In a new study, we found that the overall U.S. gun violence rate rose by 30%Â during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the year before. In 28 states, the rates were substantially higher between March 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021, compared to the pre-pandemic period from Feb. 1, 2019, through Feb. 29, 2020. There were 51,063 incidents of gun violence events resulting in injury or death in the United States in the first 13 months of the pandemic compared to 38,919 incidents in the same time span pre-pandemic.
Paddy Ssentongo and Jennifer McCall-Hosenfeld
Dr. Ssentongo is a physician-scientist and an Assistant Professor at the Center for Neural Engineering, Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Penn State University. His clinical research interests focus on characterizing infectious causes of brain disorders, particularly infant hydrocephalus and epilepsy. Jennifer McCall-Hosenfeld is the associate Professor of Medicine at Penn State University. Her research focuses on the intersection between women’s primary and preventive health care, intimate partner violence and improving health care for rural women.