Black Americans bear the brunt of gun violence in the nation, according to a new study released Tuesday (April 11) from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The poll found that 34 percent of Black adults have a family member who was killed by a gun, compared to 17 percent of White adults. Another one-third (32 percent) of Black adults worry either daily or almost every day about themself or a loved one becoming a gun violence victim. Only about 10 percent of White adults live with the same fear. Hispanic adults reported similar experiences as Blacks with gun violence but at slightly lower percentages.

Perhaps what explains much the gun violence concerns among Black adults and Hispanic adults is their neighborhoods. The researchers found that Blacks, at 17 percent, felt “not safe at all” where they live, compared to 9 percent of Hispanics and just 2 percent of Whites.

Overall, the study paints a bleak picture in which gun-related incidents are a relatively common experience for adults in the United States. The researchers found that one out of every five (21 percent) U.S. adults said they have personally been threatened with a gun. Another 19 percent said a family member was killed by a gun, including by suicide.

In 2016, the American Medical Association declared gun violence in the United States a public health crisis that requires a comprehensive public health response and solution.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 79 percent of all homicides and 53 percent of all suicides involved firearms in 2020, noting that the firearm homicide rate that year was the highest recorded in over 25 years.

In response to pervasive gun violence, 84 percent of all adults said they’ve taken precautions. Avoiding large crowds is a safety action taken by 35 percent of adults. Black Americans, at 55 percent, topped the list of those who said they shy away from attending music festivals, crowded bars and clubs out of safety concerns. Hispanics, at 43 percent, use the same strategy, compared to 29 percent of Whites.

Purchasing a gun for protection is something that 29 percent of adults have done, with Whites (35 percent) at the top of that list, followed by Blacks (24 percent) and Hispanics (20 percent). At the same time, White adults were far more likely, at 47 percent, to have taken a gun safety class or practiced firing a weapon, compared to 34 percent of Black and 32 percent of Hispanics.

The survey was conducted March 14-23, 2023, online and by telephone, and included a racial and ethnic representative sample of 1,271 respondents.