Gun violence disproportionally marks the Hispanic community, particularly young Latinos who are more likely than non-Hispanic whites to die at the hands of strangers.

The Violence Policy Center recently published a report titled "Hispanic Victims of Lethal Firearms Violence in the United States." The report definitively exposed the realities of gun violence in the U.S., including the fact that gun violence fatalities have a disproportionate impact on the Hispanic community.

Homicide is the second leading cause of death for Hispanic youth (15-24), and Hispanic victims are more likely to be killed by a stranger than the national average (36 percent compared to 26 percent, respectively). The study drew available data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Supplementary Homicide Report and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to uncover sobering statistics. Between 1999 and 2013, more than 47,000 Hispanics were killed with guns in the U.S. The annual average was 3,000 gun deaths.

Roughly two-thirds of the gun deaths were homicides (31,800, or 67 percent), while 28 percent or 13,317 were ruled suicides. Largely, homicide victimization rate for Hispanics are nearly twice that of whites. The most recent data on homicide victimization concerning Hispanics was from 2013, and the rates were 4.75 per 100,000 -- compare that to 2.50 per 100,000 for whites. Approximately 72 percent of Hispanic gun homicide victims were killed by hand guns.

Nearly 3,000 Hispanics were killed with guns in 2013, which involved 1,750 homicides, 1,034 suicides, 49 unintentional shootings and 118 deaths under other circumstances, including legal intervention and undetermined intent.

While there are major gaps in available data, the report reveals there has been negligence in terms of national awareness about gun violence. The report also made an effort to establish that agencies report information on race, but they don't report on ethnic origin, which makes it difficult to learn what subgroup victims are from and also skews data regarding reported numbers as it relates to Hispanic victims.

The Violence Policy Center recommends government agencies improve their collection and reporting for Hispanic victims of violence, as it would equip policymakers with vital information about gun and lethal violence. Across the nation, Hispanic community leaders are working to end gun violence. However, the Violence Policy Center believes the community is not equipped with enough data to gain a full understanding of the crisis at hand.