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| China releases US human rights record in 2002 （2） |
| CCTV.COM 2003-04-03 13:04:02 |
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The murder rate in the United States was five to seven times higher than most industrial nations.
During January－November 2002, New York City reported 489 murder cases； Chicago registered 485 homicide cases, in which 515 people were killed； and Detroit reported 346 murders.
During the same period Los Angeles reported 595 murder cases with 614 people killed, up 11.3 percent and 20.5 percent compared to the same period in 2001 and 2000, respectively （Los Angeles, Nov. 21, 2002, AFP）.
The Constitution of the United States provides that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, and the constitutions of 44 states in the nation include provisions safeguarding citizens' right to possess guns.
In the United States, guns owned by private individuals exceed 200 million, averaging nearly one for every citizen. In 2002, the number of gun buyers across the United States went up by 13 percent to twice over previous years, and the number of rifle owners increased even faster.
The National Rifle Association of the United States has over 2.8 million members. Excessive gun ownership has led to frequent shootings, and victims of firearms－related crime number more than 30,000 a year.
On March 26, a retired sheriff's deputy in Merced County, California, shot and killed his 5－year－old daughter and his three stepchildren while his estranged wife was out for a walk, then committed suicide with the body of one of the youngsters in his arms.
On May 30, a gunman opened fire inside a grocery store at a TopValu Market near the downtown marina in Long Beach, California, killing a woman and a 7－year－old girl and wounding four others before he was fatally shot by police （Long Beach, California, May 31, 2002, AFP）.
From October 2 to October 22, serial gun shooting cases occurred in Washington D.C. and neighboring Maryland and Virginia states, in which 10 people were killed and three others were seriously wounded.
The number of gun shootings went up by 40 percent in Los Angeles in 2002 over 2001. Between the evening of November 19 and the early morning of November 20, five separate cases of gun shooting took place in downtown Los Angeles, leaving two people dead and seven others wounded. （More）
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Editor: Yang Feiyang Source:Xinhua
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