facts you need to know

The United States (US) has, by far, the highest rates of private gun ownership in the world: roughly ONE GUN PER PERSON. With less than 5% of the world’s population, the US has roughly 42% of the world’s private firearms.

Gun violence surpassed motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of death among children in the US in 2020, and it has remained so ever since. Among a group of similarly large, wealthy nations, the US had 46% of the children but 97% of the gun deaths. Black and Hispanic children are more likely to die by gun homicide, whereas White children (especially boys) are more likely to die by gun suicide.

Firearm deaths in the United States in 2023: 46,728.

There were 346 mass shootings - defined as at least four people injured or killed, not including the perpetrator - in the US in 2017. (Different sources define mass shootings differently, so please keep this in mind when comparing data sources.)

Deaths in 2017 related to mass shootings: 437. These constituted 2.8% of NON-SUICIDE firearm-related deaths. (437/15,651)

If people with serious mental illness had the exact same rates of violence as the general population, the decrease in overall violence in the US would only be around 4%.

The majority (60%) of firearm deaths in the US are suicide deaths.

Although people tend to worry about being harmed or killed by a stranger, women homicide victims are much more likely to be murdered by someone they know intimately.

Firearms are the means for nearly 3/4 of homicides in the US.

The US does not appear to have higher levels of overall crime or violent crime compared to similarly developed Western countries. Due to the prevalence of guns, however, violent crime can quickly become lethal in the US.

To learn A LOT more about gun violence in America, check out the podcast series, “In Sickness and in Health.” Season 3 is all about gun violence! Also, check out the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Gun Violence Solutions.