America saw a 28 percent increase in gun violence in 2016 from after a decade of stability, new data has revealed.

The findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that both fatal and nonfatal gun injuries rose for the second straight year in a row.

For years the US has grappled with a contentious gun control debate particularly because four of the deadliest mass shootings in US history have occurred within the last five years.

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There was a 28 percent increase in gun violence incidents in 2016 as rates have risen for two years straight following over a decade of stability, according to CDC data

The findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that 155,000 people were shot in 2016, which is 34,000 more than in 2015 and 40,000 more than in 2014.

Almost 39,000 of the shootings in 2016 were fatal, a 25 percent increase from a decade earlier in 2006.

'This new data shows that America's gun death and injury rates rose for the second straight year in a row, after having remained relatively flat for more than a decade,' the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence wrote in a blog post.

The most notable gun violence incidents in 2016 include the massacre at Pulse night club in Orlando, Florida, that left 49 dead and 50 injured.

Overall there were 383 mass shootings in 2016, the largest number on record in US history.

The deadliest shooting in 2016 took place at the Pulse night club in Orlando, Florida in June

It was the deadliest mass shooting in US history at the time, leaving 49 dead and 53 injured. Mourners are shown at a memorial service in Orlando

Mass shootings are defined as events in which three or more people are shot, and have been found to occur at a rate of nearly one per day in the US in the last decade.

The data also revealed that the number of non-fatal shootings also increased by 40 percent from 2015 to 2016, the largest spike in more than a decade.

While the CDC has yet to calculate the number of gun violence incidents in 2017, preliminary data from the Gun Violence Archive already indicates that it will an increase for the third year in a row.

Increased pressure to limit gun availability is being applied by the younger generation following the bloody massacre at a high school in Parkland, Florida, on February 14 that left 17 dead and 17 injured.

Lawmakers are facing more pressure than ever to strengthen gun control following the massacre at a high school in Parkland, Florida, on February 17 of this year

The Parkland shooting left 17 people dead and 17 injured, most of them teenage students

Millennials have come out in large numbers in support of gun control legislation through groups such as Generation Progress. A member is shown above at a news conference on May 7

In the less than three months since the Parkland shooting a number of states including Vermont, Maryland and Florida have passed gun control measures.

A study released in February of this year revealed that more than two-thirds of Americans support stricter gun control laws, the highest number recorded in the last 25 years.

Among Republicans, who have historically been much more inclined to protect the Second Amendment, more than half support gun control legislation.