gun violence problem essay

Gun Violence - Essay Samples And Topic Ideas For Free

Gun violence refers to acts of violence committed with the use of firearms. Essays might discuss the causes and consequences of gun violence, the debate around gun control policies, the impact of gun violence on communities, and comparisons of gun violence and gun control measures across different countries. A substantial compilation of free essay instances related to Gun Violence you can find at PapersOwl Website. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

Solutions to Gun Violence

Firearms are one of the most debated issues in the United States. On the one hand are the people who demand and require more strict control in the possession and distribution of guns, and on the other side are the people who pressure the government to keep the laws as they are. Buying a gun in this country takes less than an hour. It is very sad how an individual can purchase a gun easily. It is unhappy because some […]

Gun Violence and Gun Control

Gun violence in America is a never-ending series of tragedy after tragedy, mass-shooting and the one of the constant social problem in United State. Many innocent lives have been taken to gun violence from Sandy Hook elementary, Pulse nightclub in Orlando, 2017 Las Vegas, Columbine High School, and all of that violence has been increasing. The Second Amendment, the right of the people to bear arms, has given the individual to own a gun, but many have abused the power […]

The Gun Problem in America

Introduction As stated in the Social Problems textbook, “Social problems: Continuity and change”, “A social problem is any condition or behavior that has negative consequences for large numbers of people and that is generally recognized as a condition or behavior that needs to be addressed” (2015). As a result, I decided to discuss the social problem of the second amendment. Since the founding of the United States of America, the right to bear arms has always been a hot button […]

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Examining the Deep Impact of U.S. Gun Violence on American Society

U.S. gun violence has had put a struggle on american living and the quality of it. Its put America into a spiral of fear, a lot of people don't know the extent of how its effecting are lives and the way we live. Schools have built there security, airports and all other large businesses and or public businesses have also done the same. Laws have been getting stricter and stricter but simply some people just dont listen and obey those […]

The Problem of the Gun Violence

In success central, I attended a small breakout session about gun violence. At first, I thought this breakout session was going to be over gun control and politics but it was more in depth. The session was about how a victim truly feels after being affected by gun violence. Some of the statistics that I learned at the session is, gun-related deaths are now the third leading cause of death for American children. One of the main reasons i enjoyed […]

Should Teachers Carry Guns

Over the past several years there have been mass shootings in America that has struck the feelings of many Americans. Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, extended family, and strangers have all been affected by the victims of shootings at Aurora, Colorado, Columbine High school, and Sandy Hook Elementary school. Because of these tragedies, U.S. citizens have become more involved and interested in gun control and prevention of gun violence. Gun Control is a controversial issue that many people have different views […]

Why Gun Violence Increasing

Gun violence has had a drastic increase over the years, leaving the United States desperate for laws to be implemented concerning the well-being and safety of citizens. Terrifying events surrounding gun violence have left researchers with no option but to investigate gun laws and regulations. Only some states require permits in order to purchase a firearm and background checks are required by federal law to anyone purchasing a gun as well. A citizen at the age of 21 is legal […]

Mental Health Screenings and the Effect on Gun Violence

Historically speaking, guns were used for hunting and for protection. In the late 1700's, the Revolutionary War began from Britain's pursuit to take away the colonists weaponry and oppress them. Lexington and Concord was the beginning of the fight for freedom. When Britain surrendered at Yorktown in 1781, the colonists had won their independence. The first constitution called the Articles of Confederation was ratified by all thirteen colonies in 1781 and was in place until 1789 when the U.S Constitution […]

Gun Control Vs Gun Rights

In the U.S, there is a lot of controversy about gun control laws. There are protests, arguments, and laws that not many agree with because it does not support their Second Amendment rights. What truly did the Founding Fathers mean by the Second Amendment? Pro-gun supporters believe it was meant for individuals to have access to guns while gun control supporters believe it was for trained officials. Many people are trying to find a solution on how it should be […]

Combating Gun Violence

A school shooting is an attack at an educational institution, such as a school or university, involving the use of firearms. The first recorded school shooting in the United States took place in 1840, when a law student shot and killed his professor at the University of Virginia. Despite that crime rates in the United States are declining, and homicide specifically is especially rare, many people believe that school shootings are becoming epidemic, occurring more frequently than the have in […]

Students Protest and Addresses Gun Violence

A schools' biggest fear is having a shooter come onto campus. There has been so many incidents on the news that people are trying to find solutions for this issue. Students need to feel safe while they are learning. I have found three articles of school shootings that go into detail about what took place on those days. Each author has had an interesting stand-point about what should happen next. In this paper, i will be comparing the authors perspective […]

The Second Amendment – Firearm Legislation

Americans are being murdered at unprecedented rates and little action has been attempted to prevent similar events from reoccurring. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ninety-six Americans die by firearms every day (The Editorial Board). Ninety-six lives end because of a bullet. It is unethical and immoral for that many people to perish, and for there to be little change made. Unfortunately, legislators can not just simply change firearm laws due to the long-standing and well-respected second […]

The State of Gun Violence in the US

Gun violence in today's America has become routine and common. This violence causes a surprising number of deaths and injuries throughout the United States. The main lethal weapon used to take part in violence is the gun. That's one of the reason why stricter gun control policy is needed to make it impossible to own a gun for those who should not own them in the first place. Taking such action could make our neighborhood is a safer place to […]

Stop Gun Violence

Guns in America are ruining our society. Watch the news any day and you will most likely see either a school shooting ora shooting at some type of gathering. For some children going to school is horrifying because they are extremely disturbed by the school shootings that are going in our society. Children as young as kindergarten are learning how to act in the case of a school shooting. Yet, guns are killing innocent people by being able to have […]

Understanding Gun Violence

Almost each and every other year there gets to be cases and more cases related to gun violence where from one point one gets to hear about some suicide by gun, some forceful assaults, some kind of accidental occurrences with a gun and many more. With the unending rising cases linked to the same, there still is quite a lot to be looked at especially when trying to cover the same situation and be able to make sure that one […]

Gun Violence and the Second Amendment

According the Cornell Law Studies Institute, the second amendment states, "A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." The Second Amendment of the constitution is one of the most misunderstood and confusing sentences in the history of America. The 27-word sentence has a partial collectivist ora while still maintaining the individualistic right to keep and bear arms. Before discussing the reasons behind […]

The Problem of Mass Shootings

Mass shootings are problematic, because they are getting more deadly and more frequent. Mass shootings are defined as a single shooting incident which kills or injures four or more people, including the assailant/shooter ("Guns in the US: The Statistics"). Mass shootings have been shown to be contagious, meaning that a mass shooting one day increases the likelihood of others in the following days (Leatherby). Five of the eighteen most lethal shootings in America since 1949 have occured between 2007 and […]

Gun Violence Prevention

The right to own a gun is established as the Second Amendment in the United States Constitution. Though this right is guaranteed, our country’s relationship with guns is a tumultuous one. Gun laws vary by each state, for instance California gun laws states that, “An application for sale or transfer must be made with a licensed California gun dealer before any firearm may be sold or transferred. The purchaser must present the dealer with a valid California Driver’s License or […]

How the Government Can Decrease Gun Violence

There should be more gun control laws to control gun violence. The debate on gun control in America has been up for deliberation for decades. Almost forty thousand people are killed each year due to homicidal, accidental, and suicidal use of guns (Politics 7). Despite the fact that America has approximately twenty thousand gun laws, there are still often occurring crime due to gun violence. To fix this problem, the government should enforce stricter background checks for all gun sales, […]

Impact of Gun Violence

The constitution of America has various amendments that provide many kinds of leverage to its people, like right to vote, right to speech etc. Among them, one of the most controversial amendment is Second Amendment which gives people right to bear weapons like gun, for their safety. Safety is one of the basic needs of people and they should be provided to the people. However, the word 'safety' is a critical term here; is it really safe to have people […]

How to Change the Gun Violence Situation in the US

In the United States, the number of cases of gun violence have increased tremendously. The reason why these numbers have been so high is because guns have been made easily accessible to the general public. The implications that gun violence has had on the country are so damaging that it is time that the American government come up with ways in which the availability of guns to the American citizens can be restrained. Due to the gun violence situation; people […]

The Las Vegas Shooting, Gun Control and American Violence

The night of October 1, 2017 at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas was interrupted by the sound of gun fire that was opened by a gunman from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino (Time, 2017). As Time reported, in this massive shooting, which went on for 10-15 minutes at about a crowd of 20,000 people, more than 500 people were injured and at least 50 people were killed (Time, 2017). With this tragic […]

The Question of Gun Violence

The first step in solving a problem is recognizing there is one (Mcavoy). America is a country overflowing with individuals holding a great sense of nationalism and pride. Many of these individuals remark that America is the greatest country in the world. This statement is direct, and it takes a stand that no other country is as great as America. Although the United States has many aspects that are great, gun violence is a rising issue holding back the country. […]

Gun Violence in Parkland Florida

There are over thirty thousand deaths a year in the United States related to gun violence with Americans using guns for defensive purposes as many as a million times every year. These deaths are a result of suicides, homicides and accidents. It is evident that gun violence and gun control are issues of serious national importance and are worth debating. The main issues and arguments found in the debate over gun control in the United States have not changed a […]

Public Health Solutions: Gun Violence

Gun violence accounts for approximately 35,000 deaths and 89,600 injuries annually in the United States (Gun Violence in America, 2018). It consists of both intentional and unintentional assault, domestic and family violence, law enforcement intervention, homicide, suicide, self-harm, and undetermined causes (Gun Violence in America, 2018). According to Santhanam (2018), in 2016 the United States ranked second in gun-related deaths, after Brazil and before India. Gun violence is a prominent issue in American society and is certainly a public health […]

Reducing School Gun Violence in New Mexico

School gun violence in the United States is on the rise. Since 2014 there have been an average of five school shootings per month. Since Sandy Hook in 2012, there have been at least 239 school shootings nationwide. In these school shootings 438 were shot, and 138 were killed, and 16 shootings were classified as where 4 or more people were shot. (Preventing School Violence: Assessing Armed Guardians, School Policy, and Context.) More people, including students and teachers, were killed […]

The Problem of Gun Politics in the United States

The Brady campaign to prevent gun violence states every day 8 children and teens die from gun violence, 4 are murdered, 3 die from suicide and 1 killed unintentionally. Every day 39 children and teens are shot and survive, 31 injured in an attack, 1 survives a suicide attempt and 7 shot unintentionally Not only is the 2nd amendment giving access to have a gun to protect ourselves, it is giving others access to commit violent crimes that involve a […]

Gun Violence in America

The issue of gun violence has attracted a heated debate in the US. With time, people have advanced significantly in gun availability and the power to buy military-style firearms, which has led to more likelihood of criminals getting guns that they can use for mass destruction. Yet, burning gun ownership can be a significant issue since most civilians who buy firearms do so to ensure their protection and safety. Many supporters of gun ownership postulate that firearms do not kill, […]

Why does Drug Trafficking Cause Gun Violence

There is a strong relationship between drug trafficking, drug use, and gun violence. The research attempts to come up with a solution for the research question why does drug trafficking cause gun violence. Most youths have been involved in the use of drugs like marijuana, stimulants, hallucinogens, crack cocaine, heroin, and cocaine hence being involved in violence including gun violence (Johnson, Golub, Dunlap, 2000) This research will play a major role in improving academic research, sow the existing causal effect […]

Gun Violence in America: who is to Blame?

Too often, when you raise the issue of guns in this country, it starts a debate with both sides pointing the blame at each other. In the middle, we hear the voices of children who’ve witnessed the killing of their friends and teachers and who are sounding out for action. The question is, will we listen to them? Will we care enough to do something? Horrific tragedies like the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School a little under a […]

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How To Write an Essay About Gun Violence

Introduction to the issue of gun violence.

Gun violence is a pressing issue in today's society, affecting countless lives and communities. When setting out to write an essay on this topic, it's crucial to first establish a comprehensive understanding of what gun violence entails. This involves not just looking at the statistics and incidents of shootings, but also understanding the various forms of gun violence – from mass shootings to domestic incidents and suicides. The introduction of your essay should present the topic's relevance and urgency, outlining the scope of the issue and its impact on society. This stage is about laying the groundwork for your argument, identifying the key aspects of gun violence that you will explore in the rest of your essay.

Developing Your Argument

The body of your essay should be dedicated to developing a well-structured argument. Start by defining your thesis statement clearly. What aspect of gun violence are you focusing on? Are you examining its causes, the effectiveness of gun control laws, or the societal impact of gun-related incidents? Each paragraph should tackle a specific point that supports your thesis, with evidence and examples to back up your claims. This might include data on gun violence rates, analysis of legislation and its effectiveness, or case studies of particular incidents. It's also important to consider and address counterarguments, as this demonstrates a thorough understanding of the topic and strengthens your own position.

Ethical and Societal Implications

An essay on gun violence should also delve into the ethical and societal implications of the issue. This is where you can explore the broader context of gun violence, such as its impact on public health, the ethical debates surrounding gun ownership and rights, and the societal factors that contribute to the prevalence of gun violence. Discuss the balance between individual rights and public safety, the role of mental health, and the impact of cultural and societal norms around guns. This part of the essay challenges readers to think beyond the immediate effects of gun violence and consider the larger societal structures that enable it.

Concluding the Discussion

In your conclusion, bring together all the threads of your argument, reaffirming your thesis and summarizing the key points you've discussed. This is your opportunity to leave a lasting impression on the reader. You might want to reflect on the broader implications of gun violence for future societal and legislative changes. Suggest possible solutions or areas for further research, and encourage your readers to think critically about their stance on gun violence. A strong conclusion will not only wrap up your essay neatly but will also provoke further thought and discussion on this critical issue.

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5 Essays about Gun Violence

Gun violence impacts every part of society. There are certain places in the world where it’s more prevalent. According to a 2018 report, the United States had the 28th highest rate of gun violence deaths in the world. That puts the US above other wealthy countries. Gun violence is also a major issue in places like the Caribbean, Central America, and Venezuela. Here are five essays that address the financial and emotional impact of gun violence, how people use art to cope, and how the problem can be addressed.

“What Does Gun Violence Really Cost?”

Mark Follman, Julia Lurie, Jaeah Lee, and James West

This article opens with the story of a woman and her fiance shot on their way to dinner. After being close to death and staying in a hospital for five months, Jennifer Longdon couldn’t move her body from the chest down. After more hospitalizations, the bills got close to $1 million in just the first year, forcing her to file for personal bankruptcy. More expensive hospital stays followed for problems like sepsis, while wheelchair modifications for her house added up, as well.

For many people, their knowledge of gun violence comes from the news or movies. These venues tend to focus on the moment the violence occurs or the emotional impact. The long-term financial consequences as a result of health issues are less known. This article examines the existing data while telling a personal story.

“I Think of People Who Died At Sandy Hook Every Day”

Mary Ann Jacob

In this essay from 2016, Mary Ann Jacob remembers the horrific elementary school shooting from 2012. She worked at the library at the time and recalls hearing shouting from the intercom on the morning of December 14. Believing someone had pushed it by mistake, she called in, only to have the secretary answer the phone and shout, “There’s a shooter!” Mary Ann Jacob lived through one of the deadliest school shootings in US history. The essay goes on to describe what happened after and the steps survivors took to advocate for better gun control.

“You May Not See Me On TV, But Parkland Is My Story, Too”

Kyrah Simon

In 2018, a gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School killed 17 students and wounded 17 others. Several students became vocal afterwards, challenging the lack of gun control in the face of such violence. They founded an advocacy group and many of the young people became household names. Kyrah Simon, a senior at the school, lost one of her best friends. She also wanted to speak up and share her story but realized that the media wanted certain speeches, certain faces. She writes, “I was just a girl that lost her friend. And it wasn’t enough.” Raw, honest, and enlightening, this personal essay is a must-read.

“Mexican Artist Transforms 1,527 Deadly Guns Into Life-Giving Shovels To Plant Trees”

In Culiacan, Mexico, the city with the highest rate of deaths by gun violence in the country, an artist and activist began a special project. Pedro Reyes used local media and TV ads paid for by the city’s botanical garden to advertise his gun-trading project. In exchange for bringing their weapons, people received electronics and appliances coupons. Reyes made over 1,500 trades. What came next? The guns were crushed by a steamroller and melted down. Reyes used the material to create shovels. He made the same number of shovels as guns, so each gun was represented as something new.

Turning guns into art is not an uncommon action. Reyes has also made instruments while other artists make sculptures. The transformation of an object of death into something that plays a part in fostering life – like planting trees – sends a powerful message.

“Forum: Doing Less Harm”

David Hemenway

What is the best approach to gun violence? David Hemenway, a professor of health policy and director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center and Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center, advocates for a public-health approach. He believes gun violence is a public-safety problem and a problem-health problem, but gun lobbyists dismiss both claims. The gun lobby focuses on the shooter – the individual – so attention is diverted from the firearms industry. In focusing so much on who to blame, prevention is left out of the equation.

A public-health approach returns the attention to prevention and asks everyone to work together on the issue. Hemenway uses motor-vehicle injury prevention as a blueprint for why gun violence prevention can work. Not sure what prevention could look like? Hemenway provides examples of how actors like healthcare workers, consumers, and the federal government can work together.

Learn about the consequences of gun violence in America and which interventions are most effective to reduce gun violence in homes, schools and communities!

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About the author, emmaline soken-huberty.

Emmaline Soken-Huberty is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon. She started to become interested in human rights while attending college, eventually getting a concentration in human rights and humanitarianism. LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and climate change are of special concern to her. In her spare time, she can be found reading or enjoying Oregon’s natural beauty with her husband and dog.

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Gun Violence in the United States

Gun violence is a preventable public health tragedy affecting communities all over the United States. Every day, more than 100 Americans die by gun violence, including 64 who die by firearm suicide, 39 Americans who die by firearm homicide, and 3 who are killed by other forms of gun violence. In addition, every day nearly 200 Americans visit the emergency department for nonfatal firearm injuries. Over half of these cases are a result of a firearm assault and an additional 37% are unintentional injuries. Overwhelming evidence shows that firearm ownership and access is associated with increased suicide, homicide, unintentional firearm deaths, and injuries. These injuries and deaths are preventable, and we must advocate for evidence-based solutions to make gun violence in the U.S. rare and abnormal.

Gun Ownership

How does gun ownership and access to firearms affect gun deaths, an in-depth look at gun violence in the united states, gun death rates by state, gun deaths by demographics, recommendations.

Gun violence is a public health epidemic in the United States. Every year nearly 40,000 Americans are killed by guns, including more than 23,000 who die by firearm suicide, 14,000 who die by firearm homicide, more than 500 who die by legal intervention, 12 nearly 500 who die by unintentional firearm injuries, and more than 300 who die by undetermined intent. 12 This equates to more than 100 gun deaths every single day. In addition, every day nearly 200 Americans visit the emergency department for nonfatal firearm injuries. 13

In 2019, the most recent year of data available, there were 39,707 gun deaths – 109 every single day. 14 Three in every five gun deaths are suicides and more than one-third are homicides, while the remainder are unintentional, of unknown intent, or law enforcement intervention.

Among high-income countries, the United States is an outlier in terms of gun violence. It has been well-documented that firearm ownership rates ? are associated with increased firearm-related death rates. The U.S. has the highest firearm ownership and highest firearm death rates of 27 high-income countries. 15 The firearm homicide rate in the U.S. is nearly 25 times higher than other high-income countries and the firearm suicide rate is nearly 10 times that of other high-income countries. 16

It is a common misconception that individuals living with mental illness are responsible for gun violence. When compared to other countries, the United States has similar rates of mental illness, yet we have much higher rates of gun violence. 17, 18 To be clear, mental illness does not cause gun violence – the problem is access to firearms.

While gun death data are the most reliable type of gun violence data currently available, it is important to recognize that gun deaths are only the tip of the iceberg of the gun violence epidemic. In addition to gun deaths, many more people are shot and survive their injuries, are shot at but not hit, or witness gun violence. Many experience gun violence in other ways, for example by living in impacted communities, losing loved ones to gun violence, or being threatened with a gun.

The CDC Plays a Vital Role in Providing Public Health Data to Researchers

Researchers need robust and reliable data to study and develop solutions to address the epidemic of gun violence in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the federal agency responsible for protecting the health of Americans by ensuring that data is properly collected to develop solutions to our nation’s public health crises, including gun violence. The CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) plays an instrumental role for gun violence prevention advocates and researchers. The NVDRS uses death certificates, police reports, and hospital records to report information about the victim, the cause of death, and the circumstances surrounding their death. 19 The CDC makes this data publicly available and easily accessible through their Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS).

To learn more, visit our page on nonfatal firearm injuries.

The following data presented on this page focuses on the impact to those who were killed by gun violence.

Many Americans celebrate guns in our culture and disregard the inherent public safety issues that a gun-friendly culture creates. U.S. firearm ownership rates exceed those of other high-income countries 20 and Americans own 46% of the world’s civilian-owned firearms. 21 Thirty percent of Americans report owning a gun, 22 with estimates of the total number of privately-owned guns in the U.S. ranging from 265 million to nearly 400 million. 23, 24, 25 The majority of gun owners (66%) report owning multiple guns, 26 and it is estimated that half of all guns are in the hands of just 3% of the U.S. population. 27

Gun Ownership by State

Gun ownership varies significantly by state. For example, one study found that gun ownership varies from 61.7% in Alaska to 5.2% in Delaware. 28 Higher levels of gun ownership are correlated with higher rates of suicide, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 homicide, 34, 35, 36, 37 unintentional firearm deaths, 38, 39 law enforcement killings, 40 and violent crime. 41

Reasons for Gun Ownership – “Protection”

More than 6 in 10 Americans believe that a gun in the home makes the family safer – a figure that has nearly doubled since 2000. 42 This increase in perceived safety is reflected in shifting reasons for gun ownership. In a 2017 Pew Research survey, two-thirds (67%) of gun owners cited protection as a major reason for gun ownership. 43 This represents a notable increase from the mid-1990s, when the majority of American gun owners cited recreation as their primary reason for gun ownership and fewer than half owned guns primarily for protection. 44

However, the evidence is clear: guns don’t make you safer. Contrary to the gun lobby’s talking points, overwhelming research shows that gun ownership and easy access to guns inherently puts individuals and their families at higher risk of death and injury. 22, 23 With a recent study estimating that there are more guns than people in the United States 45 and with a rate of gun violence continually increasing, it is imperative to know the facts about guns and gun violence.

“We must remember that stopping gun violence isn’t only about preventing high-profile mass shootings. It is about stopping gun violence in all its forms. We must acknowledge that gun violence comes in many different forms — from gun suicide to police brutality to domestic violence to unintentional shootings to daily gun violence in neighborhoods across the country.”

- Bryan Barks, Director of Strategic Communications

Every year, nearly 40,000 Americans are killed by guns, including: 46

• More than 23,000 who die by firearm suicide
• 14,000 who die by firearm homicide
• More than 500 who die by legal intervention ?
• Nearly 500 who die by unintentional firearm injuries
• More than 300 who die by undetermined intent

This equates to more than 100 gun deaths every single day.

More than 60% of all gun deaths are suicides. 58 Evidence consistently shows that access to firearms increases the risk of suicide. 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54 Access to a gun in the home increases the odds of suicide more than three-fold. 55 Firearms are so dangerous when someone is at risk for suicide because they are the most lethal suicide attempt method.

Though research shows that few individuals substitute means for suicide if their preferred method is not available, if firearms are not available, the person at risk for suicide is much more likely to survive even if they attempt using another method. 56 Delaying a suicide attempt can also allow suicidal crises to pass and lead to fewer suicides. Ninety percent of individuals who attempt suicide do not go on to die by suicide. 57 The use of a firearm in a suicide attempt often means there is no second chance.

To learn more, visit PreventFirearmSuicide.com or visit our page on firearm suicide .

Over 35% of all gun deaths are homicides. 58 Access to firearms – such as the presence of a gun in the home – is correlated with an increased risk for homicide victimization. 58, 59 States with high rates of gun ownership consistently have higher firearm homicide rates. 60, 61, 62 Studies show that access to firearms doubles the risk of homicide. 63 Nearly 75% of all U.S. homicides are by firearm. 64 Firearm homicide is a complex issue that includes different types of gun violence – domestic violence, interpersonal community violence, and mass shootings – and requires an array of different policies, programs, and practices if we want to see meaningful change.

Gun ownership also has implications for the number of mass shootings in a state. A 2019 study found that the permissiveness of state gun laws and an increase in a state’s gun ownership were associated with higher rates of mass shootings. Specifically, every 10 unit increase in the permissiveness of a state’s gun laws is associated with a 9% higher rate of mass shootings. For every 10% increase in gun ownership, states have a 35.1% higher rate of mass shootings. 65 The authors wrote, “This means that a state like California, which has approximately two mass shootings per year, will have an extra mass shooting for every 10 unit increase in permissiveness over five years. It will also have three to five more mass shootings per five years for every 10 unit increase in gun ownership.” 66

To learn more, visit our pages on firearm homicide or mass shootings .

Unintentional Shootings

About 1% of all gun deaths are unintentional. 67 “Unintentional” is the description used for a death that was not caused purposely. In gun violence, examples include fatal injuries that occur when a weapon misfires or is mishandled by a child and results in the victim being shot (in contrast with homicide and suicide, both of which involve an intent to pull the trigger and cause harm). Easy access to firearms, particularly unsecured firearms and the presence of firearms in risky situations, increases risk of unintentional injury and death by firearm. Mitigating access with safer storage practices and through evidence-based policy prevents unintentional gun violence.

To learn more, visit our page on unintentional shootings .

Legal Intervention / Police-Involved Shootings

“Legal intervention” is the description used by the CDC for injuries inflicted by the police or other law enforcement agents, including military on duty, in the course of arresting or attempting to arrest lawbreakers, suppressing disturbances, maintaining order, and other legal actions. In gun violence, these are also known as police-involved shootings. According to the CDC, more than 500 Americans die by legal intervention every year.

However, the government’s data (including the CDC data) provide a substantial under-count of police-involved injuries and deaths. To address this gap, a number of media sources have tracked police-involved shootings in recent years, most notably the Washington Post’s Fatal Force database. This database found that 1,000 Americans are shot and killed by police every year – more than double the number of police-involved fatal shootings than are reported in FBI and CDC databases. 68 Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by police-involved shootings and are killed at more than twice the rate as White Americans. 69

Ultimately, better data on police-involved injuries and deaths are sorely needed. Compulsory and comprehensive data collection at the local level, reporting to the federal government, and transparency in public dissemination of data will be critical for understanding this unique kind of gun violence and developing evidence-based solutions to minimize police-involved shootings.

Gun Violence in America - A Public Health Crisis Decades in the Making

A report from the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence and Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, A Public Health Crisis Decades in the Making: A Review of 2019 CDC Gun Mortality Data , draws on the most recent gun death data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to illustrate the fatal toll of the gun violence epidemic in the U.S. The report outlines gun death data from 2019, including demographic details, state-by-state breakdowns, and reviews trends over the last two decades.

Gun Death Trends Over Time

39,707 Americans died by gun violence in 2019, a small decrease of 33 gun deaths from 2018. 70

• An average of 109 people died of gun violence each day in 2019, bringing the most recent five-year average (2015-2019) to 106 gun deaths per day.
• 23,941 Americans died by firearm suicide in 2019, 66 people every day.
• 14,414 Americans died by firearm homicide in 2019, more than 39 people every day.

Gun Deaths in the United States, 2010-2019

Number of deaths

Source: CDC WONDER.

Gun Death Rate Trends Over Time

The overall gun death rate increased 17% over the last decade – the gun suicide rate increased 12.5% and the gun homicide rate increased nearly 26%. 71

• While the firearm suicide rate decreased slightly from 2018 to 2019, the rate has trended upward  over the last decade.
• The firearm homicide rate increased over the last decade spiking 31% from 2014 to 2016 and remaining at at this elevated level.

Gun Death Rates in the United States, 2010-2019

Age-adjusted rate per 100,000

All rates listed are age-adjusted in order to allow for accurate comparisons between populations with differing age distributions.

Gun violence is an epidemic that reaches communities large and small, but it is more common in some places than others. Among the states in 2019, Alaska had the highest gun death rate (24.40 per 100,000 people), followed by Mississippi, Wyoming, and New Mexico (24.23, 22.33, and 22.27 per 100,000, respectively). Conversely, Massachusetts had the lowest gun death rate (3.40 per 100,000 people), followed by New York, New Jersey, and Hawaii (3.94, 4.13, and 4.42 per 100,000, respectively). 72

Age-adjusted gun death rate, 2019

• 3.40 to 8.70
• 8.71 to 14.01
• 14.02 to 19.32
• 19.33 to 24.40

For all forms of gun violence, males die at much higher rates than females. 72 In 2019:

• 87% of firearm suicide decedents were male
• 84% of firearm homicide decedents were male
• 90% of unintentional firearm decedents were male
• 96% of police-involved shooting decedents were male

Firearm Suicide Deaths by Sex, 2019

Firearm homicide deaths by sex, 2019, unintentional firearm deaths by sex, 2019, police-involved shooting firearm deaths by sex, 2015-2020.

Source: Washington Post.

By Race, Ethnicity, and Age

Overall: 73

• Firearm suicide rates are highest among White people, followed by American Indian/Alaska Native people. Firearm suicide risk is highest among people age 75 and older across the population as a whole, but that is primarily due to the very high rate of suicide among White males in that age group. Firearm suicide rates peak at younger ages (ages 20-34) for American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, and Black males and females.
• Firearm homicide rates are highest among Black people as compared to people of other racial and ethnic identities and firearm homicide risk is highest among people ages 20-34 across the entire population.
• Unintentional firearm death rates are highest among American Indian/Alaska Native and Black Americans, followed by White Americans. Nearly one-quarter of all unintentional firearm decedents are 0-19 years old.
• Police-involved shootings disproportionately affect Black Americans and Hispanic/Latino Americans. Black Americans are killed in police-involved shootings at more than twice the rate of White Americans. Hispanic/Latino Americans are killed by police-involved shootings at nearly twice the rate of White Americans. 74

Stop gun violence in all its forms through a multifaceted public health approach.

Gun violence is a complex issue requiring many approaches to its prevention. We are committed to evidence-based policies, programs, and practices and ensuring that all of these preventative measures are designed and implemented equitably. To stop gun violence in all its forms:

• Apply the public health approach for effective gun violence prevention. See Public Health Approach for more information.
• Fund and conduct gun violence research, which is fundamental for effective gun violence prevention. See Gun Violence Research for more information.
• Enact and implement policies, programs, and practices that create time and space between individuals who may be at risk of suicide and firearms. See Firearm Suicide for more information.
• Enact and implement policies, programs, and practices that reduce easy access to firearms by people at risk of interpersonal violence and invest in interventions that address the root causes of gun violence in structurally disadvantaged communities. See Firearm Homicide , Community Violence , and Nonfatal Injuries for more information.
• Expand both federal and state domestic violence firearm prohibitions to reduce abusers’ access to firearms and improve collection and reporting of domestic violence related data. See Domestic Violence for more information.
• Enact and implement policies that reduce easy access to firearms by people at elevated risk of interpersonal violence and ban assault weapons and large capacity magazines that increase lethality in mass shootings. See Mass Shootings for more information.
• Implement programs and practices that promote safer firearm storage and handling. See Unintentional Shootings for more information.
• Train healthcare professionals on lethal means safety counseling so they are prepared to ask patients about firearm access and provide effective and respectful counseling when appropriate. See Lethal Means Safety Counseling for more information.
• Enact and implement a true universal background check law that requires background checks on all gun sales and transfers, including private and online sales, and eliminate “default proceed” sales. See Universal Background Checks for more information.
• Enact and implement state extreme risk laws to prevent tragedy before it occurs and support robust implementation through federal funding. See Extreme Risk Laws for more information.
• Reinstate the federal ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines. In the absence of federal action, states should continue to enact and implement assault weapons and large capacity magazine bans. See Assault Weapons and Large Capacity Magazines for more information.
• Focus gun violence prevention policies on evidence-based risk factors — not mental illness. Use appropriate language and avoid harmful stereotypes. See Mental Illness for more information.

Educational Materials

• A Public Health Crisis Decades in the Making: A Review of 2019 CDC Gun Mortality Data
• Gun Violence in America: An Analysis of 2018 CDC Data
• Gun Violence in America: Data Brief

Fact sheets

• Overview of U.S. Gun Deaths: 2020
• United States Gun Deaths: 2019
• Guns Don’t Make You Safer    
• Staying Safe At Home    
• December 2018 op-ed in The Hill , Five gun violence prevention priorities for the incoming Congress
• June 2018 blog, On Wear Orange Day, we must focus on gun violence in all its forms
• November 2017 op-ed in The Hill ,  The path forward for Democrats starts with gun violence prevention
• Anglemyer A, Horvath T, & Rutherford G. (2014). The accessibility of firearms and risk for suicide and homicide victimization among household members: a systematic review and meta-analysis . Annals of Internal Medicine.
• Bangalore S & Messerli FH. (2013). Gun ownership and firearm-related deaths. American Journal of Medicine.
• Choron R, Spitzer S, & Sakran JV. (2019). Firearm violence in America: Is there a solution? Advances in Surgery.
• Dahlberg LL, Ikeda RM, & Kresnow MJ. (2004). Guns in the home and risk of a violent death in the home: findings from a national study. American Journal of Epidemiology.
• Grinshteyn E & Hemenway D. (2019). Violent death rates in the U.S. compared to those of the other high-income countries, 2015. Preventive Medicine.
• Kalesan B, Villarreal MD, Keyes KM, & Galea S. (2016). Gun ownership and social gun culture. Injury Prevention.
• Karp A. (2018). Estimating global civilian-held firearms numbers. Small Arms Survey.
• Knopov A, Sherman RJ, Raifman JR, Larson E, & Siegel MB. (2019). Household gun ownership and youth suicide rates at the state level, 2005–2015. American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
• Miller M, Azrael D, & Hemenway D. (2002). Rates of household firearm ownership and homicide across U.S. regions and states, 1988-1997. American Journal of Public Health.
• Miller M, Hemenway D, & Azrael D. (2007). State-level homicide victimization rates in the US in relation to survey measures of household firearm ownership, 2001-2003. Social Science & Medicine.
• Monuteaux MC, Lee LK, Hemenway D, Mannix R, & Fleegler EW. (2015). Firearm ownership and violent crime in the US: an ecologic study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
• Parker K, Horowitz JM, Igielnik R, Oliphant JB, & Brown A. (2017). America’s complex relationship with guns. Pew Research Center.
• Reeping PM, Cerdá M, Kalesan B, Wiebe DJ, Galea S, & Branas CC. (2019). State gun laws, gun ownership, and mass shootings in the US: cross sectional time series. British Medical Journal.
• Siegel M, Ross CS, & King C. (2014). Examining the relationship between the prevalence of guns and homicide rates in the USA using a new and improved state-level gun ownership proxy. Injury Prevention.

Additional resources

• Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis by Daniel Webster and Jon Vernick.
• Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America by Adam Winkler.

Last updated February 2021

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Reducing gun violence: Stanford scholars tackle the issue

After 19 children and two teachers were slaughtered by a gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, many Americans are asking, yet again, how to prevent future acts of senseless violence from occurring. What gun laws need to be changed? Why is it so difficult to pass regulations? How can Second Amendment rights be balanced with firearm safety? 

Stanford scholars have been studying these issues from a range of perspectives, including law, politics, economics, and medicine. Here are some of their findings.

Update: May 25, 2022: This story was originally published on Feb. 26, 2018, and has been updated to include new content.

Causes, impacts of gun violence

Uncovering the causes of gun violence has been a challenge, in part because research is limited by federal legislation that constrains research funding on the issue. Scholar Nigam Shah at the Stanford School of Medicine has written about how this has affected empirical study. But that has not deterred scholars from examining its impacts. David Studdert, also at the School of Medicine, has studied the devastating consequences of gun violence, particularly the risks it poses to public health.  

Maya Rossin-Slater, an associate professor of medicine and a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), has also looked at the long-term impact of gun violence, specifically among American children who experienced a shooting at their school. Rossin-Slater found that they have higher rates of absenteeism, lower high school and college graduation rates, and by their mid-twenties, earn lower incomes.

Below is some of that research. 

Californians living with handgun owners more than twice as likely to die by homicide, study finds

Residents who don’t own a handgun but live with someone who does are significantly more likely to die by homicide compared with those in gun-free homes, research shows.

New study of gun violence in schools identifies long-term harms

Research from SIEPR’s Maya Rossin-Slater finds that students exposed to school shootings face “lasting, persistent” adversity in their educational and long-term economic outcomes.

Shirin Sinnar on the Buffalo shooting, hate crimes, and domestic terrorism

In the wake of the Buffalo shooting, Stanford Law School’s Shirin Sinnar discusses the scale of white supremacist violence in the U.S. and the rise of hate crimes.

Disconnect: The gap between gun violence and research in numbers

Gun violence is much discussed but little studied, largely due to federal decisions governing research funding. A new analysis highlights just how big the gap between the violence and our knowledge of it is. The answer? It’s huge.

Supporting students exposed to school shootings

Maya Rossin-Slater talks about her research into the mental health impact of severe school violence.

Panel discusses how shootings affect those unscathed by bullets

A panel of faculty members at the School of Medicine said shootings can affect the mental health of people close to the violence.

California handgun sales spiked after two mass shootings

In the six weeks after the Newtown and San Bernardino mass shootings, handguns sales jumped in California, yet there is little research on why – or on the implications for public health, according to a Stanford researcher.

Mass shootings: Public face of a much larger epidemic

While mass shootings have become the public face of gun violence, they account for less than 1% of the 40,000 firearm deaths each year.  

Short-term hospital readmissions for gun injuries cost $86 million a year

A study from Stanford researchers has found that readmissions account for 9.5% of the $911 million spent annually on gun-injury hospitalizations.

Supporting children through loss

Rabbi Patricia Karlin-Neumann talks about how to help young people experiencing grief.

Firearm injuries in children, teens costly for U.S. health care system, Stanford study finds

The average cost of initial hospitalization to treat pediatric gun injuries is about $13,000 per patient and has risen in recent decades, a Stanford Medicine study found.

Investigating psychiatric illnesses of mass shooters

Ira Glick and his collaborators studied the psychiatric state of 35 mass shooters in the United States who survived the incidents, which took place between 1982 and 2019.

The silent cost of school shootings

SIEPR’s Maya Rossin-Slater finds the average rate of antidepressant use among youths under age 20 rose by 21 percent in the local communities where fatal school shootings occurred.

New study analyzes recent gun violence research

Consensus is growing in recent research evaluating the impact of right-to-carry concealed handgun laws, showing that they increase violent crime, despite what older research says.

Handgun ownership associated with much higher suicide risk

Men who own handguns are eight times more likely to die of gun suicides than men who don’t own handguns, and women who own handguns are 35 times more likely than women who don’t.

Advice on how to cope with the threat of school shootings

Victor Carrion offers advice on how families can cope with the stress of school safety.

Reducing gun violence

Many Americans are demanding practical steps to reduce gun crime. One way is to have more stringent gun safety policies, such as legislation requiring guns to be stored safely, more stringent background checks, or as President Biden announced Tuesday, a federal ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. 

Research has shown that states with tighter policies save lives: One study by Stephanie Chao found that states with stricter gun laws have lower rates of gun deaths among children and teenagers, and states with child prevention access laws are linked with fewer gun suicides in this age group.

“If you put more regulations on firearms, it does make a difference,” said Chao, assistant professor of surgery and senior author of the study. “It does end up saving children’s lives.” Her analysis found that states with the strictest laws had a mortality rate of 2.6 per 100,000 and for states with the least strict laws, mortality rate was almost double at 5.0 per 100,000.  

John Donohue: One tragic week with two mass shootings and the uniquely American gun problem

In a Q&A, Stanford Law School gun law expert John J. Donohue III discusses mass shootings in the U.S., the challenges facing police when confronting powerful automatic weapons and the prospect of gun safety laws.

Lax state gun laws linked to more child gun deaths

States with strict gun laws have lower rates of gun deaths among children and teenagers, and laws to keep guns away from minors are linked with fewer gun suicides in this age group, a Stanford study found.

Improved gun buyer background checks would impede some mass shootings, Stanford expert says

Stanford Law Professor John Donohue says a background check system that was universal and effectively operated could impede gun acquisition by people who commit mass shootings.

How to solve more gun crimes without spending more money

Simple tweaks to how police process bullet casings could dramatically improve their forensic data.

Reducing civilian firepower would boost police and community safety, Stanford expert says

In addition to restricting the firepower a person can amass, Stanford law Professor John J. Donohue advocates efforts to build trust between communities and law enforcement agencies as a way to enhance both police and citizen safety.

Stricter gun laws reduce child and adolescent gun deaths, Stanford study finds

Laws that keep guns away from young people are especially strongly linked to lower rates of gun suicides in youth.

Gun legislation and policy

For nearly three decades, law Professor John Donohue III has studied what can be done to prevent gun violence in the United States. A lawyer and economist, Donohue explores how law and public policy are connected to gun violence, including how gun laws in the U.S. compare to other countries, as well as how legislation varies across the states, to better understand the effect that has on rates of violence. 

“The U.S. is by far the world leader in the number of guns in civilian hands,” Donohue explained . “The stricter gun laws of other ‘advanced countries’ have restrained homicidal violence, suicides and gun accidents – even when, in some cases, laws were introduced over massive protests from their armed citizens.” 

Here are some of his findings, and other research related to legislating gun safety in the U.S.

Stanford’s John Donohue on guns, mass shootings and the law in the U.S.

On Nov. 30, American students were once again the victims of a school shooting. Stanford law Professor John Donohue discusses the case and gun violence in the U.S.

How U.S. gun control compares to the rest of the world

While deaths from mass shootings are a relatively small part of the overall homicidal violence in America, they are particularly wrenching. The problem is worse in the U.S. than in most other industrialized nations. And it’s getting worse.

4 gun control steps U.S. needs now

John Donohue pens an opinion piece for CNN laying out four steps the United States should take to strengthen gun legislation.

Violent crime increases in right-to-carry states

Stanford Law School Professor John Donohue found that states that adopted right-to-carry concealed handgun laws have experienced a 13 to 15 percent increase in violent crime in the 10 years after enacting those laws.

Another mass shooting: An update on U.S. gun laws

In a Q&A, John Donohue discusses gun safety law and legislative developments.

Stanford GSE holds teach-in on research into gun violence in schools

Education scholars look at the evidence behind policy ideas to address school shootings.

Will Americans ever think differently about guns?

Stanford medicine and law professor David Studdert thinks more public health evidence is needed before cultural attitudes around gun safety and violence will change.

GUN VIOLENCE

Gun violence is a daily scourge that threatens our most fundamental right: the right to life. More than 600 people die every day as a result of firearms violence, which is driven in part by easy access to firearms – whether legal or illegal.

Anyone can be affected by gun violence, but it often disproportionately impacts people of colour, men and boys in deprived communities , and other marginalized groups. Domestic violence involving firearms also puts women at heightened risk of death or life-changing injuries.

Sometimes, the mere presence of firearms can make people feel threatened and fearful for their lives. They may be too afraid to attend schools or health facilities . Community-wide gun violence may prevent services from fully functioning, which can harm access to education or healthcare.

The vast majority of gun violence occurs outside of armed conflict settings. A significant proportion – in some states more than half – of firearm deaths are caused by suicide and accidents.

Our human rights are not protected if our leaders fail to tackle and end the epidemic of gun violence and gun deaths.

What is gun violence?

Gun violence is violence committed with firearms, such as handguns, shotguns, or semi-automatic rifles . More than 600 people are estimated to die every day from gun violence with two-thirds of gun-related deaths, including suicides, occurring in just six countries (in descending order): Brazil, the USA, Venezuela, Mexico, India and Colombia.

Up to 71% of all homicides globally involve gun violence . The majority of victims and perpetrators are young men, but women are at particular risk of violence from an intimate partner possessing a firearm. Sexual violence can also be perpetrated at gunpoint.

Firearms cause devastating injuries that leave a lasting impact on mental and physical health . Some gunshot victims need intensive, lifelong care. Others may lose their ability to work. Many have little or no access to programmes that offer adequate long-term care and rehabilitation.

How many guns are there?

More than 1 billion firearms are in circulation globally . The vast majority – 85%– are in the hand of private individuals , 13% are in military arsenals and 2% are owned by law enforcement agencies.

Gun violence committed by private individuals is typically concentrated in low-income urban neighbourhoods with high levels of crime, including drug trafficking. Many of these areas are blighted by inadequate policing or policing which does not comply with international standards on human rights and law enforcement, and a lack of access to public services .

Therefore, easy access to and proliferation of firearms, combined with socio-economic factors , can have a harmful impact on the community’s full range of human rights.

Gun violence and the right to health

Gun violence can rob people of their lives, health and right to healthcare.

People living in communities plagued by firearm violence may find it difficult or even dangerous to access health care facilities . This is especially true in areas where neighbourhoods are partitioned by armed criminal gangs or subject to curfews due to insecurity.

Gun violence can also deter local authorities and NGOs from setting up community health services , and contributes to poor staff retention. Survivors of domestic violence often do not have the essential psychological support or safe accommodation they need in neighbourhoods wracked by firearm violence.

The psychological toll from rampant gun violence is often heavy, particularly for victims, their family members and those who have witnessed shootings. Survivors may be left with debilitating and life-changing injuries which require long-term medical and social care.

Gun violence and the right to education

Mass shootings and other firearm violence can disrupt children’s education and make students’ journeys to and from school dangerous.

Endemic gun violence damages the learning environment by disrupting school attendance and rates of retention, and makes it harder to recruit and retain teaching staff.

This can, in turn, lead to poorer outcomes for students in terms of employment and income. It can also perpetuate cycles of deprivation, crime and violence.

The link between discrimination and gun violence

Gun violence exacerbates the impact of systemic discrimination.

In 2020, 60.9% of the 19,995 people killed by gun homicide in the US were African Americans, despite African Americans making up just 13% of the US population.

Black men and boys aged 15-34 are more than 10 times more likely to die from firearm homicide than white men and boys of the same age group.

Failure to address systemic discrimination; failure to keep firearms out of the hands of those most likely to misuse them; and a failure to invest in gun violence prevention programmes all contribute to this crisis.

Women facing domestic violence and children are also disproportionately affected by gun violence.

In 2020, the ratio of women in the Caribbean killed in gun violence was more than three times the global average. In the USA, guns are now the leading cause of death for children. Furthermore, between 2% and 7% of all injuries treated at US paediatric trauma centres are gun-related.

Case Study: United States of America

In 2022, there were 45,222 gun deaths in the United States, which per capita, is significantly higher than in other industrialized countries.

Successive US governments have allowed gun violence to become a human rights crisis . The USA lacks measures such as a national firearm registry to monitor gun ownership. Individuals can lawfully carry concealed firearms in public in every state in the country. Only three states (California, Florida, and Illinois) and the District of Columbia have laws that generally ban people from openly carrying firearms in public.

The number of firearm suicides by Black, Latino and Asian teenagers is growing at an alarming rate . Analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control shows a 120% increase between 2011 to 2020.

Mass Shootings in the United States

The US has also witnessed a horrifying rise in mass shootings, which are typically defined as shootings where four or more victims are killed or injured. In 2022, there were 46 school shootings, more than in any year since 1999 , inflicting untold harm on children who witness the gun violence or are left cowering in classrooms, trying to hide from it.

In 2021, there were 683 mass shootings in the US, a record high.

Top deadliest mass shooting incidents in the USA in recent years:

• 2015 – Nightclub in Orlando: 49 people killed, 53 wounded
• 2017 – Concert in Las Vegas: 60 people killed, 411 wounded
• 2019 – Store in El Paso: 23 people killed, 23 wounded

Gun Violence Figures Worldwide

How can governments stop gun violence.

Effectively implemented gun regulation and evidence-based violence prevention projects can stop the carnage.

As a first step, states should recognize firearm violence as a threat to people’s human rights , in particular their rights to life, to physical integrity and security of person, and to health.

Gun regulation and gun licences

States can set up some basic systems to regulate how private individuals can own and use firearms and ammunition to prevent them from using firearms to abuse human rights.

International standards recommend prohibiting any possession of firearms without a licence ; that states should register all firearms; and that unlicensed possession should be treated as a criminal offence .

A firearms licence should be subject to certain criteria. For example, the applicant should undergo a comprehensive background check to identify any risks , such as:

• a criminal record – especially for violent behaviour in the home or community; history of gender-based, sexual or domestic violence;
• history of problematic use of drugs/alcohol, emotional issues, mental health conditions and
• any other circumstances which heighten the risks of the harm to self or others using firearms.

Gun licences should be time-limited and training on how to use the weapon should be mandatory . The number and type of weapons that an individual can possess should also be strictly limited in line with the principles of necessity and credible justification.

Some firearms and ammunition represent an unacceptable level of risk to public safety and should be banned for personal use. These should include, at a minimum, fully automatic firearms, semi-automatic assault rifles, semi-automatic shotguns and semi-automatic submachine guns.

Does gun reform work?

Yes, gun reform works. Almost all countries regulate gun acquisition, possession and use in some form. Most do this by licensing users and registering firearms.

Gun  reform works in parts of the world  where there are strict controls on access to firearms and well-enforced firearms regulations. This is the case for much of Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Asia. For example, in Japan, South Korea and Singapore, the rate of firearm violence is extremely low.

Case Study: Australia

Following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, in which 35 people were killed and many more injured by a lone gunman, Australia moved to enact sweeping gun reforms .

The National Firearms Agreement, drafted within weeks of the tragedy, restricted legal ownership of firearms in Australia; banned pump-action, automatic and semi-automatic firearms and established a firearm registry. It also required a new permit for all new purchases of firearms, among other measures. In addition, the government initiated a major buyback of guns that had been declared illegal under the new legislation.

Since then, murders and suicides by gun have plummeted. Between 1996 and 2019, firearm deaths more than halved.

In 2021, the University of Sydney found that private individuals owned more than 3.5 million registered firearms. However, the proportion of licensed firearm owners has almost halved between 1997 and 2020.

What does Amnesty do about gun violence?

Amnesty International is campaigning to strengthen regulations on firearm sale, transfer, use and possession . We support the creation of evidence-based violence reduction programmes in communities with persistently high levels of firearms violence.

You can stand up and remind our leaders of their obligation to keep us safe. You can play a crucial role in campaigning and protesting against gun violence and making it clear to governments that they must tackle this through strict controls on guns and effective interventions in communities suffering high levels of gun violence.

You have the power to tell governments that by using gun laws, we can all live safely and without fear – which is our right.

Why there’s so much gun violence in the U.S.—and what to do about it

May 28, 2022 – In the wake of a May 24 mass shooting at an Uvalde, Texas, elementary school that left 19 students and two teachers dead—the 27 th school shooting this year alone—Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s David Hemenway has been speaking out about why there’s so much gun violence in the U.S. and what to do about it.

In a wide-ranging interview on the Bay Area’s KALW radio on May 25, on the show “Your Call,” Hemenway, professor of health policy and director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center , noted that, compared with other high-income countries, the U.S. is about average in terms of overall levels of violence and crime. But he added, “Where we are different is the guns . All societies have issues about violence, but we give our violent people incredibly easy access to guns.”

Hemenway noted that the gun lobby was successful in essentially eliminating federally funded research about gun violence for almost a quarter century, and data about gun violence has also been lacking. There’s been a recent increase in federal funding for firearms research, he said, “but it’s not nearly commensurate to the size of the problem.”

In a country that already has between 350 million and 400 million guns, there are still reasonable policies that could be enacted that would make living with guns safer, such as stronger background checks and bans on large-capacity magazines, Hemenway said. Research from Hemenway and colleagues has found that there are fewer mass shootings in states that have banned large-capacity magazines, and the mass shootings that did occur in those states killed many fewer people, “because if you need time to reload it gives potential victims time to run and hide and attack,” he said.

Acknowledging that the issue of gun control has become more intractable because it’s become part of the culture wars, Hemenway said it’s likely to take a long time for stricter gun laws to be enacted. “There have been so many successes in public health … yet they all took many years to happen,” he noted. “It took, for example, over 20 years to force car manufacturers to put airbags in cars, much against their will. Things just take a long time, and that’s what I try to emphasize to my students who want to make the world a better place—that you’re in it for the long haul. If this was easy, it would already have been done.”

Hemenway also spoke about gun violence in a May 25 story on GBH News and in a May 26 NPR story.

Listen to the KALW “Your Call” show: Republicans to speak at NRA conference in Houston just 3 days after Uvalde school shooting

Listen to or read the GBH News story: Massachusetts leaders respond to Texas school shooting

Listen to or read the NPR story: Research shows policies that may help prevent mass shootings—and some that don’t

The costs of gun violence (Harvard Chan School news)

Could recent mass shootings spur action to reduce gun violence? (Harvard Chan School news)

A public health approach to stemming gun violence (Harvard Chan School feature)

Guns & Suicide: The Hidden Toll (Harvard Public Health magazine)

Gun Violence Must Stop. Here's What We Can Do to Prevent More Deaths

Listen to "How Communities Can Prevent Gun Violence," a Prevention Institute podcast episode

Time and again, we are heartbroken by the news of another mass shooting. Part of our healing must be the conviction that we will do everything in our power to keep these tragedies from happening in a nation that continues to face a pandemic of gun violence. It's not only the high-profile mass shootings that we must work to prevent, but also the daily death-by-guns that claims more than 30,000 lives every year.

We know that these deaths are a predictable outcome of our country’s lack of political will to make a change and an underinvestment in prevention approaches that work. Through a public health approach that focuses on drawing from evidence and addressing the factors that increase or decrease the risk of gun violence, particularly in communities that are disproportionately impacted, we can save lives.

Each time a major tragedy occurs, the discourse tends to focus on addressing a specific venue. In the wake of the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas School in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018, there is an understandable focus on school safety. We strongly support broad engagement of community members, including young people and other survivors of gun violence, policymakers, and others, in insisting that schools be safe. We must also insist on that same level of safety for our places of worship, shopping malls, movie theaters, concert venues, nightclubs, workplaces, neighborhoods, and homes.

We are listening to young people from all races, classes, and sexualities, in Florida, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and throughout the country, who are unifying to speak truth to power. We have renewed hope that, together, we can prevent gun violence— not just in the case of mass shootings but also in the case of domestic violence, suicide, community violence, and violence involving law enforcement. We first developed this list after the Sandy Hook tragedy in 2012. The public health approach has evolved since then, and we have now updated it, including more attention to addressing multiple forms of gun violence.

The recommendations below begin with attention to reducing immediate risks related to guns, broaden to address the underlying contributors to gun violence, and then address the prevention infrastructure necessary to ensure effectiveness. We also include recommendations related to new frontiers for research and practice, to ensure that we continue to learn, innovate, and increase our impact over time. The set of recommendations illustrate that one program or policy alone is not going to significantly reduce gun violence, but rather, through comprehensive strategies, we can achieve safety in our homes, schools, and communities. 

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

Gun safety: Reduce the imminent risk of lethality through sensible gun laws and a culture of safety.

1. Sensible gun laws: Reduce easy access to dangerous weapons.

2. Establish a culture of gun safety.

• Reduce firearm access to youth and individuals who are at risk of harming themselves or others.  
• Hold the gun industry accountable and ensure there is adequate oversight over the marketing and sales of guns and ammunition.  
• Engage responsible gun dealers and owners in solutions.  
• Insist on mandatory training and licensing for owners.  
• Require safe and secure gun storage.  

Underlying contributors to gun violence: systematically reduce risks and increase resilience in individuals, families, and communities. 

3. Public health solutions: Recognize gun violence as a critical and preventable public health problem.

4. Comprehensive solutions: Support community planning and implementation of comprehensive community safety plans that include prevention and intervention.

5. Trauma, connection, and services: Expand access to high quality, culturally competent, coordinated, social, emotional, and mental health supports and address the impact of trauma.

Prevention Infrastructure: ensure effectiveness and sustainability of efforts

6. Support gun violence research: Ensure that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others have the resources to study this issue and provide science-based guidance.

7. Health system: Establish a comprehensive health system in which violence prevention is a health system responsibility and imperative.

New Frontiers: continue to learn, innovate, and increase impact through research and practice

8. Community healing: Prevent community trauma.

9. Mental health and wellbeing: Invest in communities to promote resilience and mental health and wellbeing.

10. Support health y norms about masculinity: Explore the pathways between gun violence and harmful norms that have been about maintaining power and privilege.

11. Impulsive anger: Explore the linkages between anger and gun violence.

12. Economic development: Reduce concentrated disadvantage and invest in employment opportunities.

13. Law enforcement violence: Establish accountability for sworn officers and private security.

14. Technology: Advance gun safety and self-defense technology.

FULL RECOMMENDATIONS for Preventing Gun Violence

Gun safety: Part of a public health approach to gun violence is about preventing the imminent risk of lethality through sensible gun laws and a culture of safety.    

• Sensible gun laws: Reduce easy access to dangerous weapons by banning high capacity magazines and bump stocks, requiring universal background checks without loopholes, instituting waiting periods , and reinstituting the assault weapons ban immediately.  
• Establish a culture of gun safety: As the nation on earth with the most guns, we must make sure people are safe.  
• Reduce firearm access to youth and individuals who are at risk of harming themselves or others . This includes keeping guns out of the hands of those who have been violent toward their partners and families, and those with previous violent convictions, whether through expanding lethality assessment and  background checks  or supporting  domestic violence bills , and gun violence restraining orders .  
• Hold the gun industry accountable and ensure there is adequate oversight over the marketing and sales of guns and ammunition . Five percent of gun dealers sell 90% of guns used in crimes, and must be held accountable to a code of conduct . Further, states can pass laws requiring sellers to obtain state licenses, maintain records of sales, submit to inspections and fulfill other requirements. Unlike other industries, gun companies have special legal protections against liability leaving them immune from lawsuits. There is a need to repeal gun industry immunity laws in states that have them, and resist their enactment in states without current immunity laws. Increasingly, in the absence of legislative action, organizations are divesting from companies that manufacture firearms, and consumers are pressuring companies directly. More and more companies are setting new policies about what they are selling to the public and/or who they are selling products to.  
• Engage responsible gun dealers and owners in solutions. For example, some gun dealers and range owners are already being trained in suicide prevention .  
• Insist on mandatory training and licensing for owners . This training should include recurring education to renew permits, with a graduated licensing process at least as stringent as for driver's licenses.  
• Require safe and secure gun storage. For example, in King County, Washington, public health has teamed up with firearm storage device retailers. In addition to safe storage being tax exempt in Washington, through the LOK-IT-UP initiative , residents can learn about the importance of safe storage, purchase devices at discounted rates and learn how to practice safe storage in the home.  

Underlying contributors to gun violence: Risk and resilience. A public health approach to preventing gun violence expands solutions beyond gun access to reduce additional risk factors associated with gun violence and bolster resilience in individuals, families, and communities.  

• Public health solutions: Recognize gun violence as a critical and preventable public health problem. Gun violence is a leading cause of premature death in the country. Yet, unlike other preventable causes of death, we haven't mustered the political will to address it. Gun violence is most noticed when multiple people die at once, but it affects too many communities and families on a daily basis whether through suicide, domestic violence, community violence, or other forms. Data shows that risk for firearm violence varies substantially by age, race, gender, and geography, in patterns that are quite different for suicide and homicide. Through a public health approach, we have learned that violence is preventable across all of its forms. The public health approach studies data on various forms of violence and who is affected and identifies the biggest risk factors and what’s protective, and develops policy, practice, and program solutions in partnership with other sectors and community members. Many communities and groups have adopted a public health approach to preventing violence such as Prevention Institute’s UNITY City Network and Cities United , a growing network of over 100 mayors.  
• Comprehensive solutions: Support community planning and implementation of comprehensive community safety plans that include prevention and intervention. A growing research base demonstrates that it is possible to prevent shootings and killings through approaches such as hospital-based intervention programs , the Cure Violence model , and Advance Peace . A growing number of safety plans across the country include upstream strategies such as youth employment , neighborhood economic development, safe parks , restoring vacant land , and reducing alcohol outlet density . Following the implementation of Minneapolis’ Blueprint for Action to Prevent Youth Violence , which prioritized prevention and upstream strategies, the City experienced a 62% reduction in youth gunshot victims, a 34% reduction in youth victims of crime, and a 76% reduction in youth arrests with a gun from 2007-2015. Yet too many communities lack the resources to do what is needed. We must commit to helping communities identify and implement solutions.  
• Trauma, connection, and services: Expand access to high quality, culturally competent, coordinated, social, emotional, and mental health supports and a ddress the impact of trauma.  Too often gun violence is blamed on mental illness, when in fact in most cases people who carry out shootings do not have a diagnosable mental illness. However, throughout a community, members often recognize individuals who are disconnected and/or otherwise in need of additional supports and services. It is critical to reduce the stigma associated with mental health needs and support our children, friends, family members, and neighbors in seeking and obtaining appropriate supports. For this to work, communities need resources to assess and connect individuals at a high risk for harming themselves or others to well-coordinated social, emotional, and mental health supports and services, particularly in critical times of crisis and high need. Further, trauma can have damaging effects on learning, behavior, and health across the life course, especially during key developmental stages such as early childhood and adolescence, and can increase the risk for multiple forms of violence . We need to do more to recognize trauma, develop trauma-informed protocols, including for law enforcement, and support healing and treatment for individuals who have experienced or are experiencing trauma, including from exposure to violence in any form.  

Prevention Infrastructure: Beyond addressing the risk and underlying factors of gun violence, a public health approach also entails building a prevention infrastructure with mechanisms for scale, sustainability, and effectiveness. The UNITY RoadMap is a tool to support prevention infrastructure.  

• Support gun violence research: Ensure that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others have the resources to study this issue and provide science-based guidance. The CDC, the nation's public health agency, has long been restricted from conducting the kind of research that will support solutions to reduce gun violence. CDC can track, assess, and develop strategies to prevent gun violence, just as we do with influenza and tainted spinach. In the absence of sufficient tracking and evidence at the federal level, California launched the Firearm Violence Prevention Research Center at UC Davis, and other states are proposing to establish research centers as well.  
• Health system: Establish a comprehensive health system in which violence prevention is a health system responsibility and imperative. The Movement towards Violence as a Health Issue , which consists of over 400 individuals representing more than 100 organizations across the country dedicated to a health and community response to violence has proposed a framework for addressing and preventing violence in all of its forms. Moving away from the current, fragmented approach to violence that leans heavily on the justice system, this unifying framework encourages and supports extensive cross-sector collaboration. The framework includes 18 system elements such as public health departments, primary care, behavioral health care, law enforcement and the justice system, schools, and faith-based institutions, which together can move the nation toward safety, health, and equity.  

New Frontiers: A public health approach includes continuous learning and innovation to increase impact through research and practice. These emerging areas require further examination and are important additions to reducing the impact of gun violence in our society.  

• Community healing: Prevent community trauma. Community trauma can result from experiencing violence and it can also increase the likelihood of violence, contributing to a mutually reinforcing cycle. Let’s support healing and resilience through strategies that rebuild social relationships and networks, reclaim and improve public spaces, promote community healing, and foster economic stability and prosperity. Prevention Institute’s Adverse Community Experiences and Resilience Framework , provides an approach for addressing and preventing community trauma.  
• Mental health and wellbeing: Invest in communities to promote resilience and mental health and wellbeing. Mental illness is not at the root of our country’s high rate of gun violence, in fact, people with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators. However, we know we can do more to foster mental health and wellbeing in the first place . Through our national initiative, Making Connections for Mental Health and Wellbeing Among Men and Boys , with communities across the US, we’re learning that there are pillars of wellbeing that promote wellbeing which is supportive of efforts to prevent multiple forms of violence, including belonging/connectedness, control of destiny, dignity, hope/aspiration, safety and trust. We are also seeing community members come together to change their community environments to promote mental health and wellbeing, including as a suicide prevention approach.  
• Support healthy norms about masculinity: Explore the pathways between gun violence and harmful norms that have been about maintaining power and privilege. The majority of men do not perpetrate gun violence; however, the majority of people who use guns against others and themselves are boys and men. For instance, the majority of the mass shooters over decades have been men. How do expectations about masculinity in different cultural contexts that promote, domination, control, and risk-taking connect to distress, bias and discrimination, and gun violence perpetration? How do gaps in expectations of power and privilege versus reality play into this? Why does our dominant culture permit a destructive desire for power over others? Answering questions like these can glean important insights and help us move toward a culture of equitable safety.   
• Impulsive anger: Explore the linkages between anger and gun violence. More research is needed to examine patterns of impulse control, empathy, problem solving, and anger management across shootings, as well as interactions of these functions with the harmful norms described in the previous recommendation. Through a public health approach, we want to understand who is at a greater risk for violence as a means to creating long-term solutions to stop the issue in the first place. Further analysis may provide answers regarding particular linkages and what to do when functions are compromised.  
• Economic development: Reduce concentrated disadvantage and invest in employment opportunities. As Rev. Gregory Boyle has long said of his work in East Los Angeles, “Nothing stops a bullet like a job.” Lack of employment opportunities increases the risk for gun violence, and on the other hand, economic opportunity protects against violence. Promoting equitable access to education programs, job training, and employment programs with mentorship for residents of neighborhoods with concentrated disadvantage, especially young people can be effective in reducing gun violence. For example, a study of One Summer Chicago Plus , a jobs program designed to reduce violence and prepare youth from some of the city’s most violence neighborhoods for the labor market – saw a 43% drop in violent-crime arrests of participants. Further, neighborhood-based economic development strategies such as Business Improvement Districts that bring public and private partners together to invest in neighborhood services, activities, and improvements, have also been shown to reduce violence, including gun violence.    
• Law enforcement violence: Establish accountability for sworn officers and private security. Ensure that police and security industries examine disparities regarding who they protect versus who is most often harmed as a result of their actions. With this information, these sectors should develop effective approaches to reduce harm in those populations, including unarmed African American men and people with mental illnesses. Current approaches being explored include implicit-bias training , problem-oriented policing , and restorative justice . Moving forward, it’s important to determine and understand the most effective strategies.     
• Technology: Advance gun safety and self-defense technology. As the call for gun safety continues to increase, we must consider the role of new technologies . Just as cars continue to have new safety measures embedded in the technology, from fingerprint scanners to PIN codes and RFID chips, there are ongoing developments to increase the safety of guns and gun storage that require further analysis to assess effectiveness. In addition, technologies that are alternatives to guns are being developed to support self-protection to reduce the perceived need for a firearm for self-defense.

As our families, communities, and country reel from terrible daily tragedies, we must vow to change our culture and our policies and to stop this cycle of violence. We should be able to live in our homes, send our children to first grade, pray in our houses of worship, shop in our local malls, and walk through our streets and neighborhoods without being shot. Together we can take action in the memory of those who died and insist that this never happen again. Please take action and support changes like those outlined above to prevent gun violence.  

Learn more about preventing gun violence from other organizations and resources we’ve found helpful:

American Journal of Public Health

American Public Health Association

American Psychological Association

Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence

Everytown for Gun Safety

Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence

Harvard T.H. School of Public Health

Hope and Heal Fund

Interdisciplinary Group on Preventing School and Community Violence call to action

International Firearm Injury Prevention and Policy

Movement towards Violence as a Health Issue

Pew Research Center Americans’ views on guns and gun ownership

RAND Corporation

Smart Tech Challenges Foundation

Smarter Crime Control: A Guide to a Safer Future for Citizens, Communities, and Politicians.

Speak for Safety campaign for Gun Violence Restraining Order

States for Gun Safety Coalition

The Joyce Foundation

University of California, Davis – Violence Prevention Program

Violence Policy Center

If you have additional resources we should add to the list, email [email protected] .

Supported by a grant from the Langeloth Foundation

Related Publications

Prevention institute summary of recommendations to prevent gun violence, prevention institute full recommendations for preventing gun violence.

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Gun Control, Explained

A quick guide to the debate over gun legislation in the United States.

By The New York Times

As the number of mass shootings in America continues to rise , gun control — a term used to describe a wide range of restrictions and measures aimed at controlling the use of firearms — remains at the center of heated discussions among proponents and opponents of stricter gun laws.

To help understand the debate and its political and social implications, we addressed some key questions on the subject.

Is gun control effective?

Throughout the world, mass shootings have frequently been met with a common response: Officials impose new restrictions on gun ownership. Mass shootings become rarer. Homicides and suicides tend to decrease, too.

After a British gunman killed 16 people in 1987, the country banned semiautomatic weapons like the ones he had used. It did the same with most handguns after a school shooting in 1996. It now has one of the lowest gun-related death rates in the developed world.

In Australia, a 1996 massacre prompted mandatory gun buybacks in which, by some estimates , as many as one million firearms were then melted into slag. The rate of mass shootings plummeted .

Only the United States, whose rate and severity of mass shootings is without parallel outside conflict zones, has so consistently refused to respond to those events with tightened gun laws .

Several theories to explain the number of shootings in the United States — like its unusually violent societal, class and racial divides, or its shortcomings in providing mental health care — have been debunked by research. But one variable remains: the astronomical number of guns in the country.

America’s gun homicide rate was 33 per one million people in 2009, far exceeding the average among developed countries. In Canada and Britain, it was 5 per million and 0.7 per million, respectively, which also corresponds with differences in gun ownership. Americans sometimes see this as an expression of its deeper problems with crime, a notion ingrained, in part, by a series of films portraying urban gang violence in the early 1990s. But the United States is not actually more prone to crime than other developed countries, according to a landmark 1999 study by Franklin E. Zimring and Gordon Hawkins of the University of California, Berkeley. Rather, they found, in data that has since been repeatedly confirmed , that American crime is simply more lethal. A New Yorker is just as likely to be robbed as a Londoner, for instance, but the New Yorker is 54 times more likely to be killed in the process. They concluded that the discrepancy, like so many other anomalies of American violence, came down to guns. More gun ownership corresponds with more gun murders across virtually every axis: among developed countries , among American states , among American towns and cities and when controlling for crime rates. And gun control legislation tends to reduce gun murders, according to a recent analysis of 130 studies from 10 countries. This suggests that the guns themselves cause the violence. — Max Fisher and Josh Keller, Why Does the U.S. Have So Many Mass Shootings? Research Is Clear: Guns.

Every mass shooting is, in some sense, a fringe event, driven by one-off factors like the ideology or personal circumstances of the assailant. The risk is impossible to fully erase.

Still, the record is confirmed by reams of studies that have analyzed the effects of policies like Britain’s and Australia’s: When countries tighten gun control laws, it leads to fewer guns in private citizens’ hands, which leads to less gun violence.

What gun control measures exist at the federal level?

Much of current federal gun control legislation is a baseline, governing who can buy, sell and use certain classes of firearms, with states left free to enact additional restrictions.

Dealers must be licensed, and run background checks to ensure their buyers are not “prohibited persons,” including felons or people with a history of domestic violence — though private sellers at gun shows or online marketplaces are not required to run background checks. Federal law also highly restricts the sale of certain firearms, such as fully automatic rifles.

The most recent federal legislation , a bipartisan effort passed last year after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, expanded background checks for buyers under 21 and closed what is known as the boyfriend loophole. It also strengthened existing bans on gun trafficking and straw purchasing.

— Aishvarya Kavi

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What are gun buyback programs and do they work?

Gun buyback programs are short-term initiatives that provide incentives, such as money or gift cards, to convince people to surrender firearms to law enforcement, typically with no questions asked. These events are often held by governments or private groups at police stations, houses of worship and community centers. Guns that are collected are either destroyed or stored.

Most programs strive to take guns off the streets, provide a safe place for firearm disposal and stir cultural changes in a community, according to Gun by Gun , a nonprofit dedicated to preventing gun violence.

The first formal gun buyback program was held in Baltimore in 1974 after three police officers were shot and killed, according to the authors of the book “Why We Are Losing the War on Gun Violence in the United States.” The initiative collected more than 13,000 firearms, but failed to reduce gun violence in the city. Hundreds of other buyback programs have since unfolded across the United States.

In 1999, President Bill Clinton announced the nation’s first federal gun buyback program . The $15 million program provided grants of up to $500,000 to police departments to buy and destroy firearms. Two years later, the Senate defeated efforts to extend financing for the program after the Bush administration called for it to end.

Despite the popularity of gun buyback programs among certain anti-violence and anti-gun advocates, there is little data to suggest that they work. A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research , a private nonprofit, found that buyback programs adopted in U.S. cities were ineffective in deterring gun crime, firearm-related homicides or firearm-related suicides. . Evidence showed that cities set the sale price of a firearm too low to considerably reduce the supply of weapons; most who participated in such initiatives came from low-crime areas and firearms that were typically collected were either older or not in good working order.

Dr. Brendan Campbell, a pediatric surgeon at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and an author of one chapter in “Why We Are Losing the War on Gun Violence in the United States,” said that buyback programs should collect significantly more firearms than they currently do in order to be more effective.

Dr. Campbell said they should also offer higher prices for handguns and assault rifles. “Those are the ones that are most likely to be used in crime,” and by people attempting suicide, he said. “If you just give $100 for whatever gun, that’s when you’ll end up with all these old, rusted guns that are a low risk of causing harm in the community.”

Mandatory buyback programs have been enacted elsewhere around the world. After a mass shooting in 1996, Australia put in place a nationwide buyback program , collecting somewhere between one in five and one in three privately held guns. The initiative mostly targeted semiautomatic rifles and many shotguns that, under new laws, were no longer permitted. New Zealand banned military-style semiautomatic weapons, assault rifles and some gun parts and began its own large-scale buyback program in 2019, after a terrorist attack on mosques in Christchurch. The authorities said that more than 56,000 prohibited firearms had been collected from about 32,000 people through the initiative.

Where does the U.S. public stand on the issue?

Expanded background checks for guns purchased routinely receive more than 80 or 90 percent support in polling.

Nationally, a majority of Americans have supported stricter gun laws for decades. A Gallup poll conducted in June found that 55 percent of participants were in favor of a ban on the manufacture, possession and sale of semiautomatic guns. A majority of respondents also supported other measures, including raising the legal age at which people can purchase certain firearms, and enacting a 30-day waiting period for gun sales.

But the jumps in demand for gun control that occur after mass shootings also tend to revert to the partisan mean as time passes. Gallup poll data shows that the percentage of participants who supported stricter gun laws receded to 57 percent in October from 66 percent in June, which was just weeks after mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo. A PDK poll conducted after the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde found that 72 percent of Republicans supported arming teachers, in contrast with 24 percent of Democrats.

What do opponents of gun control argue?

Opponents of gun control, including most Republican members of Congress, argue that proposals to limit access to firearms infringe on the right of citizens to bear arms enshrined in the Second Amendment to the Constitution. And they contend that mass shootings are not the result of easily accessible guns, but of criminals and mentally ill people bent on waging violence.

— Annie Karni

Why is it so hard to push for legislation?

Polling suggests that Americans broadly support gun control measures, yet legislation is often stymied in Washington, and Republicans rarely seem to pay a political price for their opposition.

The calculation behind Republicans’ steadfast stonewalling of any new gun regulations — even in the face of the kind unthinkable massacres like in Uvalde, Texas — is a fairly simple one for Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. Asked what the reaction would be from voters back home if he were to support any significant form of gun control, the first-term Republican had a straightforward answer: “Most would probably throw me out of office,” he said. His response helps explain why Republicans have resisted proposals such as the one for universal background checks for gun buyers, despite remarkably broad support from the public for such plans — support that can reach up to 90 percent nationwide in some cases. Republicans like Mr. Cramer understand that they would receive little political reward for joining the push for laws to limit access to guns, including assault-style weapons. But they know for certain that they would be pounded — and most likely left facing a primary opponent who could cost them their job — for voting for gun safety laws or even voicing support for them. Most Republicans in the Senate represent deeply conservative states where gun ownership is treated as a sacred privilege enshrined in the Constitution, a privilege not to be infringed upon no matter how much blood is spilled in classrooms and school hallways around the country. Though the National Rifle Association has recently been diminished by scandal and financial turmoil , Democrats say that the organization still has a strong hold on Republicans through its financial contributions and support, hardening the party’s resistance to any new gun laws. — Carl Hulse, “ Why Republicans Won’t Budge on Guns .”

Yet while the power of the gun lobby, the outsize influence of rural states in the Senate and single-voter issues offer some explanation, there is another possibility: voters.

When voters in four Democratic-leaning states got the opportunity to enact expanded gun or ammunition background checks into law, the overwhelming support suggested by national surveys was nowhere to be found. For Democrats, the story is both unsettling and familiar. Progressives have long been emboldened by national survey results that show overwhelming support for their policy priorities, only to find they don’t necessarily translate to Washington legislation and to popularity on Election Day or beyond. President Biden’s major policy initiatives are popular , for example, yet voters say he has not accomplished much and his approval ratings have sunk into the low 40s. The apparent progressive political majority in the polls might just be illusory. Public support for new gun restrictions tends to rise in the wake of mass shootings. There is already evidence that public support for stricter gun laws has surged again in the aftermath of the killings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas. While the public’s support for new restrictions tends to subside thereafter, these shootings or another could still produce a lasting shift in public opinion. But the poor results for background checks suggest that public opinion may not be the unequivocal ally of gun control that the polling makes it seem. — Nate Cohn, “ Voters Say They Want Gun Control. Their Votes Say Something Different. ”

America has a gun violence problem. What do we do about it?

Gun data shows mass shootings are an anomaly compared with suicides.

This report is a part of "Rethinking Gun Violence," an ABC News series examining the level of gun violence in the U.S. -- and what can be done about it

Mass shootings have dominated the headlines, conversations and political debate around America's gun violence problem for decades.

Perpetrated in many cases with military-style rifles, they have become a symbol for some of America's obsession with guns, and high-powered ones at that, as well as a propensity for violence by some. Active shooter incidents have been on the rise in the two decades since a dozen students and a teacher were killed at Columbine High School in 1999.

Mass shootings and active shooter incidents have also continued to foster a deeply emotional and long-standing debate over both the number of guns and controls over those weapons in the U.S, all to end up with congressional gridlock and familiar arguments about mental health, millions of responsible gun owners and the Second Amendment.

It's a state of affairs that has become all too familiar -- and distressing -- to many across the nation and generations. It also makes the U.S. an anomaly in the developed world -- a wealthy country with an endemic gun violence issue and the seeming inability to solve it.

So, ABC News decided to dig deeper -- attempting to define the problem, explain key concepts and explore solutions in the multimedia series "Rethinking Gun Violence." We also developed a Gun Violence Tracker to help illustrate the daily toll of gun violence in America in partnership with the independent, nonprofit Gun Violence Archive because of the lack of up-to-date federal data.

Watch ABC News Live on Mondays at 3 p.m. to hear more about gun violence from experts during roundtable discussions. And check back tomorrow, when we look at what type of gun is used in most shootings in the U.S.

Touches all corners of the country, but not equally

Gun violence in America is a story that touches every corner of the country but does not affect everyone equally. It comes into shocking focus with mass shootings but also hides behind closed doors with little attention and costs the health care system more than an estimated $1 billion a year for injuries alone, according to a report released in June by the U.S. Government Accountability Office .

It is seen as the scourge of urban living in some cases but also penetrates deeply into suburban and rural America. And many times, the victims are the gun owners themselves or their loved ones, either through suicide or accidental shootings. There are also the 2,606 gun deaths by law enforcement between 2015 and 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

While homicides account for much of the carnage and terror associated with gun violence, the most recent data from health officials shows that suicides account for the bulk -- over 60% -- of gun deaths in America. And gun injuries, while they rarely make the news, put a tremendous burden on both American families and the health care system, according to health researchers.

What you don't hear about and what people don't assess is for every story of a mass shooting, there are, on average, 300 (other) stories, most of them suicide, that are never told.

If we are serious about tackling the gun violence problem in America, experts say we must look at the complete picture, which they say goes well beyond the headlines and amounts to not one, but several gun violence epidemics begging for solutions.

Dr. Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association, told ABC News that gun violence goes beyond killings, and frankly, even crime. It has seeped into every aspect of American culture, from active shooter drills in schools and offices to the numbing feeling many people have that they could be shot at any moment, he said.

"We talk about gun violence but you have to think of guns as an epidemic of injury by firearms. That's the more practical way to think about this," he said.

Mass shootings get mass attention despite being an 'anomaly'

The FBI defines an active shooter , a very specific and relatively rare type of shooting incident, as "an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area."

Active shooter incidents, according to FBI data , have gone from three incidents in 2000 to 40 incidents in 19 states in 2020. During that period, shootings have erupted in schools, businesses and open spaces, to name just a few.

Twenty-six children and educators were killed in 2012 at a school in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. Forty-nine people were killed and 53 others were injured four years later at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

MORE: Gun violence in America: Defining the problem

As of August 2021, the highest number of casualties resulted from an incident in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017, when a gunman killed 60 people and wounded hundreds of others.

And while the perceived randomness and pervasiveness of these kinds of incidents has led to school lockdowns and an overall sense of dread regardless of age or locale -- they occurred in 43 states and the District of Columbia from 2000-2019, the FBI said -- there is a disproportionate focus on active shooter incidents in addressing overall gun violence in the United States, according to Benjamin.

Active shooter situations represent just one kind of mass shooting. But even that wider category resulted in a mere 1% of all of the 191,897 gun deaths between 2015 and 2019, according to the Gun Violence Archive , a nonprofit which identifies mass shootings as cases in which four or more people are shot, and tracks them through public data, news reports and other sources. Mass shootings accounted for 2.8% of all of the 74,565 gun homicides during that five-year period, the GVA data showed.

"It's a rare anomaly," Kris Brown, president of the nonprofit advocacy group Brady: United Against Gun Violence, told ABC News of mass shootings.

"What you don't hear about and what people don't assess is for every story of a mass shooting, there are, on average, 300 [other] stories, most of them suicide, that are never told," Brown said.

The impact of homicides goes beyond urban communities

About 74% of the nearly 95,000 homicides that took place between 2015 and 2019 were committed using guns, according to the CDC. Homicides, which had been on a downward trend for decades in America, have been increasing significantly since 2014, according to the agency.

The majority of gun homicides victims are young, Black men whose neighborhoods and communities are disproportionately impacted by gun violence as well.

Black Americans accounted for roughly 57% of all gun homicide victims in the country between 2015-2019, the CDC data showed. A majority of the gun homicide victims among Black Americans are those under 35, according to the CDC.

"Black males are disproportionately impacted and have by far the highest rate of gun death, nearly twice as high (1.8x) as the second-highest (and also disproportional) rate of gun death among American Indian/Alaska Native males," according to a CDC analysis of gun violence between 2015-2019. "Black males were more than twice as likely to die by firearms than white males in 2019."

Daniel Webster, the director of Johns Hopkins University's Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy , told ABC News that while gun homicides disproportionately affect Black people, it does not negate the fact that over 16,000 white people were killed in gun homicides between 2015 and 2019, according to CDC data. There were 1,071 Asian Americans and 11,213 Latinos killed by guns during this period, the CDC said.

"We go to these common perceptions that overstate things," he said.

And while more than 50% of all gun homicides between 2015 and 2019 took place in the most populated cities in the country, according to the CDC, about half of them did not. Also, individual cities are not equally impacted by gun violence.

The national age-adjusted gun homicide rate was 4.47 per 100,000 between 2015 and 2019, the CDC data showed.

Some highly populated counties, such as Cook County, Illinois, which includes Chicago, had a high gun homicide rate of 12 per 100,000, but other urban areas, such as Brooklyn and Queens in New York City, had rates under four per 100,000, according to the CDC.

At the same time, the data showed high gun homicide rates in less populated areas throughout the country. Several states in the South had among the highest gun homicide rates in the country, with Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi recording rates above 10 per 100,000, according to the CDC.

Too many people think gun violence is an urban problem among Black communities. They don't realize that it's happening more and more in smaller communities in their neighbor's homes.

The gun homicide numbers are more striking in certain counties that have a fraction of the population of major cities.

For example, Mississippi County, Arkansas, which has a population of more than 42,000, according to U.S. Census data, had a gun homicide rate of over 23 per 100,000, the CDC showed.

Benjamin said there is no leading factor behind the gun-related killings, some are premeditated acts of aggression, some are domestic disputes, others are part of other crimes such as robberies, but the one common denominator is access to a firearm.

"I think the public does not understand the full scope, one, but they also think it's an urban problem," he said.

Injuries have an impact

Homicides only tell part of the story of the impact of gun violence on communities in the U.S.

In addition to homicides, 383,500 people were injured by guns between 2015 and 2019 -- roughly 76,700 people a year, according to the CDC.

Brown told ABC News that every year on average 33,242 people are unintentionally shot. Over 98% of these unintentional shooting incidents resulted in injuries and not deaths, according to the CDC data.

These include incidents where a gun goes off when someone thought it was unloaded, or a child was playing with a gun, according to Brown.

"A big proportion of [those incidents] is people with guns in their homes," she said.

MORE: Gun violence in America: Mental health

A report released in June by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that firearm-related injuries resulted in over $1 billion in initial hospital costs annually. The report said those costs are higher when factoring in longer-term costs such as follow-up visits and physical rehabilitation.

Webster said there is also another factor that's been difficult to quantify: the mental impact just from being threatened by a firearm.

Even if no shots are fired, the mere sight of a handgun in front of a victim's face is enough to do serious damage to mental health, he said.

He added that intimidation is a major factor in domestic violence cases, particularly if the abusive partner is armed.

The Education Fund to Stop Gun Violence calculates that almost half of all women murdered in the U.S. are killed by an intimate partner, former or current, and more than half of these killings are with a firearm.

"Women are five times more likely to be murdered by an abusive partner when the abuser has access to a gun," according to the organization, which notes that "even when a weapon is not discharged, abusers often use the mere presence of a gun to coerce, threaten, and terrorize their victims, inflicting enormous psychological damage."

Suicide: The biggest driver of gun deaths

Researchers and advocates say not enough attention is paid to gun suicides, which account for over 60% of all gun deaths annually -- 117,000 Americans between 2015 and 2019, according to the CDC.

Half of all suicide deaths in the U.S. are from guns, the data showed. And while only 10% of attempted suicides involve guns, the high percentage of fatalities from gun suicides reflects the fact that roughly 87% of all gun suicide attempts are successful, according to a Brady: United Against Gun Violence analysis of CDC data from those years.

Another 17,770 people were injured by a gun suicide attempt during that period, according to the CDC.

While Black men are disproportionately impacted by gun homicides, over 100,000 white Americans died by suicide with a gun between 2015 and 2019, according to the CDC -- representing 85% of all gun suicides during the five-year period.

In fact, the rate of gun suicides among white Americans was more than 2 1/2 times greater than Black Americans, CDC data showed. The majority of gun suicide victims are white men between the ages of 45 and 65.

"We talk about the mass shootings or the kid in the city that's shot, but we're not talking about the other forms of gun violence, the depressed, lonely man who took his own life with a gun," Benjamin said.

Geographic data from the CDC showed that the gun suicides between 2015 and 2019 took place throughout the country and that in 39 states, the per capita suicide rate was greater than the per capita homicide rate. In several states, such as Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee, the suicide rate was higher in rural counties.

In a few locations, such as Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, both the gun suicide and gun homicide rate per 100,000 people was above 10.

Three states -- Arkansas, Alaska and Wyoming -- had rates of suicide higher than 15 per 100,000 people, according to CDC data.

A study by Everytown for Gun Safety , a nonprofit that advocates for gun control and gun safety, found the rate of firearm suicides was five times higher in rural communities than urban communities.

Webster and other researchers added that the lack of media coverage on gun suicides has resulted in a lack of understanding of who is most affected by gun deaths.

"Too many people think gun violence is an urban problem among Black communities," Benjamin said. "They don't realize that it's happening more and more in smaller communities in their neighbor's homes."

Overlapping but distinct problems

Although health researchers acknowledge there is no single solution to stopping gun violence, Webster said there is some overlap among the different forms of gun violence and acknowledging those common threads is the first step to curbing shootings.

For example, roughly 32% of all mass shooting suspects in the last decade died by suicide, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.

"There are a lot of misconceptions that a mass shooting is random. They are typically planned events against some grievance," Webster said. "In most reports, there were warning signs that were missed."

A study released in May in Injury Epidemiology found in 68.2% of mass shooting incidents between 2014 and 2019, the perpetrator either killed at least one partner or family member or had a history of domestic violence.

Access to a gun is more likely to lead a person to use it on more than just one person, Webster said.

"They develop behavior patterns that make them more prone to violence in all of its forms; violence against intimate partners, violence against the community and violence against themselves," he said.

Potential solutions

Experts who have been studying gun violence say people are more likely to find common ground when the focus is taken off mass shootings and it is instead approached as a multi-faceted problem.

Jenna Longenecker, 32, an activist who lost her mother in 2012 to a mass shooting at an Oregon mall and later her father to a gun suicide, told ABC News that the public and political leaders were more willing to consider a bill that mandated all firearms be secured with a trigger or cable lock in a secured locker after hearing from families who lost someone to gun suicide.

"When someone wants to take their own life it's less scary and harmful than a person running around killing a bunch of people," she said. "That all changes when you know someone who took their own life with a gun."

MORE: Gun violence in America: Newark

Paul Kemp, co-founder of the grassroots group Gun Owners for Responsible Gun Ownership, said statistics, testimony and anecdotes from families who lost their loved ones to gun suicides helped sway the Oregon legislature to pass the law this year. According to both Kemp and Longenecker, other gun deaths were mentioned and emphasized by the bill's supporters but it was really the suicides that tipped the scales.

"Because we have these consequences, we're having the conversations," he said.

Oregon State Sen. Ginny Burdick, who was one of the chief sponsors of the bill, told ABC News that residents have raised their voices about the growing number of suicides and demanded action. Although gun rights groups tried to fight the bill, there was little opposition in the public, even among many gun owners, she said.

For a growing number of residents, the rise in gun violence in all forms, especially suicide, got to the breaking point and they had to speak out.

"It's not a taboo in Oregon. We've been very straightforward about talking about suicide, because it's an epidemic," the senator said.

Kemp said the bill has wide-ranging effects on gun violence. Having a weapon in a locked locker and unloaded lowers the risk of a child getting their hands on it or the weapon being stolen, he argued.

"Most gun owners I know grew up knowing this, that you needed to keep your gun in a secure place away from children," he said.

This year, a similar secure storage bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate.

Brown predicted that similar legislative action in other states would be more likely if there was a better understanding of the multiple facets of the gun violence problem.

He and other advocates acknowledged that a safe storage law doesn't solve all of the issues surrounding gun violence, such as domestic incidents and gang-related violence, but say that it sheds light on how to build consensus and come up with solutions.

And while some solutions may work for one kind of gun violence and not for others, a comprehensive strategy to address gun violence requires a full picture of the problem, which it turns out looks quite different from the impression the casual observer may be getting, Brown and other activists said.

"Part of the thing we expect from politicians is not just voting on bills, like safe storage and expanded background checks, but also amplifying to their constituents where the violence comes from," Brown said. "That violence happens every day, and if they don't acknowledge it, it will get worse."

If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, help is available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 [TALK] for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

ABC News' Mark Nichols contributed to this report.

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• Gun Violence

'We created this problem:' A pediatric surgeon explains how gun violence affects children

Treating gunshot wounds on children was not what Mikael Petrosyan expected when he entered pediatrics.

Petrosyan has been working as a pediatric surgeon at the Children's National Hospital for more than a decade, and he has treated many children injured by guns.

He hasn't been able to save them all and has had to tell parents that their children have died from gunshot wounds.

"It's a devastating thing to do, to lose a child for something that has been caused by guns," Petrosyan said. "It's not an accident. It was totally preventable in many ways."

Last year, 106 juveniles were registered as gun shot wound victims in Washington D.C., and 16 of those incidents were fatal, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. Law enforcement in D.C. also recovered more than 3,000 firearms in both 2022 and 2023 .

Petrosyan says having to tell a parent their child has died from gunshot wounds is one of the most difficult parts of his job.

Gun violence, including homicides, suicides and unintentional injuries, is the leading cause of death among American children and teens, ages 1-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last year, 1,682 children and teens were shot and killed and 4,512 were injured — excluding the number of gun related suicides.

As Petrosyan sees it, the physical damage is just the beginning.

"There's a lot of damage, not just physical, but psychological and emotional," Petrosyan said. "I'm talking about families and people that are involved, not only parents, family, but also people who are treating the children. They are psychologically impacted significantly."

His colleagues are also feeling the strain to the point that some have stopped working temporarily for relief. Some are even considering early retirement or leaving the field altogether.

Petrosyan sat with Morning Edition 's Michel Martin to discuss his experience as someone who regularly witnesses the effects of gun violence on U.S. youth as part of our ongoing series, We, The Voters .

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Michel Martin: Little kids aren't — they're not supposed to be injured.

Mikael Petrosyan: They're not supposed to be injured. A lot of times they are bystanders. Most of the time they're innocent bystanders, 99.9% of the time. I'm not a politician, but we have to do better than what we have right now. It's not stable. It's not right. There's something we're not doing right.

Martin: Most people don't go into pediatrics thinking we're going to be treating gun violence. I mean, it's just I think that's fair to say, right?

Petrosyan: Correct.

Martin: So, can you just talk about how it affects you and the people you work with, your colleagues, the nurses, the staff, the other doctors?

Petrosyan: It does affect us, operating on kids. It's a job that comes with stress. I have three young kids and I go home every day, and I worry about this every day. And I text my wife, 'Are they OK? Was the school OK?' It doesn't matter where you live. Every day I think about it. I drive here every day, I think about it. So, these are things that will never leave me. I wish it did. And it causes stress on everyone. People think you're a surgeon, you're tough, but there's a lot of things associated with it.

Martin: Is there something you particularly want people to know who don't see what you see?

Petrosyan: People have to understand that we created this problem. It wasn't there before. We've created it. So we have to do something, not just lock the guns. It's not just that. It's education. It's community involvement. It's improving the socioeconomic status of people, communities. We have to do better as Americans, as everyone, as a family.

When you lose a child on an operating table in an emergency room, it's devastating. You can't even talk or eat or do anything, many days. It's devastating, and I wouldn't want to wish on anyone. And imagine, as a parent, losing a child. How can you say to the parent that you lost their child? It's one of the most difficult things I've done in my career. It's when you go out there after the trauma resuscitation or an operation, and tell the parents, I'm sorry I couldn't save your child. It wasn't me that caused it, but I feel the responsibility that I wasn't able to save.

Martin: Can I ask you if you've ever thought about it? If you've ever thought, 'I can't, I can't do it. This has to stop?'

Petrosyan: Not yet. But it's getting there.

Lindsay Totty produced the audio story, and Jan Johnson edited the audio version. Destinee Adams wrote the digital story, and Obed Manuel edited the digital version. contributed to this story

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Gun deaths among U.S. children and teens rose 50% in two years

The number of children and teens killed by gunfire in the United States increased 50% between 2019 and 2021, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the latest annual mortality statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic , there were 1,732 gun deaths among U.S. children and teens under the age of 18. By 2021, that figure had increased to 2,590.

The gun death rate among children and teens – a measure that adjusts for changes in the nation’s population – rose from 2.4 fatalities per 100,000 minor residents in 2019 to 3.5 per 100,000 two years later, a 46% increase.

Both the number and rate of children and teens killed by gunfire in 2021 were higher than at any point since at least 1999, the earliest year for which information about those younger than 18 is available in the CDC’s mortality database .

In the wake of a fatal school shooting in Tennessee on March 27 , Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to find out how gun deaths among U.S. children and teens have changed in recent years. Gun deaths include homicides, suicides, accidents and all other categories where firearms are listed on death certificates as the underlying cause of death. Children and teens are defined as those under the age of 18, while adults are defined as those ages 18 and older.

Data on the annual number and rate of gun deaths among children and teens comes from the WONDER database of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Crude rates, rather than age-adjusted rates, are used in this analysis because age-adjusted rates are not available when analyzing those under the age of 18. Black, White and Asian children and teens include only those who are single-race and not Hispanic; Hispanic children and teens include those who are of any race.

This analysis also includes data on the estimated number of nonfatal gun injuries sustained by children and teens. This information is drawn the CDC’s WISQARS database , which relies on information collected from a representative sample of U.S. hospitals.

To examine parental worries about their children being shot, Pew Research Center surveyed 3,757 U.S. parents with at least one child younger than 18 from Sept. 20 to Oct. 2, 2022. Most parents who took part are members of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. The survey also included an oversample of Black, Hispanic and Asian parents from Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel, another probability-based online survey web panel recruited primarily through national, random sampling of residential addresses.

Address-based sampling ensures that nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology . Here are the questions asked in this survey , as well as its methodology .

The rise in gun deaths among children and teens is part of a broader recent increase in firearm deaths among Americans overall . In 2021, there were 48,830 gun deaths among Americans of all ages – by far the highest yearly total on record and up 23% from the 39,707 recorded in 2019, before the pandemic.

The total number of gun deaths among children and teens in 2021 includes homicides, suicides, accidents and all other categories where firearms are listed on death certificates as the underlying cause of death. It does not include deaths where firearms are listed as a contributing, but not underlying, cause of death.

Homicide was the largest single category of gun deaths among children and teens in 2021, accounting for 60% of the total that year. It was followed by suicide at 32% and accidents at 5%. Among U.S. adults, by contrast, suicides accounted for a 55% majority of gun deaths in 2021.

In addition to data on gun fatalities, the CDC publishes estimates on nonfatal gun-related injuries sustained by children and teens. In 2020 – the most recent year with available data – there were more than 11,000 emergency-room visits for gunshot injuries among children and teens under the age of 18 – far higher than in other recent years. An exact count is not possible, however, because the CDC’s estimate is based on a sample of U.S. hospitals, not all U.S. hospitals, and is subject to a large margin of error.

Gun deaths are much more common among some groups of children and teens

In the U.S., some groups of children and teens are far more likely than others to die by gunfire. Boys, for example, accounted for 83% of all gun deaths among children and teens in 2021. Girls accounted for 17%.

Older children and teens are much more likely than younger kids to be killed in gun-related incidents. Those ages 12 to 17 accounted for 86% of all gun deaths among children and teens in 2021, while those 6 to 11 accounted for 7% of the total, as did those 5 and under. Still, there were 179 gun deaths among children ages 6 to 11 and 184 among those 5 and under in 2021.

For all three age groups, homicide was the leading type of gun death in 2021. But suicides accounted for a significant share (36%) of gun deaths among those ages 12 to 17, while accidents accounted for a sizable share (34%) of gun deaths among those 5 and under.

Racial and ethnic differences in gun deaths among kids are stark. In 2021, 46% of all gun deaths among children and teens involved Black victims, even though only 14% of the U.S. under-18 population that year was Black. Much smaller shares of gun deaths among children and teens in 2021 involved White (32%), Hispanic (17%) and Asian (1%) victims.

Looked at another way, Black children and teens were roughly five times as likely as their White counterparts to die from gunfire in 2021. There were 11.8 gun deaths per 100,000 Black children and teens that year, compared with 2.3 gun deaths per 100,000 White children and teens. The gun death rate among Hispanic children and teens was also 2.3 deaths per 100,000 in 2021, while it was lower among Asian children and teens (0.9 per 100,000).

There are also major racial and ethnic differences in the types of gun deaths involving children and teens. In 2021, a large majority of gun deaths involving Black children and teens (84%) were homicides, while 9% were suicides. Among White children and teens, by contrast, the majority of gun deaths (66%) were suicides, while a much smaller share (24%) were homicides.

In this analysis, Black, White and Asian children and teens include only those who are single-race and not Hispanic, while Hispanic children and teens are of any race.

Nearly half of U.S. parents worry about their children getting shot

A sizable share of American parents are worried about their kids getting shot. In a fall 2022 Pew Research Center survey , 22% of parents with children under 18 said they were extremely or very worried about any of their children getting shot at some point, while another 23% said they were somewhat worried. Still, more than half said they were not worried about this.

The survey found demographic differences in these concerns. Around four-in-ten Hispanic parents (42%) and about a third of Black parents (32%) said they were extremely or very worried about their children getting shot, compared with smaller shares of Asian (23%) and White (12%) parents.

Parents in self-described urban communities (35%) were considerably more likely than those in rural (19%) or suburban (17%) areas to be extremely or very worried about any of their children being shot. And lower-income parents (40%) were far more likely than middle-income (16%) and upper-income (10%) parents to be extremely or very worried.

Partisan differences were evident, too. Democratic and Democratic-leaning parents were roughly twice as likely as Republican and Republican-leaning parents to say they were extremely or very worried about their children getting shot at some point (27% vs. 14%).

Note: Here are the questions asked in this survey , as well as its methodology .

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About 1 in 4 U.S. teachers say their school went into a gun-related lockdown in the last school year

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Where gun violence is common, some students say physical safety is a top concern

Meg Anderson

The busy halls of North Community High School in Minneapolis in between classes. Caroline Yang for NPR hide caption

The busy halls of North Community High School in Minneapolis in between classes.

The students at North Community High School in Minneapolis have seen a lot. Some things, morbid curiosities: a bullet, freshly fired, spinning and melting the rubber on the track surrounding the school's football field.

Others, much more painful: the murder of Deshaun Hill Jr., shot and killed two years ago just blocks from the school. He was 15 years old, and the quarterback of the football team.

"That was my best friend, so we did everything with each other. I feel like that's the toughest thing, just knowing that he's not physically by my side anymore," senior Kahlil Brown says.

Last spring, another member of the football team was shot in both legs. He survived.

"It is not normal. It shouldn't be seen as normal. But we go through it so much that it is normal here," senior Jalen Beard says.

Kahlil Brown, 18, says teammate Deshaun Hill Jr., the student and quarterback who was shot and killed in 2022, was his best friend. Brown, shown posing for a portrait at the North Community High School football field in Minneapolis on April 9, will attend St. Olaf College in the fall. Caroline Yang for NPR hide caption

Kahlil Brown, 18, says teammate Deshaun Hill Jr., the student and quarterback who was shot and killed in 2022, was his best friend. Brown, shown posing for a portrait at the North Community High School football field in Minneapolis on April 9, will attend St. Olaf College in the fall.

Across the country, millions of young people are enduring this same reality: Firearm injuries are the leading cause of death for children and teens over age 1 nationwide.

The federal government is investing billions of dollars to combat this problem. But on the north side of Minneapolis, some students living under the threat of gun violence say there's a disconnect between what the government is offering and what they say they need.

"We needed that police officer at our school and they took it out"

Gun violence affects children and teenagers in devastating ways, says Sonali Rajan, an associate professor at Columbia University's Teachers College. That goes far beyond the physical harm guns can cause.

"Witnessing firearm violence, surviving a shooting, hearing gunshots," Rajan says. "There's a real range of experiences that we have to consider when we think about its impacts and the emotional trauma that goes hand-in-hand with that — nightmares, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, typical symptoms we might associate with post-traumatic stress disorder."

Students exposed to gun violence are less likely to do well in school and less likely to graduate . What's more, the rate of firearm deaths for Black children is six times higher than it is for white children. In Minneapolis, students at North High are well aware of those effects.

"If you're outside, you don't really feel comfortable, you don't really get to relax," Beard says. "Even if you're not the one doing it, even if you're not a part of no gang, nothing like that. But you could still end up being the one on the ground."

A portrait of Deshaun Hill Jr. hangs outside on the fence surrounding the North Community High School track and football field in Minneapolis. Caroline Yang for NPR hide caption

A portrait of Deshaun Hill Jr. hangs outside on the fence surrounding the North Community High School track and football field in Minneapolis.

In response, the Biden administration is awarding $1 billion across the next several years as part of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act . That money aims to increase the number of mental health professionals in schools.

As part of the same legislation, the administration distributed about another $1 billion in grants to create what it calls "safer and healthier learning environments," employing a wide range of strategies — including anti-bullying and violence prevention programs, staff training and metal detectors.

Minneapolis Public Schools will receive at least $500,000 of this federal aid, much of which is focused on drug and alcohol prevention. The district plans to apply for the mental health grants and has received other state and federal funding specifically for preventing gun violence.

When it comes to more mental health resources, Beard says he would welcome that extra support, as long as a counselor can truly relate.

"You don't want to talk to a stranger who has never been in this situation, who never had one of their best friends pass away at 15," Beard says. "They wouldn't understand. And it would feel like I'm talking to an alien, basically."

In 2020, George Floyd was murdered by a police officer in this same city. Shortly after, the school district ended its contract with the city's police — and pulled school resource officers from its buildings.

"So now the police is out of our schools," says Brown, the senior whose best friend was killed. "We needed that police officer at our school and they took it out."

The school still has a security monitor, but that person is not a sworn officer. The security monitor can't arrest people and doesn't carry a weapon. Students say they don't want to be overpoliced, much less by officers they don't know. But at North, the school resource officer was also the head coach of the football team — and still is.

"That's a trusted person," Beard says. "If I knew my coach was out there protecting me, I'm fine."

Jalen Beard, 18, a friend and teammate of Deshaun Hill Jr., stands by the football field at school. Beard plans to attend St. Olaf College. Caroline Yang for NPR hide caption

Jalen Beard, 18, a friend and teammate of Deshaun Hill Jr., stands by the football field at school. Beard plans to attend St. Olaf College.

Studies have shown the presence of police can criminalize the school space and serve as a pipeline into the criminal justice system, says Rajan, the Columbia researcher. Still, she says, the need for real physical safety is valid.

"We can't necessarily employ a cookie cutter approach to gun violence prevention," Rajan says. "There are 51 million children in our public school system right now. So there is a lot of nuance here we have to contend with."

"What are we doing to prevent that violence from happening at all?"

Every morning, Principal Friestleben stations herself in the hallway to greet students. She says that's intentional: Structure and consistency communicate to students that they're safe.

"My children are walking in with generational and personal experience of not being protected and not being valued and centered," she says.

North Community High School Principal Mauri Friestleben stands in a newly renovated classroom on April 9. Caroline Yang for NPR hide caption

North Community High School Principal Mauri Friestleben stands in a newly renovated classroom on April 9.

Educators need to understand that even though they can't control what happens in the neighborhood, schools can make a real difference in student well-being, says Dan Flannery, a professor who researches gun violence at Case Western Reserve University.

"If you have a positive school climate and culture, if kids feel attached to the school, they're going to have a much more positive experience," Flannery says. "You need to have a commitment to that perspective. The staff and teachers and principals have to understand that this is an important thing to do."

The all-hands-on-deck approach is part of a larger way of thinking: treating gun violence as a disease.

"Public health is predicated on the notion that we should invest as much as we can in what we call primary prevention," Rajan says. "Prevention is saying 'What are we doing years and years before an individual is posing a potential threat to a school community? What are we doing to make it harder? What are we doing to prevent that violence from happening at all?'"

She says alongside stricter gun laws, strengthening communities at large — investing not just in school culture, but also in things like affordable housing and neighborhood green space — can act as a sort of vaccine against violence.

Friestleben wants to see that investment. And though she welcomes the funds, she isn't sure the latest federal grants will get at the root problems that can lead to gun violence.

Jalen Beard holds a pendant he wears in remembrance of his friend. Caroline Yang for NPR hide caption

Jalen Beard holds a pendant he wears in remembrance of his friend.

"It's no different than one of my kids being hungry and going to the corner store and getting chips. It's satisfying a teeny, tiny little bit of hunger, but not in a healthy, sustainable, longstanding way," she says.

This year Jalen Beard and Kahlil Brown will graduate and go on to college.

They'll attend St. Olaf College, a small liberal arts school about 45 miles from home. They're going to be roommates, and they'll both be playing football, something they talked about doing with their friend who's no longer here.

"He wasn't getting in trouble. He went to class. He had good grades," Beard says. "To me, he was doing everything right. He was doing everything he was supposed to be. And he still didn't get his opportunity."

Note: Meg Anderson was a teacher for Minneapolis Public Schools several years ago. Her spouse works for the district.

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Gun Violence in The United States

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