ANKARA (AA) – From a low in 2004, US fatality rates from firearms soared 45.5% as of 2021, according to a study.

“Firearm fatality rates in the United States have reached a 28-year high,” researchers wrote in a paper published by the JAMA Network Open medical journal on Tuesday.

“Firearm homicides were highest among Black non-Hispanic males, and firearm suicide rates were highest among White non-Hispanic men ages 70 years and older,” said the study.

The cross-sectional study analyzed firearm fatalities in the US from 1990 to 2021 using data from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The researchers counted more than 1.1 million gun deaths over 32 years, including 952,984 among males (85.8%) and 157,165 among females (14.2%), 286,075 among Black non-Hispanic individuals (25.8%), 115,616 among Hispanic individuals (10.4%), and 672,132 among White non-Hispanic individuals (60.5%).

The research revealed marked disparities in gun death rates between men and women and by racial and ethnic group, saying these disparities have deepened in recent years.

Researchers urged public health authorities to take into consideration underlying demographic and geographic trends as well as differences by intent to alleviate firearm violence.