Report: One-in-Five Americans Has Family Member Killed by Guns

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Facts

  • According to data published Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than half of US adults recently surveyed claimed they or a family member have experienced a gun-related incident. The data comes amid a wave of continued gun violence in America.1
  • The survey took place from Mar. 14-23, with 19% saying they had a family member that had been killed by a gun (including suicide), 31% had family who had been threatened with a gun, and 17% had personally witnessed someone being injured from a gun.2
  • It also found that 41% lived in a household with guns, and 75% said that their firearms were either unlocked, loaded, or alongside ammunition. Black and Hispanic adults were over three times as likely to be worried daily or almost daily about family being victims of gun violence.3
  • 84% reported having taken steps to protect themselves or their family from gun violence, including talking to family and children about gun safety (58%), avoiding large crowds (35%), or purchasing a weapon such as a knife or pepper spray (44%).4
  • According to the non-profit Gun Violence Archive, there were 44,249 gun violence deaths in the US in 2022, of which 20,249 were homicides, accidental or the result of self-defense, and over 24K were suicides. So far in 2023, it is estimated that 11,631 people have been killed by guns.5
  • The Gun Violence Archive has also claimed that, since the start of 2023, the US has averaged more than one mass shooting per day — defined by the organization as an event in which at least four people have been killed or injured.6

Sources: 1NBC, 2Kff, 3New York Post, 4Forbes, 5Barrons and 6Ct news junkie.

Narratives

  • Left narrative, as provided by The courier. As gun violence continues in the US, it seems that the country — especially the GOP — is locked in a cycle of sharing 'thoughts and prayers,' implementing little meaningful change, and forgetting about the issue until the next tragedy occurs. There is no end in sight, and communities are becoming weaker as they begin to normalize such events. While there must be more rational thinking and policy action regarding restricting gun violence, sadly neither seems to be on the horizon.
  • Right narrative, as provided by Federalist. Modern rhetoric on gun violence does not match reality, and the left's gun control agenda is even more radical than they claim. Gun control is a scapegoat targeted against rural conservatives when in reality, such violence occurs most commonly in Democrat-run urban areas, which are inundated with the corrupt and disastrous culture the party promotes. The best way to combat these threats is to vote for real conservatives who are stewards of the 2nd Amendment and self-defense.

Predictions