In 2016, more than 250,000 people worldwide died as a result of firearms, and half of all of those deaths came from six nations, including the U.S., PBS News Hour reports. The new numbers, from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics, offer several new ways to measure the impact of gun deaths worldwide. Half of all gun-related deaths in 2016 occurred in six nations — Brazil, the U.S., Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Guatemala. Together, the study published in the journal JAMA noted, these countries have less than 10 percent of the world’s population.
Overall, 64 percent of deaths were determined to be homicides, while an additional 27 percent were suicides and 9 percent were accidental shootings. Country to country, looking at the ways people die due to gunfire produces a deeply varied picture, said Christopher Murray, the institute’s director. In gun-related homicides, the U.S. ranks 30th worldwide. But suicides linked to guns occurred in the U.S. at a rate of 6.4 per 100,000 deaths — a total of 23,800 people — the second highest rate worldwide. While mass shootings capture the most media attention, they are responsible for a small sliver of overall gun deaths in the U.S., gun violence experts Frederick Rivara, David Studdert and Garen Wintemute wrote in an editorial in JAMA with the new report. “In the United States and elsewhere, acts of terrorism committed with firearms and other lethal means have changed the way people live, work, travel, and play,” they wrote. “In the United States, armed guards patrol some schools, and some politicians have advocated allowing teachers to carry guns. Although mass shootings and terrorist attacks are the most visible form of gun violence, they account for only a small fraction of the public health burden of firearm-related morbidity and mortality.”