By the Numbers

To solve our country’s gun violence crisis, we need to understand it. These facts and statistics convey the complex reality of gun violence in America—and ways we can address this crisis. These numbers help illuminate where we’ve made progress and how much still needs to be done.

STATISTICS

32%
Decline in recovered assault weapons
In several major cities, the share of recovered crime guns that were assault weapons fell by at least 32% after the federal assault weapons ban was adopted.

Source

Christopher S. Koper, Daniel J. Woods, and Jeffrey A. Roth, “An Updated Assessment of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban: Impacts on Gun Markets and Gun Violence, 1994–2003,” National Institute of Justice, US Department of Justice, June 2004.

70%
LOWER likelihood of mass shooting deaths
While the federal assault weapons ban was in effect, mass shooting fatalities were 70% less likely to occur.

Source

Charles DiMaggio et al., “Changes in US Mass Shooting Deaths Associated with the 1994–2004 Federal Assault Weapons Ban: Analysis of Open–source Data,” Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery 86, no. 1 (2019): 11–19.

30+
FAWB Impact
One study estimated that if the federal law assault weapons ban had remained in place through 2019, it would have prevented at least 30 mass shootings that resulted in 1,478 people shot and killed or wounded

Source

Lori Post et al., “Impact of Firearm Surveillance on Gun Control Policy: Regression Discontinuity Analysis,” JMIR Public Health and Surveillance 7, no. 4 (2021): e26042, https://doi.org/10.2196/26042. Study defined mass shooting as four or more victims killed with a firearm at a public location. Familicides and felony killings were excluded.

2x
More injuries and deaths with an assault rifle
In mass shootings, individuals equipped with an assault rifle, as opposed to a handgun or non-assault rifle, are able to kill and injure twice as many people.

Source

Elzerie de Jager, et al., “Lethality of Civilian Active Shooter Incidents With and Without Semiautomatic Rifles in the United States,” JAMA 320, no. 10 (2018): 1034–1035.

7
States regulate Assault Weapons
In the absence of federal legislation regulating assault weapons, seven states and the District of Columbia have taken action to ban certain types of assault weapons.
30%
more crime gun exports across state lines
States without universal background check laws traffic more guns across state lines than states with universal background checks.

Source

Daniel W. Webster, Jon S. Vernick, and Maria T. Bulzacchelli, “Effects of State–level Firearm Seller Accountability Policies on Firearm Trafficking,” Journal of Urban Health 86, no. 4 (2009): 525–537; Daniel W. Webster, Jon S. Vernick, Emma E. McGinty, and Ted Alcorn, “Preventing the Diversion of Guns to Criminals Through Effective Firearm Sales Laws,” in Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013), 109–121.

4.7m
Illegal gun sales stopped by background checks
Since 1994, the federal background checks system has prevented nearly five million gun sales to people prohibited from owning guns.

Source

Connor Brooks, “Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 2019-2020,” US Department of Justice: Bureau of Justice Statistics (2023), https://bjs.ojp.gov/document/bcft1920.pdf; “2020–2021 NICS Operations Reports,” Federal Bureau of Investigation,  https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/nics-2020-2021-operations-report.pdf/view; “2022 NICS Operations Reports,” Federal Bureau of Investigation, https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/nics-2022-operations-report.pdf/view.

22%
of Gun owners don’t get background checks
Millions of guns are sold each year without a background check, no questions asked. 22% of gun owners bought their latest gun without undergoing a background check.

Source

Matthew Miller, Lisa Hepburn & Deborah Azrael, “Firearm Acquisition Without Background Checks,” Annals of Internal Medicine 166, no. 4 (2017): 233–239.

22
States with Background Check Laws
22 states and the District of Columbia have extended background checks beyond federal law. Of these, 18 states and DC require background checks for all gun sales.

BLACK AMERICANS ARE AT HIGHER RISK OF GUN HOMICIDE

Gun homicides and assaults disproportionately impact historically underserved communities of color. Black Americans are nearly 13 times more likely than white Americans to be killed in a gun homicide.

Source

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER), “Underlying Cause of Death, 2018-2022, Single Race,” last accessed May 1, 2024, https://wonder.cdc.gov/.

60%
Fewer homicides with GVI
An evaluation of Boston’s gun violence intervention program found a 63% reduction in youth homicides and a 25% decline in monthly gun assaults.

Source

Anthony A. Braga, David M. Kennedy, Elin J. Waring, and Anne Morrison Piehl, “Problem-oriented Policing, Deterrence, and Yotuh Violence: An Evaluation of Boston’s Operation Ceasefire,” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 38, no. 3 (2001): 195–225.

46%
decline in gun homicides & assaults
The Advance Peace intervention program in Sacramento correlated with a reduction in gun homicides and assaults of up to 46% in areas where the program was implemented.

Source

Jason Corburn and Amanda Fukutome-Lopez, “Outcome Evaluation of Advance Peace, Sacramento, 2018–2019,” UC Berkeley Institute of Urban and Regional Development, March 2020, https://www.advancepeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Corburn-and-F-Lopez-Advance-Peace-Sacramento-2-Year-Evaluation-03-2020.pdf.

53%
of Boston’s gun violence occurs in < 3% of the city
Shootings tend to be highly concentrated in small areas of particular neighborhoods—in Boston’s case less than 3% of the city. Other cities see similar patterns of concentration.

Source

Anthony A. Braga, Andrew V. Papachristos, and David M. Hureau, “The Concentration and Stability of Gun Violence at Micro Places in Boston, 1980–2008,” Journal of Quantitative Criminology 26, no. 1 (2010): 33–53.

4x
Less likely to recidivate or be reinjured
Patients who receive hospital-based violence intervention services are four times less likely to be convicted of a violent crime and four times less likely to be violently injured again.

Source

Tina L. Cheng, et al., “Effectiveness of a Mentor-Implemented, Violence Prevention Intervention for Assault-Injured Youths Presenting to the Emergency Department: Results of a Randomized Trial,” Pediatrics 122, no. 5 (2008): 938–946.

67%
REDUCTION IN HOMICIDES WITH POLICE-COMMUNITY TRUST
Lack of trust between communities and law enforcement is a major driver of gun violence in cities. Camden, NJ, took steps to rebuild this trust and has seen homicides drop 67%.

Source

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reports, “Crime in the United States,” last accessed Aug. 14, 2020, https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s. Giffords Law Center used Violent Crime Table 8 for the years 2012 and 2018 to pull data for Camden, NJ.

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SPOTLIGHT

GUN VIOLENCE STATISTICS

Explore facts, figures, and original analysis compiled by our experts. To end our gun violence crisis, we need to better understand where, how, and why violence occurs.

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