NEW YORK, Apr 7 (NNN-XINHUA) – A record number of people are dying from firearm injuries in the U.S., and new research suggests, shootings are becoming more lethal, reported CNN.
“Most victims of fatal firearm injuries die at the scene, before they can be treated in a health care setting. But that has become increasingly common over the past two decades,” it noted.
About 57 percent of firearm fatalities in 2021 occurred at the scene of the shooting, up nine percent since 1999, according to a research letter, published in the JAMA Surgery journal. For this analysis, researchers used data from the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and excluded suicides and other self-inflicted firearm injuries.
Nearly 49,000 people died from firearm injuries in the U.S. in 2021, CDC data shows, an unprecedented surge of about 23 percent over two years, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“And a shift in the type of firearms that are being bought and used, is a key factor making shootings more lethal,” it added.
