Why is Gun Violence a Public Health Epidemic?

Gun violence is a public health epidemic that affects the well-being and public safety of all Americans. In 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows, 46,728 individuals died from gun violence in the United States, the third-highest annual total ever recorded.¹ An additional 34,587 Americans suffered unintentional nonfatal firearm injuries.² The impacts of gun violence, both direct and indirect, inflict an enormous burden on American society. When a child is shot and killed, they lose decades of potential: the potential to grow up, have a family, contribute to society, and pursue their passions in life. When compared to other communicable and infectious diseases, gun violence often poses a larger burden on society in terms of potential years of life lost. In 2023, gun injury deaths accounted for 1,108,690 years of potential life lost before the age of 65—more than diabetes, stroke, and liver disease combined.³

Scope of Gun Violence:

Americans are impacted by various forms of gun violence—including suicide, homicide, and unintentional deaths, as well as nonfatal gunshot injuries, threats, and exposure to gun violence within their communities & society.  

Firearm Suicide: 

• 27,300 people died by firearm suicide, the highest number ever recorded.¹
• More than half of all suicide deaths are by firearm.¹
• Suicide attempts by firearm are almost always deadly — 9 out of 10 firearm suicide attempts result in death.⁴
• Access to a firearm in the home increases the odds of suicide more than three-fold.⁵

 Go In Depth: Firearm Suicide

Firearm Homicide: 

• Each year nearly 18,000 Americans die by firearm homicide.¹
• In 2023, firearms were used in 79% of all homicides.¹
• Access to firearms — such as the presence of a gun in the home — doubles the risk for homicide victimization.⁶
• The firearm homicide rate in the United States is 25.2 times higher than other industrialized countries.⁷  

Domestic Violence:  

• More than half of female intimate partner homicides are committed with a gun.⁸
• There are about 4.5 million women in America who have been threatened with a gun and nearly 1 million women who have been shot or shot at by an intimate partner.⁹
• A woman is five times more likely to be murdered when her abuser has access to a gun.¹⁰

 GO IN DEPTH: Domestic violence & firearms

Police-Involved Shootings: 

• 1,000 Americans are shot and killed by police every year.¹¹
• Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by police-involved shootings and are killed at more than twice the rate as White Americans.¹¹
• A total of 1769 people are injured in shootings by police, 55% fatally from 2015 to 2020.¹² 

Unintentional Shootings: 

• In 2023, 463 people died from unintentional firearm injuries.²
• About 126 young people (1-17) died due to unintentional gun injuries in 2023.²
• 34,587 people suffered from unintentional nonfatal firearm injuries in 2023.²

Mass Shootings:  

• Each year, there are an average of 600 mass shootings with four or more people shot and/or killed in a single event — more than approximately 500 people are killed and 2,000 are injured.¹³
• From 2022 to 2024, there were an average of 35 incidents annually where four or more people were killed at a single event.¹³
• From 2013 to 2022, the number of mass shootings (shootings where four or more people were shot and/or killed) have doubled; so too has the number of people killed and injured from the shootings.¹⁴
• States with more permissive gun laws and greater gun ownership had higher rates of mass shootings.¹⁵

Nonfatal Firearm Injuries: 

• For every person in the United States who dies by firearm, two people are treated at  hospitals for nonfatal gunshot wounds.¹⁶
• RAND has estimated that between 2000 and 2022, there were 728,617 inpatient hospitalizations for nonfatal firearm injuries in the U.S.¹⁷
• Gun assaults and unintentional injuries make up the vast majority of nonfatal gun injuries.¹⁶

Exposure to Gun Violence: 

• More than half of all adults in the U.S. report that they, or a family member have been involved in a gun violence-related incident.¹⁸
• One in five adults say they have had a family member killed by a gun.¹⁸
• One in five adults report being personally threated or intimated with a gun.¹⁸
• One-third of US adults report that fear of a mass shooting has prevented them from attending certain places or events.¹⁹