The shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas has reignited the gun control debate in the United States. The duty prepared six graphs to explain the phenomenon that divides the Democratic and Republican camps.
120 weapons per 100 people
In the United States, where the right to own a gun is guaranteed by the Constitution, the number of guns exceeds the number of inhabitants. According to the Small Arms Survey project, 393.3 million guns were in circulation among American civilians in 2017, or 120 guns for every 100 people. The rate of gun ownership in the United States is far ahead of that of any other country.
More than one mass shooting per day
Uvalde’s recent shooting is not the first of the year. In the first 145 days of 2022, the United States experienced 213 mass shootings, according to research group Gun Violence Archive. The organization counts in this category the events having caused at least four victims (deceased or injured), author of the shots excluded.
The Texas shooting is not only the deadliest this year, but also the worst to occur at a school since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which took place in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012.
Most gun deaths are suicides
In the United States, 6 out of 10 gun deaths are suicides. The rate of gun suicide in the United States is nearly 12 times that of other high-income countries, according to Everytown For Gun Safety.
Since the start of 2022, at least 17,434 people have died by firearm, according to Gun Violence Archive. Among the victims, 7732 (44%) were killed during a homicide, voluntary or involuntary, while 9702 (56%) died by suicide.
A historic rise
The year 2020 saw 19,384 firearm homicides, a “historic” increase of almost 35% compared to 2019. For the health authorities, this increase was potentially caused by the effects of the COVID pandemic -19 and poverty.
Children are not spared
According to a tally from the K-12 School Shooting Database, created as part of a research project for the Center for Homeland Defense and Security, 138 incidents involving firearms took place at schools from kindergarten to secondary since the beginning of the year. Not all of these incidents necessarily resulted in casualties or injuries. Last year, there were nearly 250 incidents, 135 more than the previous year.
Mortality by State
Texas, where the shooting that killed 21 people, including 19 children, took place, is the state with the highest number of people killed by gunshots in 2020. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States, Texas had 4,164 gun deaths that year. California and Florida follow with 3,449 and 3,041, respectively.
Texas does not have the highest gun death rate, however: with 14.2 deaths per 100,000 population, the state is far behind Mississippi (28.6), Louisiana (26.3 ) and Wyoming (25.9).