While the shootings continue to mourn the United States, especially in Buffalo, a report from the Department of Justice published Tuesday confirms the surge of weapons available in the country. American manufacturers have thus produced more than 139 million commercial firearms over the past twenty years, including 11.3 million for the year 2020.
Some 71 million firearms were also imported over the same period, against only 7.5 million exported. The arms industry has thus exploded: while in 2000 the country had only 2,222 arms manufacturing companies in operation, in 2020, there were 16,963. Annual production of firearms for commercial sale has also jumped from 3.9 million in 2000 to 11.3 million firearms in 2020, peaking at 11.9 million in 2016.
Popular 9mm
The document shows that while Americans have a preference for semi-automatic weapons, which are used in many gunfights, they have purchased primarily the 9mm semi-automatic pistol, considered cheap, accurate and easy to use and similar to the weapon used by police.
The authorities are also faced with an increase in so-called “ghost” weapons, kit weapons that can be made at home for a few hundred dollars and parts of which can be purchased online or produced by a 3D printer. Unlike factory-produced guns, they do not have a serial number and, since they are not considered guns throughout the sales process, do not require a gun license or license. submit the buyer to a criminal and psychiatric background check.
Joe Biden tries to take action against ‘ghost’ weapons
According to the report, in 2021 the police recovered 19,344 so-called “phantom” weapons, compared to 1,758 in 2016. In April, President Joe Biden tightened the regulations surrounding this type of weapon, with in particular the obligation for resellers of such kits to carry out background checks on potential buyers or to include a serial number on the component parts.
The number of gun deaths in the United States recorded a “historic” increase in 2020, potentially caused by the effects of the Covid-19 epidemic and poverty, according to a report by American health authorities published last week . The country thus counted 19,350 homicides in 2020, an increase of nearly 35% compared to 2019, and 24,245 suicides, according to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC). The homicide rate stood at 6.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2020, a record for more than 25 years.