HOUSTON — KHOU 11 News viewer Steve Davis wanted us to verify a post that claims "in 2017, nearly 40,000 Americans were killed by guns."
The post originally comes from KamalaHarris.org, the Democratic presidential contender's website.
Here's what we verified:
The source is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also known as the CDC. A study released last last year found 39,773 people were fatally shot in 2017. So we can verify that yes, the post is true-nearly 40,000 people were killed by guns in 2017.
But it needs context.
Of the nearly 40,000 deaths, 14,542 people were killed in homicides with guns. That's about a third. Still, the overwhelming number of guns deaths were suicides at 23,854. That's about 60 percent.
The CDC found that gun deaths are on the rise though, reaching a record high since data was first collected in 1979. Gun deaths jumped by more than 10,000 compared to totals in 1999.
Remember if there's something you'd like us to verify, email us at verify@khou.com or reach out to us on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #khouverify.
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