Americans are 10 Times more Likely to Die from Gun Violence

Americans are ten times more likely to die from guns than citizens of other countries. The findings reveal just how much of an issue guns are in terms of public health in the United States.

In this latest study, the researchers analyzed mortality data gathered by the World Health Organization in 2010. Investigators found that despite having similar rates of nonlethal crimes as other high-income countries, the U.S. has much higher rates of lethal violence. This is mostly driven by higher rates of gun-related homicides.

The researchers found that Americans are seven times more likely to be violently killed in comparison to other high-income nations. In addition, they are 25 times more likely to be violently killed with a gun, six times more likely to be accidentally killed with a gun, eight times more likely to commit suicide using a gun, and 10 times more likely to die from a firearm death overall.

"More than two-thirds of the homicides in the U.S. are firearm homicides and studies have suggested that the nongun homicide rate in the U.S. may be high because the gun homicide rate is high," said Erin Grinshteyn, one of the researchers, in a news release. "For example, offenders take into account the threat posed by their adversaries. Individuals are more likely to have lethal intent if they anticipate that their adversaries will be armed."

The findings reveal that the ability for people to get firearms in the U.S. is causing a massive issue for public health.

"Overall, our results show that the U.S., which has the most firearms per capita in the world, suffers disproportionately from firearms compared with other high-income countries," said Grinshteyn. "These results are consistent with the hypothesis that our firearms are killing us rather than protecting us."

The findings are published in the American Journal of Medicine.

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