Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Gun Violence's Record Deadly Toll In 2021: A Victim Every 11 Minutes
Gun deaths in the U.S. reached a record-high in 2021, with an average of one person dying every 11 minutes each day — a total of nearly 49,000 deaths from gun violence throughout the year, according to a new study. A new Johns Hopkins study, using the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control, found gun deaths reached the highest number ever recorded for the second straight year in a row. (Fortinsky, 6/6)
Also —
The U.S. government cannot ban people convicted of non-violent crimes from possessing guns, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The 11-4 ruling from the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest defeat for gun control laws in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year expanding gun rights nationwide. (Pierson, 6/6)
Hospital-based violence intervention programs could soon see funds provided by Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. (Singh, 6/7)
More on the gun violence epidemic —
An 18-year-old who had just graduated and his father were killed in a shooting Tuesday after a high school graduation ceremony on the Virginia Commonwealth University campus, Richmond police said. Tameeka Jackson-Smith told NBC News her son, Shawn Jackson and her husband, Renzo Smith, 36, were killed in the shooting, which left five others injured, according to police. United Communities Against Crime, a local organization, also shared the identities of the slain father and son on behalf of the family. (Romero, 6/6)
Two people have been shot, one fatally, at a Maryland cemetery during the burial of a 10-year-old girl who fell victim to gun violence last month, according to police. It appears Tuesday afternoon's shooting at Washington National Cemetery in Prince George's County, just outside of Washington, D.C., stemmed from a "dispute totally unrelated to what was going on with the funeral," Prince George's County police Maj. David Blazer said at a news conference. (Shapiro, 6/6)