File photo shows the site of a shooting in Chicago, United States.
A new assessment reveals that gun-related violence in the USâ„¢s third largest city, Chicago, costs the country USD 2.5 billion a year.
The assessment, whose findings were revealed on Thursday, has been conducted by Bloomberg.
The survey was focused on the average cost of a typical ambulance ride to the emergency room and the cost of care at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago as well as the average cost for acute trauma care of gunshot victims.
Jens Ludwig, director of University of Chicago Crime Lab, noted that the multi-billion-dollar figure equals to an average of USD 2,500 for each and every Chicago household.
The figure provoked outcry from Teyonda Wertz, Head of Chicagoâ„¢s South Shore Chamber of Commerce.
Å“Violence hurts the economy, and sooner or later it permeates everything… Unless we change our crime situation, itâ„¢ll kill us,” Wertz said.
The high rate of murder and gun crime in Chicago has often sparked protest rallies in the city.
On February 2, a rally was held in the city where protesters demanded President Barack Obama to come to his hometown to discuss gun violence which reached a record high of 506 murders in 2012.
Every year, more than 30,000 people are shot and killed in the US, which averages 87 deaths each day, and another 183 are injured daily, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab and the Centers for Disease Control.
MAM/KA
This article originally appeared on: Press TV