Reduce Gun Deaths in America

The U.S. gun homicide rate is 25 times that of other high-income countries.

Nearly 40,000 people—39,773 to be precise—died from gunshot wounds in 2017, including 14,500 murders by gunfire and 24,000 suicides. It is the highest gun mortality rate in the U.S. since at least 1968, and it translates into 12 gun deaths per 100,000 people. The number of people who die each year from gunfire in our country is well over 10 times the number of people who died at Pearl Harbor (2,403) or lost their lives on 9/11 (2,977).

Our friends in Canada have two gun deaths per 100,000, while in Australia, Germany, and Spain, only one or fewer per 100,000 population are killed by guns. The majority of Americans support common-sense measures to prevent gun violence. Three separate polls in 2019 showed that 89 percent of Americans support expanding background checks on gun purchases. Yet the gun lobby protects the views of the 11 percent who disagree. Is our government elected to represent the 89 percent majority or the 11 percent minority?

The Solutions

  1. Ban all assault rifles and extended magazines.

  2. Impose a universal background check on 100 percent of guns purchased.

  3. Require mandatory gun licenses for gun owners.

  4. Repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.

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Saving our democracy starts with an educated citizenry that isn't afraid to break from party lines. In this Playbook, Trek Bicycle President John Burke proposes 16 detailed solutions to our country's biggest challenges that are rooted in fact not ideology.