PHOTO GALLERY: Gunshots kill average of 87 people per day in U.S.

By The Associated Press

March 10, 2013 | 6:00 a.m. CDT

From the biggest cities to the smallest towns, more than 31,000 people die of gunshot wounds in the U.S. each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - an average of nearly 87 people a day.

In this Jan. 25, 2013 photo, mourners carry the coffin of Rene Trejo from the St. Michael Catholic Church in Memphis. Trejo, 28, worked hard as a bricklayer in Memphis, and loved soccer so avidly that he played on three different teams. But his sister-in-law says his plan was to move back to his homeland of Mexico, where he'd been sending money to help his impoverished mother open a restaurant. He was killed in a nighttime robbery attempt Jan. 19. | Francisco Correa/The Associated Press

This undated photo provided by the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department shows Nehemiah Griego, 15. The teenager is charged with killing his father, mother and three siblings Jan. 19 in Albuquerque, N.M. Authorities in New Mexico say Griego texted a picture of his dead mother to his 12-year-old girlfriend, then spent much of Saturday with her. The two went to the church where his father had been a pastor, and Griego eventually confessed to the shootings. | Photo courtesy of Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department

This undated image provided by the family shows Ken Seets. Though he'd been a delivery driver for years, he didn't own a car and was waiting for a bus when gunfire broke out at 12:20 p.m. Jan. 19 at the Bay Area Rapid Transit station in San Leandro, Calif. One bullet among the flurry of shots struck Seets in the chest, and he died within minutes in the arms of a bus driver who tried to aid him. Police said it was crossfire between members of rival gangs, and they are seeking an 18-year-old suspect in the killing. | ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO