Muristek
By SAMUEL STEBBINS
24/7 WALL ST. VIA THE CENTER SQUARE
The recent mass shootings at a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., and an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, highlight the threat gun violence poses to public safety in the U.S.
And according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the problem is getting worse.
A total of 45,222 people were killed by a firearm in the U.S. in 2020, the most recent year of available data — up from about 40,000 in 2019 and a 25% increase from 2015. Only three states — Hawaii, New Jersey and Alaska — reported a decline in deaths resulting from a firearm injury between 2015 and 2020.
In California, firearm deaths have climbed by 11.4% from 2015 to 2020 — the 42nd largest increase among states. According to the CDC, a total of 3,449 people died from a firearm injury in the state in 2020, up from 3,095 in 2015.
The current firearm mortality rate in California, meanwhile, ranks as the seventh lowest among states, at 8.5 deaths for every 100,000 people
Gun sales in the state, measured using FBI firearm background check data as a proxy, declined over the same period. There were an estimated 1,601,054 gun sales in California in 2020, down from 1,761,079 in 2015. The 9.1% decrease in sales was the second largest among states.
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