Gun violence in the US has become more lethal, research suggests

大威力步枪泛滥酿成更多惨剧 研究显示：美国枪击案致死率上升，死亡人数创新高

About 57% of firearm fatalities in 2021 occurred at the scene of the shooting, up 9% since 1999, according to a research letter published Wednesday in the JAMA Surgery journal. For this analysis, researchers used data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and excluded suicides and other self-inflicted firearm injuries.

《美国医学会外科杂志》5日刊登一篇研究论文称，2021年约有57%的枪伤致死者是当场死亡，较1999年上升了9%。该研究基于美国疾病控制与预防中心的数据，并排除了自杀和其他自残的枪支伤害。

Nearly 49,000 people died from firearm injuries in the US in 2021, CDC data shows – an unprecedented surge of about 23% over two years during the Covid-19 pandemic.

美疾控中心数据显示，2021年有近4.9万人死于枪伤，在新冠大流行的两年内增长了约23%，创下了前所未有的增幅。

And a shift in the type of firearms that are being bought and used is a key factor making shootings more lethal, experts say.

专家认为，导致枪击事件致死率上升的一个关键因素是购买和使用的枪支类型发生了变化。

“It’s leaning more and more towards military-grade, higher velocity, higher lethality type of weapons,” said Dr. Eric Fleegler, an emergency physician at Boston Children’s Hospital.

波士顿儿童医院急诊医师埃里克·弗莱格勒博士称：“越来越多枪击案中出现了军用级、更高射速、更大杀伤力的武器”。

“That includes larger magazine capacity so they can shoot more bullets, the ability to fire them at faster rates, and quite frankly, just bigger, faster bullets which cause more damage to a human body.”

“这类枪支弹夹容量更大，能够以更快的速度发射更多的子弹，对人体造成更大的伤害。”

Federal data shows that handguns are the most common murder weapon, used in more than half of all homicides that involve firearms. But rifles, such as the AR-15, are becoming more frequently used.

美国联邦政府的数据显示，手枪是最常见的谋杀武器，在所有涉枪凶杀案中，有一半以上使用了手枪。但越来越多枪手开始使用AR-15等步枪作案。

Nearly 4% of firearm homicides in 2021 involved a rifle, killing 447 people, according to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That’s more than twice as many deaths and nearly twice as common compared to firearm homicides in 2015.

根据联邦调查局的数据，2021年近4%的持枪杀人案涉及步枪，造成447人死亡。与2015年发生的持枪杀人案相比，被步枪射杀的死亡人数多了一倍多，案件发生率也翻了近一番。

And the true scope of America’s gun epidemic is far broader than the deaths it causes, experts say.

专家表示，美国枪支泛滥的影响远不止枪击导致的死亡。

“Deaths from firearm injuries are horrible tragedies, but they are unfortunately just the tip of the iceberg,” said Fleegler, who has studied gun violence but was not involved in this research.

弗莱格勒说："枪支伤害造成的死亡是可怕的悲剧，但不幸的是，这只是其冰山一角。"

There are many others who suffer physically from gunshot wounds and a deep emotional toll on families and communities, he said.

他说，枪支伤害让许多伤者饱受折磨，也给家庭和社区造成难以治愈的心理创伤。

Ten of the 17 deadliest mass killings in the United States since 2012 involved AR-15s.

据《华盛顿邮报》统计，自2012年以来，美国17起最致命的大规模枪击事件中有10起涉及AR-15步枪。

Now, about 1 in 20 U.S. adults own at least one AR-15. That’s roughly 16 million people, storing roughly 20 million guns designed to mow down enemies on the battlefield with brutal efficiency. Two-thirds of these were crafted in the past decade.

《华盛顿邮报》的调查显示，现在大约每20名美国成年人中就有一人拥有至少一支AR-15步枪，这也意味着约有1600万美国人拥有2000万支AR-15。

The AR-15,is materially different from traditional handguns. The rifle fires very small bullets at very fast speeds. The projectiles don’t move straight and smooth through human targets like those from a traditional handgun. Their velocity turns them unstable upon penetration, so that they tumble through flesh and vital organs. This so-called blast effect literally tears people apart. A trauma surgeon notes,“youdon’t see the muscle…just bone and skin and missing parts.”Another mentions tissue that“crumbled into your hands.”

据《华盛顿邮报》报道，AR-15与传统手枪有很大不同。步枪以极快的速度发射非常小的子弹。其子弹不像传统手枪那样笔直平滑地穿过人体。超高速使其在穿透人体时变得不稳定，翻滚穿过肉体和重要器官。这种所谓的爆炸效应真实的将人体撕裂。一位创伤外科医生指出，“你看不到肌肉……只有骨头、皮肤和缺失的部分”。另一位外科医生称人体组织“碎在手中”。

来源：CNN，华盛顿邮报

编辑：董静，李蕙帆（实习）

本文转载自中国日报网，如有侵权，请联系我们删除。