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Guns are now the leading cause of death among children and teens in the US, surpassing car accidents in 2020. In no other comparable country are firearms within the top four causes of mortality among children, according to a recent KFF analysis.
The new report comes less than a day after yet another community crippling mass shooting that claimed at least four lives in Louisville, Kentucky.
Mass shootings have escalated in recent years, reaching a record pace in 2023. There have been at least 146 incidents so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, leaving more than 200 people dead and hundreds more injured.
Black Americans live with more paranoia about gun violence
According to the report, Black adults (31%) are about twice as likely as White adults (14%) to say they have personally witnessed someone being shot and are also twice as likely to have a family member who has been killed by a gun (34% compared to 17% of White adults).
While a majority of adults (82%) say they worry “sometimes” or less often that they or someone they love will be a victim of gun violence, small but important shares say they worry either “every day,” (8%) or “almost every day” (10%) about this.
One-third of Black adults (32%) and Hispanic adults (33%) say they worry either “every day,” or “almost every day” about themselves or someone they love being a victim of gun violence, compared to one in ten (10%) White adults.
One-fourth of parents of children under 18 say they worry “every day” (12%) or “almost every day” (13%) about themselves or a loved one being a victim of gun violence.
Adults who have personally experienced or had a family member experience a gun-related incident are almost twice as likely to say they worry “every day” than those who have not (11% vs. 6%).
According to Everytown For Gun Safety, each day on average, 30 Black Americans are killed by guns and more than 110 experience non-fatal injuries. At least every other day, a Black person is shot and killed by police.