North Carolina reached a new milestone for gun deaths in 2016, climbing about 20 percent in five years.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1,400 North Carolinians were killed by guns in 2016. That's the latest year for which data is available and the highest in decades.
The rate at which guns are taking lives in North Carolina is also higher than the national average.
The CDC reports the pace of gun deaths in the U.S. was about 12 per 100,000 people. In North Carolina, it was about 14.
Experts have not yet pinpointed exactly why the jump occurred. But number of gun deaths is following an upward national trend.
Across the country, there were about 38,000 deaths that year, a little more than 100 per day.
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