In further evidence of America's gun violence epidemic, 27
people were shot and killed on Christmas Day - more gun homicides than
most countries see in an entire year.
Christmas Day in America. A 73-year-old grandmother in Texas shoots her
husband over "marital issues." The parents of a young boy are gunned
down in an Ohio parking lot. A barber is shot three times, and left
lying on the sidewalk by his shop.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, 27 people were killed in
shooting incidents across the United States on Friday. Another 63 were
injured, and neither of these figures include self-inflicted gunfire.
Two of the tragedies qualify as mass shooting incidents, defined
by GVA as involving "four or more shot and/or killed in a single event,
at the same general time and location, not including the shooter."
This rate of violence is especially shocking given that while 27
people died during a single day in the United States, that number is
comparable to an entire year of gun-related homicides in Australia or
the United Kingdom.
Hong Kong, Iceland, Bermuda, Estonia, Slovenia, Norway, New Zealand, and
Austria - combined - would average 27 gun deaths per year.
Christmas Day was comparatively peaceful, when measured against the American average. On average, 36 Americans are killed in gun related fatalities every day, with another 73 injured.
A spate of mass shootings in recent years has brought renewed focus to
gun violence in the United States. The San Bernardino massacre earlier
this month saw 14 people killed. That incident occurred less than a week
after a gunman opened fire at a Planned Parenthood clinic, killing
three.
A report released earlier this month found that the San
Bernardino shooting was the 355th mass shooting in the United States in
the first 336 days of 2015. SputnikNews
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