One in five Americans says they have a family member who died by gunshot, including suicide, according to a study released on Tuesday. The same number say they have been directly threatened by a gun.
People in the United States are paying a very heavy price for the spread of guns in the country and the ease with which Americans have access to them.
According to the survey, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, this violence disproportionately affects black and Hispanic people.
The survey was conducted among a representative sample of 1,271 Americans, aged 18 and older.
As the deadly litany of gun killings in the United States continues, more and more Americans are testifying to the prevalence of these violent events in their lives.
At a press briefing on Monday, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, for example, made it known that one of the victims killed moments earlier by a gunman in Louisville was one of his “closest friends.”
U.S. President Joe Biden has repeatedly pledged to take action on the scourge of gun violence, which successive administrations have been unable to stem, but his leeway is limited by a very strong paralysis in Congress.
