There were a quarter of a million deaths from firearm injuries in 2016
Credit: Reuters/Phil Noble

Half of all firearm-related deaths in 2016 occurred in just six countries – all in the Americas – according to a study.

Brazil had the largest gun deaths toll, with over 43,000 people killed that year. The US was next with 37,200. It was followed by Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and Guatemala.

Together these six countries accounted for 50.5% of the quarter of a million deaths from firearm injuries in 2016, a figure that includes homicides, suicides and accidental injuries.

“Gun violence is one of the greatest public health crises of our time,” lead author Dr Mohsen Naghavi said at the time of the study’s release last August. The study looked at deaths from 1990-2016 in 195 countries and territories across the world.

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