LOS ANGELES, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- The relationship between firearm injury deaths and poverty and racial inequity were revealed in a latest study released by U.S. Denver's authorities.
The report named "The Epidemiology of Firearm Injuries in Denver, Colorado" was released Tuesday by Denver Public Health. It presents information about firearm-related injuries and deaths in the City and County of Denver, focusing primarily on the period between 2011 and 2015. While similar analyses have occurred at the state and national level, this is the first report of its kind for Denver, the capital of U.S. midwestern state of Colorado.
There were 326 deaths due to firearm injuries in Denver from Jan. 1, 2011 through Dec. 31, 2015. Among the deceased were men and women, individuals in every age group and people of different races and ethnicities, according to the report.
The greatest number of deaths were experienced by individuals living in census tracts with 10 to 19.9 percent of people living in poverty. As poverty increases in a census tract, the rate of fatal firearm injury tends to increase, as well. The rate estimates increase from a rate of 8.06 per 100,000 person-years in the wealthiest census tracts to 12.3 per 100,000 person-years among the poorest census tracts. The rate of fatal firearm injury was approximately 1.5 times higher among residents of highest poverty census tracts compared to individuals residing in the lowest poverty census tracts, the report showed.
After accounting for the population size and age distribution of each racial subgroup, black and African-American individuals have the highest rate of fatal firearm injuries in Denver (18.6 per 100,000 person-years). The report pointed out that if whites in Denver experienced the same rate of firearm-related fatalities, there would have been an additional 249 firearm deaths in Denver during this time period.
The report also find that the rate of fatal firearm injury is approximately 2 times higher among black and African American individuals than among whites. Furthermore, Firearm homicide rates were approximately 5.4 times higher among black and African American people than among white people.
Approximately 84 percent of firearm homicide victims and 91 percent of firearm suicide victims were men. In addition, suicides comprise majority of firearm-related deaths and the majority of firearm deaths in Denver were associated with handguns, according to the report.
