Nineteen children and two teachers were murdered Tuesday at a Texas elementary school. This new shooting, the second in a few days, revives the debate on gun control in the United States. Here are seven chilling numbers on gun violence.
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111 gun deaths a day
An average of 40,620 people die each year in the United States from guns, according to the American organization Everytown For Gun Safety. Including suicides, approximately 111 people are killed every day in the United States. Texas, where the last shooting took place and where gun sales are poorly regulated, reports an annual average of 3,647 gun deaths, again according to Everytown For Gun Safety.
Since the beginning of the year, at least 7,629 people have already been murdered, says the organization Gun Violence Archive.
Since 2012, there have been 3,865 shootings
Since the Sandy Hook shootings a decade ago, in which 20 children and six adults were killed, the United States has reported 3,865 mass shootings, according to Gun Violence Archive. A mass shooting, according to the organization, is when at least four people are killed or injured.
Since this killing, the worst involving children in the history of the United States, the shootings have been chained in our neighbors to the South: in a church in Charleston in 2015, in a country music festival in Las Vegas in 2017 or even at a Walmart store in El Paso in 2019.
311,000 students victims of gun violence
Since the 1999 Columbine shootings, which killed 13 people, more than 311,000 children have experienced some form of gun violence in 331 US schools, reports the Washington Post. Among these students, at least 185 people lost their lives, and 369 others were injured. Tuesday’s shooting is the 27th to occur in schools since the start of 2022.
AFP
647 children or adolescents shot dead
In 2022, 647 minors were shot and killed and 1,594 injured in the United States, according to Gun Violence Archive. Of these victims, 140 were aged 11 and under. Last year, 1,560 American children and teenagers were shot dead.
More than one shooting per day in 2022
Since the beginning of the year (145 days), 213 mass shootings have occurred in the United States, according to Gun Violence Archive. There have therefore been more mass killings in the United States than days in the year, as Democratic Senator from Connecticut Chris Murphy pointed out on Tuesday. Last year, there were 692 shootings on American soil.
120 guns for every 100 Americans
In the United States, the number of pistols, revolvers and other guns in circulation has skyrocketed in recent years. In 2020, more than 23 million weapons were sold there, a record number, according to data compiled by the Small Arms Analytics site.
AFP
In 2017, 393.3 million guns were owned by Americans, or 120 guns for every 100 people, according to the Small Arms Survey project.
Increase in 35% homicides
In 2020, the United States reported 19,350 firearm homicides, which represents a 35% increase from 2019. The homicide rate thus rose to 6.1 per 100,000 population. This increase in violence could be linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, the homicide rate in Memphis, Tennessee was 2,352 homicides per 100,000 people, a record across the United States.
– With Agence France-Presse