Public Health Challenge

GUN VIOLENCE AND MASS SHOOTINGS

IN THE U.S.

ALEKA AREDONDO
FARHAN DANISH
 Why is gun violence a challenge?

 United States ranks number 1 in all the countries in

terms of having firearms per capita.

 It also has the highest rate of homicide due to

firearms among the world’s developed nations.

 More Americans have died from guns in the United

States since 1968 than on battlefields of all the wars
in American history.
 Mass shootings have a devastating impact on our
communities.

 Mass shootings in the U.S. have increased over the years

and every year the number of victims has gone up.
Fatalities of Mass Shootings
Killed Injured

531

112
67 68 71 83
31 46 43
8 2 18 21 13 17 28

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Mass shootings do occur in all the countries, be it developed or developing.
Amongst the developed nations, mass shootings in the United States far
surpasses that of any other. This comparison is done with developed,
developing and countries with comparison in population.
 What the law says

 The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution

states: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to
the security of a free State, the right of the people to
keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

 Federal law sets the basic standards for firearm

regulation in the U.S., but individual states have
their own jurisdiction of enforcing the law.
 Gun laws in different states

 There is a link between death rates in a state and

tougher gun enforcement laws. The states of
California and New Jersey comparatively have
tougher gun enforcement laws and lower death rates
when compared with the other states with lax
enforcement laws such as Alabama and Texas.
State State Assault Magazine Open Carry Firearm
Registration weapons law Restriction Death rate
Requirements

Alabama No No No Yes 19.6

California Yes Yes Yes No 7.7

Colorado No No Yes Yes 12.6

Nevada No No No Yes 14.9

New Jersey Yes Yes Yes Yes 5.4

Tennessee No No No Yes 16.0

Texas No No No Yes 11.7

The annual cost of gun violence, direct and indirect to the U.S. was $229 billion in
2012. This number represents 1.4% of total gross domestic product.