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Nearly 1,400 people were shot in the US during the week following the Las Vegas mass shooting

In 2017, 24,862 have been injured and 12,208 have been killed as a result of gun violence in the US

Mythili Sampathkumar
New York
Monday 16 October 2017 16:06 BST
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Flowers, candles and other items surround the famous Las Vegas sign at a makeshift memorial for victims of the mass shooting.
Flowers, candles and other items surround the famous Las Vegas sign at a makeshift memorial for victims of the mass shooting. (AP Photo/John Locher)

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Nearly 1,400 people were shot in the US in the week following the Las Vegas mass shooting that killed 58 people and injured nearly 500.

Based on the data of the National Gun Archive, the total was 1,397 people who were either injured or died in a shooting incident.

To calculate the number of people involved, The Independent added the number of injured people and the number of deaths on 1 October - the night of the massacre in Nevada - and one week later on 9 October.

Of those 410 were fatal shootings.

The full data set is continuously compiled by the National Gun Archive and includes shootings in domestic situations, accidental shootings, drive-bys, murders, armed robberies, mass shootings, other incidents.

In total there were 1,319 separate shooting incidents, defined using standards by several US federal government agencies including the FBI and National Institutes of Health.

So far in 2017, the numbers are staggering. As of 16 October the number of injuries from shooting incidents was 24,862 have been injured and 12,208 people have died in the US as result of a bullet.

In the wake of the Las Vegas shooting, the American gun control debate resurfaced as it does after every mass shooting in the country.

Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband former astronaut Mark Kelly were particularly outspoken, giving a speech outside of Capitol H during which he called the incident "domestic terrorism."

Ms Giffords miraculously survived a 2011 assassination attempt during which she was shot in the head while speaking at a public event in Arizona. She continues to live with severe brain injury.

Six people were killed including a federal judge and a nine-year-old child that day.

However, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders - though emotional when discussing the victims from her podium the day after the shooting - quashed any possible national discussion.

“There’s a time and place for a political debate, but now is the time to unite as a country,” she said.

She noted that “it would be premature for us to discuss policy.”

The mass murder in Las Vegas was the country’s 273rd mass shooting in 275 days, according to the National Gun Archive.

Previously, the 12 June 2016 mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida in which 49 people died was the deadliest in US history.

Police have determined Stephen Paddock was the gunman who opened fire on a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest festival on the Las Vegas strip.

Using modified weapons, the 64-year-old real estate millionaire fired from the window of his 32nd floor hotel room at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

He is believed to have shot himself just minutes before police stormed the room, where he had checked in a number of days prior.

Investigators found nearly 2,000 rounds of ammunition and 47 guns of various types between his car, hotel room, and residences in Mesquite and Reno, Nevada.

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