ARIZONA, USA — Editor's note: The above video aired in a previous broadcast.
When it comes to having violent drivers on the roads, Arizona is leading the country.
According to a recent report from the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, a gun violence prevention organization, Arizona is one of the top states for road rage shootings.
In fact, Arizona is tied for having the second-highest number of people shot in road rage shootings. Those shootings resulted in 33 injuries and deaths last year in the state, which is among the worst in the country.
Other states with the highest rates of people shot in road rage incidents include New Mexico, Texas, Wisconsin and Tennessee.
“Driving gets heated in plenty of other countries, but only in the U.S. is someone shot and injured or killed every 17 hours in a road rage incident,” said Sarah Burd-Sharps, director of research for Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, in a news release.
“The difference is clear: easy access to guns can turn these incidents deadly. We’ve seen a national increase in shootings during the pandemic, and this increase has played out on our streets and highways, too.”
The Everytown Gun Fund reported that a person was either injured or killed in a road rage shooting every 17 hours in the U.S. last year.
Between 2016 and 2019, under 300 people were either hurt or killed in road rage shootings each year. In 2021, there were over 500 people hurt or killed, which is the highest level in six years, the organization reported.
“Given the recent spike in gun sales in the United States, combined with the gun lobby's ‘guns everywhere’ agenda, it’s no surprise we're seeing crisis levels of road rage involving guns,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action.
“We will not accept a new normal in which the retaliation for a honked horn is gunfire. Our lawmakers must take action to pass gun safety laws proven to save lives.”
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