides with guns and murders were strongly associated with poverty. According to the study, suicide and firearm murder rates in U.S. counties that had the highest poverty rates were between 4.5 and 1.33 times greater than those with lower poverty levels. According to the CDC, Native Americans, Hispanics, and Blacks were more likely than other ethnic groups to reside in areas with high poverty rates.

Although the study didn’t examine the causes of the sharp increase in gun homicides in recent years, the CDC suggested that the pandemic could have had a significant impact on social services and schools as well as housing, as well as increasing social isolation.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.