U.S. lack of gun violence research hinders prevention efforts: media

NEW YORK, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Some 63 percent of Americans were either "very" or "somewhat" dissatisfied with current U.S. gun laws, the highest level of disapproval recorded in 23 years, U.S. News and World Report reported Thursday, citing a recent Gallup poll.

"Yet despite the rising death toll and the public frustration, advocates and experts say there is an alarming lack of knowledge about how to effectively address the gun violence epidemic," said the report.

Many put the blame for that on a two-decade dearth of gun violence research they say has made it challenging both to understand the extent of the problem and to effectively combat it, it noted.

"Such gaps in data have made it harder for researchers and policymakers to evaluate the effectiveness of gun violence prevention strategies that have already been implemented," it added.

The United States has witnessed more than 90 mass shootings since the start of January, according to tracking data from the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive. In that time, more than 7,000 people have been killed by firearms, including more than 3,000 people who died by homicide and more than 4,000 who died as the result of suicide.