Imagine that where the violence is
Young Black men and teens are killed by guns 20 times more than their white counterparts, CDC data shows
Nada Hassanein, USA TODAY
Thu, February 25, 2021, 7:40 AM
Young Black men and teens made up more than a third of firearm homicide victims in the USA in 2019, one of several disparities revealed in a review of gun mortality data released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The analysis, titled "A Public Health Crisis in the Making," found that although Black men and boys ages 15 to 34 make up just 2% of the nation's population, they were among 37% of gun homicides that year.
That's 20 times higher than white males of the same age group.
Of all reported firearm homicides in 2019, more than half of victims were Black men, according to the study spearheaded by the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Sixty-three percent of male victims were Black.
The contrast is even more stark when the rates were compared with white people: Across all ages, Black men were nearly 14 times more likely to die in a firearm homicide than white men, and eight times more likely to die in a firearm homicide than the general population, including women.
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Black women and girls are also at higher risk. Black females had the highest risk of being killed by a firearm than females of any other race or ethnicity, and they were four times more likely to be victims than white females.
"Gun violence has for the longest time been a public health crisis in the Black community," said epidemiologist Ed Clark of Florida A&M University’s Institute of Public Health.
At a Moms Demand Action event, gun control advocates protest violence Aug. 5, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.
The gun violence expert said a "holistic approach" is needed to reduce gun fatalities and injuries.
"That should include really viewing gun violence as a public health issue. The business of public health is population wellness – looking at how we can decrease the disease burden or the threat of injury to the population at large," he said. "And gun violence is definitely a problem that should be looked at through that lens."
After Black males and females, American Indian and Alaska Natives were the next highest-risk group, according to the analysis, followed by Latino and Hispanic people.
Ahmaud Arbery was killed at 25: A year later, Black men who see themselves in him mourn his loss.
Most of children and teens up to age 19 who died that year died by firearm, the study found – 1 in 10 deaths in that age group. That's the second-highest total in two decades.
Evidence suggests gun homicides rose "dramatically" last year during the pandemic, the authors said, but because of what they argued is a lack of timely data, "we won't know the full scale of the problem for many months to come."
The emerging data suggests, the authors wrote, that suicides among Black people rose disproportionately, though the study found the majority of all suicide deaths by firearm, 73%, were white males. White men were more than twice as likely to die by a firearm suicide than others.
Sixty percent of all firearm deaths in 2019 were suicides. In total, 39,707 people died from gun violence that year.
"Despite the limitations, gun death data are the most reliable type of gun violence data currently available – but gun deaths are only the tip of the iceberg of gun violence. Many more people are shot and survive their injuries, are shot at but not hit, or witness gun violence," the analysis reads. "Many experience gun violence in other ways, by living in impacted communities, losing loved ones to gun violence, or being threatened with a gun."
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Gun violence is just a symptom imho, the lack of family unit including a father in the home is more likely the cause, baby mommas can't do it all on their own even though I suspect most try too.
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they ( government and politician's ) know nothing they can do short of actually punishing by long term jail time capital punishment and just plain getting them off the street will change it .
they also will not talk about inner city crime and draw attention to there failed laws so its ignored as if it does not happen
they have stated many times there goal is just take away guns from the law abiding citizens they know criminals do not and will not follow any laws after all shooting, looting, killing ,assaults , selling drugs ,using drugs , prostitution , stealing , and evading the LEO to name a few are against the law boy the laws sure seems to stop all that LOL
even the POS VP we have helped bail out thugs who had used guns in crime , obvious there not committed to punishing criminals or acts of violence just punishing gun owners , they can not stand not being in complete control of us its like they hate us having any freedom
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This bears watching.
Re-defining homicide as a public heath crisis is laying the groundwork for potentially draconian measures of control.
Conflating suicide and homicide under this umbrella should be doubly disturbing.
Remember, The Magical Covid was considered a public health crisis, and through that guise incredible powers were granted to and taken by local, state, and even the Federal Government.
This is not about crime, nor is it about the reduction of crime. It is about continuing the fundamental re-structuring of the relationship between governments and the citizen.
This is not new. It started in 1913 with the passages of the 16th and 17th Amendments. It muddled along, growing in strength for 100 years until it was kicked into gear by GW Bush's expansion of Medicare, Obama's expansion of the Federal intrusion in the Health Insurance, Trump's direct payments to individuals, and of course the idiocracy we have in place today.
The Pandemic of gun deaths will be our next major struggle, and we may have Beto in charge instead of Fauchi. Similar intellect, similar penchant for control; both have minimal understanding of the larger picture of what America means, and that some will do what is necessary to to preserve it.
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