That's the more practical way to think about this," he said. "We talk about gun violence but you have to think of guns as an epidemic of injury by firearms. It has seeped into every aspect of American culture, from active shooter drills in schools and offices to the numbing feeling many people have that they could be shot at any moment, he said. Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association, told ABC News that gun violence goes beyond killings, and frankly, even crime. If we are serious about tackling the gun violence problem in America, experts say we must look at the complete picture, which they say goes well beyond the headlines and amounts to not one, but several gun violence epidemics begging for solutions.ĭr. What you don't hear about and what people don't assess is for every story of a mass shooting, there are, on average, 300 (other) stories, most of them suicide, that are never told. There are also the 2,606 gun deaths by law enforcement between 20, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And many times, the victims are the gun owners themselves or their loved ones, either through suicide or accidental shootings. It is seen as the scourge of urban living in some cases but also penetrates deeply into suburban and rural America. It comes into shocking focus with mass shootings but also hides behind closed doors with little attention and costs the health care system more than an estimated $1 billion a year for injuries alone, according to a report released in June by the U.S. Gun violence in America is a story that touches every corner of the country but does not affect everyone equally. Touches all corners of the country, but not equally And check back tomorrow, when we look at what type of gun is used in most shootings in the U.S. to hear more about gun violence from experts during roundtable discussions. an anomaly in the developed world - a wealthy country with an endemic gun violence issue and the seeming inability to solve it. It's a state of affairs that has become all too familiar - and distressing - to many across the nation and generations. Mass shootings and active shooter incidents have also continued to foster a deeply emotional and long-standing debate over both the number of guns and controls over those weapons in the U.S, all to end up with congressional gridlock and familiar arguments about mental health, millions of responsible gun owners and the Second Amendment. Active shooter incidents have been on the rise in the two decades since a dozen students and a teacher were killed at Columbine High School in 1999. Perpetrated in many cases with military-style rifles, they have become a symbol for some of America's obsession with guns, and high-powered ones at that, as well as a propensity for violence by some. Mass shootings have dominated the headlines, conversations and political debate around America's gun violence problem for decades.
Suicide stock photo gun series#
This report is a part of "Rethinking Gun Violence," an ABC News series examining the level of gun violence in the U.S.
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