Mental Health

Blacks Twice As Likely to Die By Guns

By Christine Hsu | Update Date: Sep 19, 2014 08:03 PM EDT

African-Americans are twice as likely to get killed by guns than their white counterparts.

Researchers used data between 2000 and 2010 from the Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System, which included murders, suicides and unintentional shooting.

The study also revealed that Hawaii had the lowest rate of gun deaths at 3.02 per 100,000 citizens, and the District of Columbia had the highest rate of gun deaths at 21.71 per 100,000.

The study also revealed that gun deaths rates in Florida and Massachusetts rose among white people and non-Hispanic ethnicities. However, firearm deaths decreased in Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, and the District of Columbia.  Gun death rates in these states fell mostly among people of Hispanic and African-American descent.

Researchers also found that unintentional firearm deaths fell significantly nationally. However, the rates of gun-related murders and suicides remained unchanged.

The findings also revealed that the national rate of gun deaths was twice as high among African-American as white Americans. However, African-American gun deaths fell in seven states and DC, while gun deaths decreased in only four states among people of white ethnicity. However, gun deaths among Hispanics decreased in four states, and increased among non-Hispanics in nine states.

The findings are published in BMJ-British Medical Journal.

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