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US gun violence costs American taxpayers $229 billion per year: Study

Thursday, 16 April 2015 9:28 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 16 April 2015 9:37 AM ]

Emergency responders transport a person to a waiting ambulance after a 2012 shooting in Yuba City, California.

The rising gun violence in the United States costs American taxpayers nearly $230 billion a year, according to new research.

US gun violence directly and indirectly costs $700 per American each year, totaling $229 billion annually, a three year investigation by the political magazine Mother Jones has determined.

The direct costs of firearm-related crimes amounts to $8.6 billion a year, said the study conducted with the help of Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation economist Ted Miller.

Direct costs are referred to the expenses of someone actually being shot, from emergency service, to police investigations and medical bills, as well as court and prison costs for the assailant.

About $5.2 billion of this relates to prison costs, Mother Jones reported.

The indirect costs of shootings account for $169 billion, which include loss of income, impact on quality of life and payouts to survivors, victims and their families. Lost wages alone counts for $49 billion of that figure.

The average cost to US taxpayers for a single gun homicide in America is nearly $400,000, the report said.

The study also found that more than 320,000 Americans were killed by gunshots over the last decade and at least 750,000 were injured.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 11,000 people are murdered with a firearm each year in the United States, and more than 20,000 others commit suicide using one.

Furthermore, hundreds of children die annually in gun homicides when toddlers accidentally shoot themselves or a sibling with an unsecured gun.

Gun-related casualties have turned into a “major public health problem” in the United States, said a study published by eight US medical associations in February.

AHT/AGB

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