More than half of Americans feel victim of gun violence

Havana, April 11 (RHC) - More than half of American adults, 54 percent, feel they are victims of armed violence or have a family member affected by that scourge, according to a survey released Tuesday.

Specifically, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey found that approximately one in five people said they had been threatened with a weapon, while one in six individuals said they had personally witnessed a shooting. Likewise, 20 percent of those investigated alleged that at least one member of their family was injured by a firearm, and 19 percent reported that a relative died from bullets, including death by suicide.

The KFF study found that experiences with shootings are widespread, but even more common among the black community. Black adults are about twice as likely as their white peers to say they witnessed incidents of gun violence, and also to have a family member killed by gun violence, at 34 percent compared to 17 percent for whites.

Additionally, one-third of black adults and the same proportion of Hispanics said they worry “every day” or “nearly every day” that they or someone they love will fall victim to such a scourge, compared to one out of ten among whites.

Most of those surveyed responded that they take at least one precaution to keep themselves safe from the possibility of dying from bullets. About a third said they avoid crowded places, such as music festivals and bars, and more than 40 percent said they sought out lethal devices to protect themselves, or had tried to learn how to operate or shoot them.

Three in four of those who live in a house with guns report that at least one remains unlocked, loaded or stored with ammunition, according to a nationwide survey of 1,271 adults.

According to the Gun Violence Archive site, so far this year 146 mass shootings have been reported in the United States, a country where in the same period more than 11,600 people lost their lives due to bullets. (Source: Prensa Latina)