STATISTICS

Gun violence exacts an enormous toll on American society—claiming tens of thousands of lives each year. The below statistics lay out the devastating scope of this uniquely American crisis. 

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43,000 AMERICANS DIE FROM GUN VIOLENCE EVERY YEAR—AN AVERAGE OF more than 116 PER DAY1

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Click the map to see annual state-specific totals.

Source: CDC WONDER


America has the weakest gun laws and the most guns—393 million—of any comparable nation.2

The US accounts for just 4% of the world’s population but 35% of global firearm suicides.3

Americans are 25 times more likely to be killed in a gun homicide than people in other high-income countries.4

America Leads High-Income Nations in Gun Violence

Nearly every American will know at least one victim of gun violence in their lifetime.5

Over 1 million Americans have been shot in the past decade, and gun violence rates are rising across the country.6

In 2021, gun deaths reached their highest level in at least 40 years, with 48,830 deaths that year alone.7

Gun Deaths Are on the Rise Nationally

Use the menu on to filter gun deaths by intent.

Suicides, homicides, police shootings—gun violence takes many forms, often dictated by who and where you are.

The Majority of Gun Deaths Are Suicides, While More Than a Third Are Homicides

GUN ACCESS TRIPLES SUICIDE RISK.8 THE MAJORITY OF SUICIDES —59%—INVOLVE A GUN.9

Guns Are by Far the Most Common Means of Suicide

Gun homicide has a disproportionate impact on underserved communities of color in American cities.

Roughly half of all gun homicides take place in just 127 cities comprising less than a quarter of the total US population.10

Black men make up 52% of all gun homicide victims in the US, despite comprising less than 6% of the population.11

Gun Homicides Disproportionately Affect Black Americans

UNARMED BLACK CIVILIANS ARE FIVE TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE SHOT AND KILLED BY POLICE THAN UNARMED WHITE CIVILIANS.12

Black Men Face the Highest Risk of Police Violence

Domestic violence victims are five times more likely to be killed when their abuser has access to a gun.13

25 million US adults have been threatened or nonfatally injured by an intimate partner with a firearm. 14

Women in the United States are 21 times more likely to be killed with a gun than women in other high-income countries.15

The Majority of Intimate Partner Homicides Are with Guns

3 million children are directly exposed to gun violence each year, resulting in death, injury, and lasting trauma.16

Guns Are the Leading Cause of Death for Children under 18

THE TOLL OF GUN VIOLENCE IS ENORMOUS AND HORRIFIC. WE NEED LEADERS WITH THE COURAGE TO FIGHT IT.

STATE BY STATE
America’s gun violence problem is felt in every corner of the nation, but different states across the country experience the crisis in very different ways.