The year 2021 witnessed a tragic reality in the United States, with one person losing their life every 11 minutes as a direct consequence of gun violence, according to a report released Tuesday.
Titled "U.S. Gun Violence in 2021: An Accounting of a Public Health Crisis" by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, it revealed that in 2021, gun deaths reached the highest number ever recorded for the second straight year in a row.
"Nearly 49,000 people died from gun violence in the U.S. in 2021. Each day, an average of 134 people died from gun violence—one death every 11 minutes," said the report.
It indicated that 48,830 lives were lost to firearms in 2021, an increase of over 3,600 deaths from 2020 -- the previous record high. Of those, the report revealed that 26,328 suicides involving a firearm took place in 2021 and 20,958 homicides were recorded.
According to the report, the gun suicide rate represented an 8.3% increase from 2020, the largest one-year increase in more than four decades, whereas the gun homicide rate was up 7.6%.
"Guns, once again, were the leading cause of death among children and teens in 2021, accounting for more deaths than COVID-19, car crashes, or cancers," said the report.
The study also showed that Black people are disproportionally impacted by gun homicides. According to the report, Black people were nearly 14 times as likely to die from gun violence than their white counterparts.
"Young Black males (15-34) are disproportionately impacted—although they represented 2% of the total population in the U.S., they accounted for 36% of all gun homicides in 2021. Their firearm homicide rate was 24 times higher than white males of the same age group," said the report.
The report outlined the data using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Underlying Cause of Death database.
It urged policymakers to address the easy access and availability of firearms, which they said drive the U.S.'s high rates of suicide and homicide.
