米国人の５人に１人、家族を銃で亡くした経験

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米国の成人の５人に１人が、自殺を含めて家族を銃によって亡くしたり、銃で脅されたりした経験があることが、カリフォルニア州に本部を置く保健政策の非営利団体「ＫＦＦ」の１１日発表の報告書で明らかになった。（写真はフロリダ州デルレイビーチの店で販売されている銃。資料写真）
　調査は３月中旬、米国の成人１２７１人を対象に実施された。
　それによると、銃乱射や自殺、事故など銃が関係する暴力は米国では極めて一般的で、調査対象のうち８４％が自分や家族を銃撃から守るための自衛措置を講じていることが分かった。
　銃撃の可能性があるため人混みを避けると答えた人の割合は３５％、自分や家族を守るために銃器を購入したことがあると答えた人の割合は２９％に上った。
　また、家に銃があると答えた人の割合は４１％で、このうち鍵のかかっていない場所に銃を保管していると答えた人は４４％だった。
　知人が銃で撃たれた経験がある、または一般に銃の脅威を感じるとした人は、白人に比べて黒人やヒスパニック系ではるかに多かった。その割合は黒人で３１％と、白人の１４％のほぼ倍に上った。
　銃による暴力の統計サイト「ガン・バイオレンス・アーカイブ」によると、今年これまでに１万１６３１人が銃によって命を落としている。内訳は、殺人や事故、自衛のための銃の使用で亡くなった人が４９６５人、銃による自殺が６６６６人だった。
　同サイトは、２０２２年に殺人や事故、身を守るために銃を使って亡くなった人の数は２万２４９人、自殺者数は２万４０００人以上としている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/04/13-17:00）

One in five American adults have a family member who was killed by a gun -- including by suicide -- and a similar percentage said they've been threatened with one, according to a survey released Tuesday.
Gun-related violence -- including mass shootings, suicides and accidents -- has become so common in the United States that 84 percent of US adults say they have taken precautions to protect themselves and their families from the danger of being shot, according to health research group KFF, which released the survey.
More than one third of those surveyed said they have avoided large crowds due to the possibility of gun violence. Some 29 percent have bought firearms to protect themselves and their families.
The data was released one day after the latest mass shooting to hit the country, at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, left five dead. Governor Andy Beshear said one of the victims was an incredible friend of his.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg detailed how he was shot at during his election campaign last year.
On March 27, three children and three adults were shot dead at a primary school in Nashville, Tennessee.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, 11,631 people have been killed by guns so far in 2023, including 4,965 by homicide, accidents and incidents of defensive gun use, and 6,666 by suicide.
In 2022, the organization said, 20,249 people died in homicidal, accidental or defensive shootings. More than 24,000 used guns to kill themselves.
KFF said 41 percent of American adults live in households where there is a gun present -- and in 44 percent of those homes, the weapon is kept in an unlocked location.
Black and Hispanic Americans reported far more experiences knowing someone who was shot, and generally feeling threatened by gun violence, than white Americans did.
Three out of 10 Black adults had personally seen someone being shot, the survey said, more than twice the rate for white adults.
KFF's data was based on a survey of 1,271 adults taken during mid-March.