Because more people die from gun-related causes each year in the United States than in other high-income countries, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has officially declared that gun violence is a disease. public health crisis On June 25, 2024. Murthy noted in his advice that more than half of U.S. adults have either experienced gun-related violence or have a family member who has. firearms leading cause of death in children What are the most commonly used weapons in the USA? domestic violence against women.

By the surgeon general’s 2024 declaration, it was already available. 248 mass shootings in the USA – incidents in which four or more people, not including the shooter, were shot or killed within a six-month period only. There were more than 650 mass shootings in the previous year, and 43,000 deaths associated with firearms. Mass shootings, despite high publicity, account for less than 2 percent of all gun deaths in the United States

gun deaths largely preventableIt continues to contribute significantly to the increase in preventable death rates. Lowering life expectancy in the USA. While data limitations make it difficult to calculate the accurate number of firearm-related injuries, studies show that the number of firearm-related injuries almost twice the number of reported deaths every year.

According to some estimates, gun violence It costs the US approximately $557 billion in 2022; $2.8 billion was spent on health care costs, mental health services, and emergency services. The largest portion of this total was made up of costs related to quality of life, lost suffering and welfare of those injured or killed, and costs to families. Combined with other losses in the billions of dollars, gunshot deaths cost roughly $274,000 per victim, with each injury costing over $25,000 per patient; This equates to an average cost of $1,700 per taxpayer per year.

Previously, the Commonwealth Fund reported firearm deaths in the United States. other high income countriesshowing consistently higher US rates. In the charts below, we also look at countries with firearm death rates closer to U.S. rates. The first three exhibits show how the United States compares to: 1) all countries and regions in the world; 2) across a group of countries where firearm death rates are similar; and 3) across high-income countries only. We also show how firearm deaths in US states compare to other countries. Data comes from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Global Burden of Disease study and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s WONDER database (seeHow We Conducted This Study” for details).