Incidents are heavily influenced by stress, domestic violence, lack of social interaction, and increased access to weapons.
Firearm incidents increased by more than 30% in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent study from Pennsylvania State University, which took into account the most influential factors: stress, domestic violence, lack of social interaction and increased access to weapons.
According to Penn State researchers, these results are revealed at a time when Many US Hospitals Still Hard-pressed by COVID-19 Cases and they face a shortage of resources such as blood products, intensive care beds, personal protective equipment and also professionals.
Gun violence worsens burden on health systems, and if they stay that way, hospitals may enter a major crisis.
The study gathered data on shooting deaths, suicides and gunshot wounds from the Armed Violence Archive. They analyzed incidents that occur daily in each state, as well as those in the District of Columbia, from February 2019 to March 2021.
They compared the pre-pandemic reports with those of the following year. According to the results, 28 states including Pennsylvania saw a significant increase in the number of shootings. Minnesota, Michigan and New York exceeded 100%. Meanwhile, Alaska was the only state to see a clear decline in gun incidents during the pandemic.
Researchers say that additional stress and worry, along with fear and uncertainty, may have catapulted gun sales. Information from the Instant National Criminal Record System allowed them to know that there was 41% more sale of pistols in March 2020, compared to March 2019.
“The pandemic has produced side effects that need to be addressed,” says co-lead researcher Paddy Ssentongo, an assistant professor at the Penn State Center for Neural Engineering. “The rise in gun violence in the era of COVID-19 is a cold reminder that we can no longer ignore it. It is time to focus on this public health crisis. “
Curiously, part of the solution is to intervene with vaccines, tests, tracing chains of contagion, masks and ventilationsays co-investigator Jennifer McCall-Hosenfield of the Department of Medicine and Public Health Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. “By mitigating the pandemic, we can also attack these effects.”
The document was published this October 21 in Scientific Reports.
International Amnesty describes gun violence as “a daily tragedy that affects the lives of people around the world,” and disproportionately affects non-white communities, women, and other marginalized groups.
According to publications of this organization, Before the pandemic (2018), more than 500 people died each day from gun violence. 44% of all homicides committed in the world involve armed violence. And between 2012 and 2016 in the world there were 1,040,000 deaths related to firearms.
Most of the victims of violence and those who perpetrate it are young men, Amnesty reports, but women are especially exposed to the risk of armed violence within the couple, and firearms can also contribute to sexual violence. (I)
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