Gun violence across the world appears in many different forms, in many areas of the world. It encompasses injuries and deaths inflicted by firearms of all types, both intentional and accidental; mass shootings, suicide by firearm, and unintentional firearm injuries are all types of gun violence. As of 2021, Venezuela had the most firearm deaths per 100,000 people; the United States had the 16th-most firearm deaths at a rate of 13.5 per 100,000 people, behind two US territories, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The US has the highest death rate from firearms of any other high-income country, thirteen times larger, in fact.
Gun violence is significant in Latin America and the Caribbean. Access to weapons, poverty, gang activity, and drug trafficking are just some of the factors that contribute to increased firearm deaths. Globally, there are over one billion firearms in existence, 85 percent of which are in civilian hands. In Mexico, approximately 50 percent of murder victims were killed by weapons trafficked into the country from the United States in 2019, fueled by the sheer number of guns manufactured in the US, lax gun laws in the US, and much looser regulations and inspections from the US into Mexico. Indeed, 70 to 80 percent of the illicit weapons INTERPOL seized through anti-gang operations in Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean were manufactured in the United States.
In the United States, firearms are the leading cause of death for children and adolescents aged 1-19. In 2024, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an Advisory calling firearm violence a public health crisis. The US is also the tragic leader in public mass shootings, with more than anywhere else in the world. According to the Rockefeller Institute of Government, between 2000 and 2022, there were 109 public mass shootings in the United States; among 35 countries that are economically and politically similar, France saw the next-greatest number of public mass shootings during that same time period – only six. Even among dissimilar countries, the numbers don’t come close; Russia’s 21 mass shootings during the same time period are the closest to the US.
I am at a loss for words to describe my utter outrage, my excruciating pain, and my revulsion at yet another massacre in what has become an unending cycle of carnage wrought by guns. The perpetrators are not only the murderers themselves but the Republican members of Congress who enable them to commit such heinous…
Within 13 hours, two mass shooting took place—in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio—killing 31 innocent people and injuring twice as many. We normally hear about these horrifying incidents, express sorrow and bewilderment, talk about gun control, and move on. Politicians, including Trump, dispatch their old and tired expressions of condolences and offer prayers to…
When I woke up yesterday morning, I was shocked yet once again to read about Wednesday’s mass killing of 12 people during “college night” at a country music bar in southern California, sending hundreds fleeing in terror. I have young children who occasionally visit these types of bars, and I can only imagine how devastating…
Once again, we are faced with another mass shooting. This time the cold-blooded killings took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, killing 14 innocent students and three adults. This horrific mass murder of young and old attests to the criminal negligence of our lawmakers and president, who dispense with their responsibility by offering to…