Gun Violence Down Sharply In U.S.
Despite public perception, gun violence and injuries in the United States
have dropped dramatically.
According to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
gun deaths in the United States dropped 21 percent between 1993 and 1997 to
the lowest level in more than 30 years. The number of fatalities dropped
from 39,595 (15.4 gun deaths per 100,000 people) in 1993, to 32,436 (12.1
per 100,000) in 1997. The figures include not only homicides (two-thirds of
which are committed by guns, and which are at their lowest level since the
1960s) but also suicides and accidental deaths.
Furthermore, firearm-related injuries fell 41 percent. Nonfatal shootings
fell from 104,390 to 64,207 in the same period, or from 40.5 per 100,000 to
24.0.
(Source: Associated Press, 11/19/99)
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