Majority of Americans Overstate Gun Violence Levels
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The rate of gun-related murders has dropped by almost half since the early 1990s, even though more than eight of 10 Americans wrongly say otherwise, according to a study by the Pew Research Center.
The report, released amid a nationwide debate over whether to enact new measures to curb firearms violence, shows that gun-related deaths peaked in 1993 at seven deaths per 100,000 Americans before descending rapidly to 3.8 deaths per 100,000 by 2000. By 2010, Pew found, the rate had fallen to 3.6 deaths per 100,000 people.