Mexico ranks third worldwide in deaths by firearms, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) revealed.
According to the document, titled Global Mortality by Firearms 1990 – 2016, more than 250 thousand people died in 2016 from gun-related injuries, of which 15,400 were registered in Mexico. 2016 is the last year of finalized numbers worldwide to create the ranking, although Mexico saw an increase in violence in 2017.
America, the most violent continent
The study revealed that only six countries in the Americas accounted for half of all weapon deaths in the world, with Brazil and the United States leading the way.
These countries are:
Brazil, with 43 thousand 300
United States, with 37 thousand 200
Mexico, with 15 thousand 400
Colombia, with 13,300
Venezuela, with 12 thousand 800
Guatemala, with 5 thousand 90 deaths
Although the deaths registered in Mexico in 2016 increased compared to 1990, when there were 11,700 deaths related to gun violence, the study highlighted that there was a decrease in relation to the total population of the country, going from 15.9 to 11.8 deaths per every 100 thousand inhabitants.
Mohsen Naghavi, author of the study and professor of Global Health at the Institute of Health Measurement and Assessment (IHME) at the University of Washington, said in an interview with the BBC that the United States differs from the other five countries for the causes.
In Latin America, the number of deaths is due in large part to the actions of armed gangs and the problem of drug trafficking. On the other hand, in the United States, the problem is due to the ease with which a person can access a firearm.
