Study: Gun violence surged in pandemic’s first year

(CNN) - Gun violence in the U.S. rose during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a study published Thursday in JAMA Network Open, there were roughly 4,400 excess deaths linked to firearms between March 2020 and the following February.

There were also more than 10,000 excess nonfatal injuries.

The findings came from data collected by the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive.

Four states - New York, Illinois, Michigan, and Texas - accounted for most of the shootings.

Researchers can’t say if COVID-19 itself factored into the increase of gun incidents compared to other issues, including civic unrest.

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