US arms manufacturers have produced more than 139 million firearms in the last twenty years which were intended for trade, of which 11.3 million in 2020 alone, according to a report by the US Department of Justice published yesterday Tuesday.
During the same period, 71 million firearms were importedcompared to just 7.5 million exported, indicating a slowing increase in firearms available in the US, which has fueled an escalation of violence, killings and suicides, the report said.
The armaments industry has grown exponentially: in 2000 there were 2,222 weapons companies in the US, while in 2020 their number reached 16,963.
Annual production of firearms intended for commercial use also increased sharply, rising from 3.9 million in 2000 to 11.3 million in 2020, reaching a peak in 2016, with 11.9 million.
The Justice Department report shows that Americans prefer semi-automatic weapons, which have been used in many attacks.
There is also an increase in “ghost” weapons, which can be made at home at a cost of several hundred dollars. Some parts of these weapons can be purchased online and others can be printed with a 3D printer. These weapons do not have a serial number, and their owners do not have to have a firearms license, a white criminal record or undergo a psychiatric examination.
According to the report, in 2021 police located 19,344 “ghost” weapons, compared to 1,758 in 2016.
In April, US President Joe Biden tightened the regulatory framework for these weapons, requiring those selling kits for their manufacture to check on buyers and include a serial number on the weapon components.
«We can only tackle the current escalation of violence if we have better information and if we use the most effective tools and studies to strengthen our efforts.“, Pointed out the second in the hierarchy of the Ministry of Justice, Lisa Monaco, in her announcement.
The report was released after a particularly bloody weekend in the United States, with two mass shootings: one with racist motives in Buffalo, New York, where 10 African-Americans were killed, and another in Los Angeles, California, where one five more were injured.
The number of gun deaths has risen “historically” in the US in 2020, possibly due to the effects of the covid-19 pandemic and poverty, according to a US health survey published last week.
In the US, 19,350 homicides were recorded in 2020, an increase of almost 35% compared to 2019, and 24,245 suicides, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In 2020 the homicide rate reached 6.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest in 25 years.
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