NEW YORK, April 6 (Xinhua) -- A record number of people are dying from firearm injuries in the United States, and new research suggests that shootings are becoming more lethal, reported CNN on Wednesday.

"Most victims of fatal firearm injuries die at the scene of the shooting, before they can be treated in a health care setting. But that has become increasingly common over the past two decades," it noted.

About 57 percent of firearm fatalities in 2021 occurred at the scene of the shooting, up 9 percent since 1999, according to a research letter published on Wednesday in the JAMA Surgery journal. For this analysis, researchers used data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and excluded suicides and other self-inflicted firearm injuries.

Nearly 49,000 people died from firearm injuries in the United States in 2021, CDC data shows, an unprecedented surge of about 23 percent over two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, said the report.

"And a shift in the type of firearms that are being bought and used is a key factor making shootings more lethal," it added.