January, 06 2012, 10:02am EDT
Number of Americans Shot Each Year is Rising New Analysis Shows
As Anniversary of Mass Shooting in Tucson that Killed Six and Injured 13--including U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords--Approaches, New Analysis Shows the Number of Americans Shot Each Year is Rising
WASHINGTON
As gun violence prevention supporters begin holding vigils across America marking the January 8th one-year anniversary of the mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona, that claimed six lives and wounded 13 others, including U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), the Violence Policy Center (VPC) today released "More Guns, More Shootings," (https://www.vpc.org/studies/moreguns.pdf) a new analysis of fatal and non-fatal gunshot injuries showing that the total number of people shot in the United States each year has risen significantly from the beginning of the new century to 2008, the latest year for which complete federal data is available. Between 2000 and 2008, a total of 272,590 people died of gunshot injuries in the United States--an average of 30,288 gun deaths per year, a number shocking by comparison to any other developed country. During that same time period, an estimated 617,488 people suffered nonfatal gunshot injuries in the United States. The total number of people shot in 2008 totaled 110,215--the highest total recorded during the nine-year period surveyed in the analysis.
The analysis explains that "the common focus on gun deaths as a marker to illustrate America's 'gun problem' obscures an alarming trend. The number of persons who suffer nonfatal gunshot injuries--that is, who are shot but do not die--has risen..., this means simply that more people are being shot by guns every year. In other words, America's gun problem is getting worse, not better. More guns means more shootings."
Many experts cite advances in emergency services, including implementation of the 911 system and advanced trauma care, as a primary reason that more gunshot victims survive. Many of these survivors, however, suffer extreme, life-altering injuries. The injuries suffered by Representative Giffords offer but one example of the severity of the damage bullets inflict on the human body. In fact, 50 percent of all trauma deaths are secondary to traumatic brain injury such as Representative Giffords suffered, and gunshot wounds to the head caused 35 percent of these. Gunshot wounds also account for about 15 percent of all spinal cord injuries in the United States.
The increasing firepower available on the civilian gun market is also a factor in the number and severity of gun-related deaths and injuries.
"America is paying a very high price for policy decisions made on the local, state and national levels that make increasingly lethal firearms readily available. These numbers make clear that denying America's gun crisis will not make it go away," states VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand.
The Violence Policy Center (VPC) works to stop gun death and injury through research, education, advocacy, and collaboration. Founded in 1988 by Executive Director Josh Sugarmann, a native of Newtown, Connecticut, the VPC informs the public about the impact of gun violence on their daily lives, exposes the profit-driven marketing and lobbying activities of the firearms industry and gun lobby, offers unique technical expertise to policymakers, organizations, and advocates on the federal, state, and local levels, and works for policy changes that save lives. The VPC has a long and proven record of policy successes on the federal, state, and local levels, leading the National Rifle Association to acknowledge us as "the most effective ... anti-gun rabble-rouser in Washington."
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"The sources told Reuters that Trump's transition team is now reviewing how it can unwind the Postal Service's multibillion-dollar contracts, including with Oshkosh and Ford for tens of thousands of battery-driven delivery trucks and charging stations," according to the news agency.
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Ford did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment on Friday, while Oshkosh said that it "is fully committed to our strong partnership with the USPS and looks forward to continuing to provide our postal carriers with reliable, safe, and sustainable modern delivery vehicles, even as USPS' needs continue to evolve."
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Even under Biden, U.S. plans to limit planet-heating pollution did not align with the country's contributions to the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency—but climate scientists and advocates widely backed his and later Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign leading up to last month's election, recognizing the threat posed by Trump.
John Hanger, a Democrat who previously held various envirnomental and energy positions in Pennsylvania's government, responded to the Reuters reporting on social media: "Ugh! Canceling contracts to electrify transportation of USPS would be dirty and dumb!"
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Last month, Reuters reported on the Trump transition team's plans to kill Biden's fuel efficiency standards and a $7,500 consumer tax credit for EV purchases, which Musk was asked about while he and Ramaswamy were on Capitol Hill Thursday to meet with Republican lawmakers.
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