The facts about firearm violence

Firearm-related deaths

1. There were 45,222 firearm-related deaths in the U.S. in 2020.
2. An average of 124 people died each day from a firearm-related injury that year.
3. More than half of the firearm-related deaths were suicides.
4. More than 4 out of every 10 of these deaths were firearm homicides.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/firearms/fastfact.html

Murders involving firearms

• In 2020, there were 13,620 gun murders and non-negligent manslaughters.
• Handguns were involved in 59% of these deaths.
• Rifles, including "assault rifles," were involved in 3% of firearm murders.

Source: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/02/03/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/

Source: https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/active-shooter-incidents-in-the-us-2020-070121.pdf/view

The leading cause of death among children and adolescents

• In 2020, firearm injuries became the leading cause of death among children and adolescents (persons 1 to 19 years of age).
• In 2020, firearm-related injuries surpassed motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death for this age group.
• The relative increase, from 2019 to 2020, in the rate of firearm-related deaths in this age group was 29.5% (more than twice as high as the relative increase in the general population).

Source: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2201761

Health care costs of gun injuries

• Hospital costs for initial gun injury care are just over $1 billion per year (according to hospital data from 2016 and 2017).
• There are about 30,000 hospital stays and about 50,000 emergency room visits each year related to gun injuries.

Source: https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-515

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Compiled 6/1/22