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How much do Americans love guns? More than anyone else in the whole, wide world.

An essay published this week by the Brookings Institution revealed that Americans have stockpiled almost half of the privately owned firearms in the world. Also? The U.S. boasts 88 guns per 100 people, by far the highest rate of private gun ownership on Earth. Next on the list is Yemen, with 55 guns per 100 people.

Another scary fact from Matt Bennett’s essay: “Many [gun] buyers get their guns from unlicensed sellers, mostly at gun shows or through ads on the Internet. No one knows how many unlicensed sellers there are; their ranks vary from a guy selling off his dad’s hunting rifle to the illegal gun trafficker moving hundreds of weapons per month through online sales.”

Adam Gadahn, an American member of Al-Qaeda, boasted in a 2011 video about how easy it is to get guns in the U.S. “You can go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle, without a background check, and most likely without having to show an identification card,” he said. “So what are you waiting for?”

Here is today’s report.

—Jennifer Mascia

Isaac Tervino, 9, was accidentally shot and killed by a 10-year-old relative in Copiah County, Miss., Wednesday morning. Tervino was with two other children in his grandmother’s bedroom when one of them found a gun, picked it up and fired, striking the victim above the right eyebrow. Adults were reportedly in another room of the house at the time. No charges have been filed.

—WJTV.com

Leonard J. Smith Jr., 11, was shot and killed by a 6-year-old boy after a family barbecue in Belleville, Mo., late Tuesday. Adults were on the main floor of a two-story house while several children upstairs found a handgun, which discharged. Police said someone who lived at the home was temporarily holding the gun for a family member. A neighbor said children in the house were often left unattended.

—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A 12-year-old boy was shot in the leg and wounded in Albuquerque, N.M., Wednesday afternoon, possibly by a 16-year-old relative. The victim had been at his grandmother’s house playing with his cousins when his aunt noticed his bloody leg. She drove him to a nearby fire station. The owner of the gun was not identified.

—KRQE.com

A woman was critically injured after being shot at a home just outside St. Robert, Mo., Wednesday afternoon. This is the second shooting of a woman in or near St. Robert in three days; on Monday, someone shot and killed Laila Carpenter, 33, at the Alpine Haus Motel and Apartments.

—KY3.com

William Christopher Dowling, 21, was shot in the chest in Stanley, La., Wednesday morning following an argument with another man over what they were watching on TV. Stephen Brian Raybon II, 17, will be charged with attempted second-degree murder. A 13-year-old was present and witnessed the shooting.

—ShreveportTimes.com

A shooting at a Travelodge in Riviera Beach, Fla., left a man dead and another man and a woman injured Wednesday afternoon. Police found the dead man in a car and blood trails and bullet casings nearby. No word on a motive. Officers are looking for one or more shooters, who fled the scene.

—The Palm Beach Post

A 23-year-old man was shot and injured in the College Hill neighborhood of St. Louis, Mo., Wednesday afternoon. Two men were standing on the sidewalk at around 11:35 a.m. when a car pulled up and someone inside fired more than 20 shots at them. One of the victims tried to drive off after the shooting but crashed into a utility pole.

—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

An unidentified 51-year-old man was shot and killed in Lawrence, Kan., Wednesday evening. A man and a woman were arrested in Topeka shortly after the shooting.

—CJOnline.com

Two people were seriously wounded in a possibly gang-related shooting on the West Side of Chicago, Ill., early Wednesday. A 24-year old man was shot in the upper back and the other man, 27, was shot multiple times in the torso while sitting in a car. Few other details were offered.

—CBS Chicago

A 27-year-old man was wounded in a possibly gang-related shooting at the Resetar Hotel in Watsonville, Calif., Wednesday afternoon. The victim, who lived at the hotel with his wife and child, was hit in the leg, leaving a thin trail of blood on the sidewalk. Police are soliciting tips.

—Santa Cruz Sentinel

A man was shot and killed in South Berkeley, Calif., Wednesday night. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Police are investigating.

—KTVU.com

Two people were wounded in a shooting outside a West Toledo, Ohio, bar early Wednesday. Theresa Anderson and Michael McFadden were shot in the legs after an argument with Anthony Smith, 27. Smith is at large and said to be extremely dangerous.

—The Blade

A man was shot and wounded in an armed robbery in Jacksonville, Fla., early Wednesday. Police say a group of five people robbed the victim and led police on a car chase that ended in a crash. Four were arrested and one is being sought.

—Jacksonville.com

A man was shot in the chest in a shopping plaza in Longwood, Fla., Wednesday afternoon. Witnesses reported hearing 15 to 20 gunshots. Police said the shooting was drug-related. Four people were detained and questioned.

—WESH.com

A man his mid-30s was killed and another person was injured in a shooting in Oklahoma City, Okla., Wednesday night. One person is in custody.

—KFOR-TV.com

A shooting in the Bayview District of San Francisco, Calif., sent a man to the hospital Wednesday afternoon. The victim was driven to the hospital in a private vehicle. No arrests had been made.

—KTVU.com

According to Slate’s gun-death tracker, an estimated 6,271 people have died as a result of gun violence in America since the Newtown massacre on December 14, 2012.