The Cost of Gun Violence

 Caricom

According to the Johns Hopkins Centre for Gun Policy and Research, “more than 31,000 people a year in the United States die from gunshot wounds. Because victims are disproportionately young, gun violence is one of the leading causes of premature mortality in the U.S.

In addition to these deaths, in 2010, there were an estimated 337,960 non-fatal violent crimes committed with guns, and 73,505 persons treated in hospital emergency departments for non-fatal gunshot wounds.”

The Centre points to the enormous economic cost associated with gun violence in the United States, pointing out that firearm related deaths “firearm related deaths and injuries resulted in medical and lost productivity expenses of about $32 billion in 2005. But the overall cost of gun violence goes well beyond these figures,” the study says.

“When lost quality of life, psychological and emotional trauma, decline in property values, and other legal and societal consequences are included, the cost of gun violence in the U.S. was estimated to be about $100 billion annually in 1998.

A new study has examined the direct and indirect costs of violent crime in eight geographically-diverse U.S. cities, and estimated the average annual cost of violent crime was more than $1,300 for every adult and child.

Because much of these costs are due to lowering residential property values, violent crime greatly reduces tax revenues that local governments need to address a broad array of citizens’ needs. The direct annual cost of violent crime to all levels of government was estimated to be $325 per resident, ” the John Hopkins October 2012 study says.