More Americans Died By Gun Violence In The First Months Of 2019 Than Died On D-Day

We exceeded that number as of March 6, 2019

We’ve all heard the line, “guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” usually shouted from the defensive stance of someone who believes those of us who want stricter gun laws want to take their guns away completely. But the fact remains, guns do kill thousands of people each year and the problem is only getting worse. In fact, as of March 6, 2019 more Americans died in shooting deaths than those who lost their lives during the invasion of Normandy.

On Thursday, Americans paid tribute to those killed 75 years ago on D-Day, June 6, 1944, when more than 160,000 Allied troops landed along the 50-mile stretch of beaches in Normandy, France. It was a day remembered not just for those who lost their lives, but as the turning point of World War II, where troops would eventually defeat Nazi Germany.

According to historical estimates, 2,501 Americans gave their lives that day and another 1,913 soldiers from other Allied countries also died, bringing the total death toll to 4,414. As of late April this year, the number of people killed by guns in the United States exceeded this number, according to data issued by the Gun Violence Archive. These numbers do not include those who died by suicide.

While president Trump was in the U.K. this week, he sat down with British journalist Piers Morgan, who asked him directly about these statistics and the gun problem in general in the U.S. “Well, what are you going to do? You’re going to take the guns away from hunters? You have hunters that want guns.”

That was the actual president’s response.

The U.S. gun suicide rate is ten times that of other high-income countries, according to Every For Gun Safety. Access to a gun increases the risk of death by suicide by three times and firearms are the second leading cause of death for American children and teens (first for black kids). Women in the U.S. are 21 times more likely to be killed with a gun than women in other high-income countries and 58 percent of American adults or someone they care for have experienced gun violence in their lifetime because our gun laws are so lax, almost anyone can buy a gun if they want to. Trump, however, is worried about the hunters.

This is not to say we shouldn’t honor the brave soldiers that gave their lives in one of the most historic battles of our time, but it shows as a stark reminder that we are at war every single day in our country. Our kids are gunned down while they are at school. Americans are shot at their places of employment. These are innocent victims of gun violence who will never go home to their spouses, children, sisters, brothers, and friends, all because our administration is too deep in the pockets of gun lobbyists, too in bed with the NRA that even slightly stricter gun laws (not abolishing the 2nd amendment) are a threat to their livelihoods.

When is enough, enough?