Gun violence in America is really bad but not where you might think

Gun violence in the United States has become one of the biggest problems facing the country but most of the violence isn't taking place where you would think.

America has a serious gun problem and it's worse in some cities according to an April 2023 study published in the journal Homicide Studies showed that small and mid-sized cities have in many cases surpassed the gun homicide rates in larger American metros over the last three decades. 

In an attempt to understand how guns and their associated violence were affecting modern cities, the University of Springfield's Magic Wade looked into gun violence data in the U.S. from 2015 to 2021. 

Included in Wade's analysis was data on gun violence rates from over 1300 cities in the US that ranged from small, mid-sized, and large, and her conclusions were shocking.

Wade found that the gun violence rates in most American cities had surpassed the peak rates of violence in the 1990s according to a recent article on her work in Herald News. 

Moreover, Wade found that the rate of violence in most of the American cities she studied had increased from 2015 onwards, with a 30% spike occurring in nonfatal injuries and deaths in 2020 that only got worse in 2021 as pointed out by Herald News. 

"The data shows that the problem is much more widespread than previously thought,” the University of Springfield Professor was quoted as saying by the Herald News. 

"Gun violence is not merely a red state or blue city problem,” Wade continued, “it is a worsening phenomenon affecting American communities everywhere.”

According to a news release from the University of Springfield, Wade also noted that many of the gun violence rates in the smaller cities she studied exceeded the rates of violence in America's largest metro areas, which was a rather shocking surprise for Wade. 

Wade was able to show in her work that 42% of all gun homicides occurred in cities with a population of under 250,000 based on figures quoted by the University of Springfield. 

Even more concerning was the fact that nearly two-thirds of America’s most violent cities had a population that was under 100,000.

The previous figure would certainly dispel any myths about America’s larger metros being home to the country’s most gun violence. But what do we know about the gun violence that's been going on in America's smaller cities?

When the University of Springfield dug into the numbers more, the scale of the gun violence problem in smaller cities really became clear with the school's new release noting that the majority of the cities studied surpassed the country’s peak homicide rate in 1993. 

"For too many American communities, it’s not as bad as the 1990s, it’s worse,” Wade said according to Herald News. "A shared sense of the scope and severity of the problem of gun violence is urgently needed.”

The peak homicide rate from guns in 1993 reached 7.0% per 100,000 people, a number that was either met or exceeded by 863 of the 1300 communities that Wade studied. 

The most concerning statistic in Wade’s research was that at least 25 of the cities she studied suffered from a homicide rate of 52% per 100,000, something the university's news release said was worse than El Salvador’s world homicide record rate set in 2021. 

“The report is a wake-up call for policymakers to take action to address gun violence in communities of all sizes across the country,” the University of Springfield wrote. 

“Journalists and policymakers should avoid attenuating the perceived severity of gun violence by using outdated rhetoric and should focus on mobilizing policy actors to address this nationwide issue,” the university news release added.