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What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S.
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Ubiquitous
Apr 4, 2023, 3:45:10 AM4/4/23
to
More Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2020 than in any other
year on record, according to recently published statistics from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That included a
record number of gun murders, as well as a near-record number of gun
suicides. Despite the increase in such fatalities, the rate of gun
deaths – a statistic that accounts for the nation’s growing population
– remains below the levels of earlier years.
Here’s a closer look at gun deaths in the United States, based on a Pew
Research Center analysis of data from the CDC, the FBI and other
sources. You can also read key public opinion findings about U.S. gun
violence and gun policy in our recent roundup.
This Pew Research Center analysis examines the changing number and rate
of gun deaths in the United States. It is based primarily on data from
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The CDC’s statistics are based on
information contained in official death certificates, while the FBI’s
figures are based on information voluntarily submitted by thousands of
police departments around the country.
For the number and rate of gun deaths over time, we relied on mortality
statistics in the CDC’s WONDER database covering three distinct time
periods: 1968 to 1978, 1979 to 1998 and 1999 to 2020. While these
statistics are mostly comparable for the full 1968-2020 period, gun
murders and suicides between 1968 and 1978 are classified by the CDC as
involving firearms and explosives; those between 1979 and 2020 are
classified as involving firearms only. Similarly, gun deaths involving
law enforcement between 1968 and 1978 exclude those caused by
“operations of war”; those between 1979 and 2020 do include that
category, which refers to gun deaths among military personnel or
civilians due to war or civil insurrection in the U.S. All CDC gun
death estimates in this analysis are adjusted to account for age
differences over time.
The FBI’s statistics about the types of firearms used in gun murders in
2020 come from the bureau’s Crime Data Explorer website. Specifically,
they are drawn from the expanded homicide tables of the agency’s 2020
Crime in the United States report. The FBI’s statistics include murders
and non-negligent manslaughters involving firearms.
A pie chart showing that suicides accounted for more than half of U.S.
gun deaths in 2020
In 2020, the most recent year for which complete data is available,
45,222 people died from gun-related injuries in the U.S., according to
the CDC. That figure includes gun murders and gun suicides, along with
three other, less common types of gun-related deaths tracked by the
CDC: those that were unintentional, those that involved law enforcement
and those whose circumstances could not be determined. The total
excludes deaths in which gunshot injuries played a contributing, but
not principal, role. (CDC fatality statistics are based on information
contained in official death certificates, which identify a single cause
of death.)
Though they tend to get less public attention than gun-related murders,
suicides have long accounted for the majority of U.S. gun deaths. In
2020, 54% of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides (24,292),
while 43% were murders (19,384), according to the CDC. The remaining
gun deaths that year were unintentional (535), involved law enforcement
(611) or had undetermined circumstances (400).
Nearly eight-in-ten (79%) U.S. murders in 2020 – 19,384 out of 24,576 –
involved a firearm. That marked the highest percentage since at least
1968, the earliest year for which the CDC has online records. A little
over half (53%) of all suicides in 2020 – 24,292 out of 45,979 –
involved a gun, a percentage that has generally remained stable in
recent years.
The 45,222 total gun deaths in 2020 were by far the most on record,
representing a 14% increase from the year before, a 25% increase from
five years earlier and a 43% increase from a decade prior.
Gun murders, in particular, have climbed sharply in recent years. The
19,384 gun murders that took place in 2020 were the most since at least
1968, exceeding the previous peak of 18,253 recorded by the CDC in
1993. The 2020 total represented a 34% increase from the year before, a
49% increase over five years and a 75% increase over 10 years.
The number of gun suicides has also risen in recent years – climbing
10% over five years and 25% over 10 years – and is near its highest
point on record. The 24,292 gun suicides that took place in 2020 were
the most in any year except 2018, when there were 24,432.
While 2020 saw the highest total number of gun deaths in the U.S., this
statistic does not take into account the nation’s growing population.
On a per capita basis, there were 13.6 gun deaths per 100,000 people in
2020 – the highest rate since the mid-1990s, but still well below the
peak of 16.3 gun deaths per 100,000 people in 1974.
A line graph showing that U.S. gun suicide and gun murder rates have
increased in recent years, but remain below past highs
The gun murder and gun suicide rates in the U.S. both remain below
their peak levels. There were 6.2 gun murders per 100,000 people in
2020, below the rate of 7.2 recorded in 1974. And there were 7.0 gun
suicides per 100,000 people in 2020, below the rate of 7.7 measured in
1977. (One caveat when considering the 1970s figures: In the CDC’s
database, gun murders and gun suicides between 1968 and 1978 are
classified as those caused by firearms and explosives. In subsequent
years, they are classified as deaths involving firearms only.)
A map showing that U.S. gun death rates varied widely by state in 2020
The rate of gun fatalities varies widely from state to state. In 2020,
the states with the highest rates of gun-related deaths – counting
murders, suicides and all other categories tracked by the CDC –
included Mississippi (28.6 per 100,000 people), Louisiana (26.3),
Wyoming (25.9), Missouri (23.9) and Alabama (23.6). The states with the
lowest rates included New York (5.3), Rhode Island (5.1), New Jersey
(5.0), Massachusetts (3.7) and Hawaii (3.4).
The gun death rate in the U.S. is much higher than in most other
nations, particularly developed nations. But it is still far below the
rates in several Latin American countries, according to a 2018 study of
195 countries and territories by researchers at the Institute for
Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
The U.S. gun death rate was 10.6 per 100,000 people in 2016, the most
recent year in the study, which used a somewhat different methodology
from the CDC. That was far higher than in countries such as Canada (2.1
per 100,000) and Australia (1.0), as well as European nations such as
France (2.7), Germany (0.9) and Spain (0.6). But the rate in the U.S.
was much lower than in El Salvador (39.2 per 100,000 people), Venezuela
(38.7), Guatemala (32.3), Colombia (25.9) and Honduras (22.5), the
study found. Overall, the U.S. ranked 20th in its gun fatality rate
that year.
This is a difficult question to answer because there is no single,
agreed-upon definition of the term “mass shooting.” Definitions can
vary depending on factors including the number of victims and the
circumstances of the shooting.
The FBI collects data on “active shooter incidents,” which it defines
as “one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting
to kill people in a populated area.” Using the FBI’s definition, 38
people – excluding the shooters – died in such incidents in 2020.
The Gun Violence Archive, an online database of gun violence incidents
in the U.S., defines mass shootings as incidents in which four or more
people are shot, even if no one was killed (again excluding the
shooters). Using this definition, 513 people died in these incidents in
2020.
Regardless of the definition being used, fatalities in mass shooting
incidents in the U.S. account for a small fraction of all gun murders
that occur nationwide each year.
A chart showing that active shooter incidents have become more common
in the U.S. in recent years
The same definitional issue that makes it challenging to arrive at an
exact number of mass shooting fatalities comes into play when trying to
determine the frequency of U.S. mass shootings over time. The
unpredictability of these incidents also complicates matters: As Rand
Corp. noted in a research brief, “Chance variability in the annual
number of mass shooting incidents makes it challenging to discern a
clear trend, and trend estimates will be sensitive to outliers and to
the time frame chosen for analysis.”
The FBI found an increase in active shooter incidents between 2000 and
2020. There were three such incidents in 2000; by 2020, that figure had
increased to 40.
In 2020, handguns were involved in 59% of the 13,620 U.S. gun murders
and non-negligent manslaughters for which data is available, according
to the FBI. Rifles – the category that includes guns sometimes referred
to as “assault weapons” – were involved in 3% of firearm murders.
Shotguns were involved in 1%. The remainder of gun homicides and non-
negligent manslaughters (36%) involved other kinds of firearms or those
classified as “type not stated.”
It’s important to note that the FBI’s statistics do not capture the
details on all gun murders in the U.S. each year. The FBI’s data is
based on information voluntarily submitted by police departments around
the country, and not all agencies participate or provide complete
information each year.
--
Let's go Brandon!
year on record, according to recently published statistics from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That included a
record number of gun murders, as well as a near-record number of gun
suicides. Despite the increase in such fatalities, the rate of gun
deaths – a statistic that accounts for the nation’s growing population
– remains below the levels of earlier years.
Here’s a closer look at gun deaths in the United States, based on a Pew
Research Center analysis of data from the CDC, the FBI and other
sources. You can also read key public opinion findings about U.S. gun
violence and gun policy in our recent roundup.
This Pew Research Center analysis examines the changing number and rate
of gun deaths in the United States. It is based primarily on data from
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The CDC’s statistics are based on
information contained in official death certificates, while the FBI’s
figures are based on information voluntarily submitted by thousands of
police departments around the country.
For the number and rate of gun deaths over time, we relied on mortality
statistics in the CDC’s WONDER database covering three distinct time
periods: 1968 to 1978, 1979 to 1998 and 1999 to 2020. While these
statistics are mostly comparable for the full 1968-2020 period, gun
murders and suicides between 1968 and 1978 are classified by the CDC as
involving firearms and explosives; those between 1979 and 2020 are
classified as involving firearms only. Similarly, gun deaths involving
law enforcement between 1968 and 1978 exclude those caused by
“operations of war”; those between 1979 and 2020 do include that
category, which refers to gun deaths among military personnel or
civilians due to war or civil insurrection in the U.S. All CDC gun
death estimates in this analysis are adjusted to account for age
differences over time.
The FBI’s statistics about the types of firearms used in gun murders in
2020 come from the bureau’s Crime Data Explorer website. Specifically,
they are drawn from the expanded homicide tables of the agency’s 2020
Crime in the United States report. The FBI’s statistics include murders
and non-negligent manslaughters involving firearms.
A pie chart showing that suicides accounted for more than half of U.S.
gun deaths in 2020
In 2020, the most recent year for which complete data is available,
45,222 people died from gun-related injuries in the U.S., according to
the CDC. That figure includes gun murders and gun suicides, along with
three other, less common types of gun-related deaths tracked by the
CDC: those that were unintentional, those that involved law enforcement
and those whose circumstances could not be determined. The total
excludes deaths in which gunshot injuries played a contributing, but
not principal, role. (CDC fatality statistics are based on information
contained in official death certificates, which identify a single cause
of death.)
Though they tend to get less public attention than gun-related murders,
suicides have long accounted for the majority of U.S. gun deaths. In
2020, 54% of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides (24,292),
while 43% were murders (19,384), according to the CDC. The remaining
gun deaths that year were unintentional (535), involved law enforcement
(611) or had undetermined circumstances (400).
Nearly eight-in-ten (79%) U.S. murders in 2020 – 19,384 out of 24,576 –
involved a firearm. That marked the highest percentage since at least
1968, the earliest year for which the CDC has online records. A little
over half (53%) of all suicides in 2020 – 24,292 out of 45,979 –
involved a gun, a percentage that has generally remained stable in
recent years.
The 45,222 total gun deaths in 2020 were by far the most on record,
representing a 14% increase from the year before, a 25% increase from
five years earlier and a 43% increase from a decade prior.
Gun murders, in particular, have climbed sharply in recent years. The
19,384 gun murders that took place in 2020 were the most since at least
1968, exceeding the previous peak of 18,253 recorded by the CDC in
1993. The 2020 total represented a 34% increase from the year before, a
49% increase over five years and a 75% increase over 10 years.
The number of gun suicides has also risen in recent years – climbing
10% over five years and 25% over 10 years – and is near its highest
point on record. The 24,292 gun suicides that took place in 2020 were
the most in any year except 2018, when there were 24,432.
While 2020 saw the highest total number of gun deaths in the U.S., this
statistic does not take into account the nation’s growing population.
On a per capita basis, there were 13.6 gun deaths per 100,000 people in
2020 – the highest rate since the mid-1990s, but still well below the
peak of 16.3 gun deaths per 100,000 people in 1974.
A line graph showing that U.S. gun suicide and gun murder rates have
increased in recent years, but remain below past highs
The gun murder and gun suicide rates in the U.S. both remain below
their peak levels. There were 6.2 gun murders per 100,000 people in
2020, below the rate of 7.2 recorded in 1974. And there were 7.0 gun
suicides per 100,000 people in 2020, below the rate of 7.7 measured in
1977. (One caveat when considering the 1970s figures: In the CDC’s
database, gun murders and gun suicides between 1968 and 1978 are
classified as those caused by firearms and explosives. In subsequent
years, they are classified as deaths involving firearms only.)
A map showing that U.S. gun death rates varied widely by state in 2020
The rate of gun fatalities varies widely from state to state. In 2020,
the states with the highest rates of gun-related deaths – counting
murders, suicides and all other categories tracked by the CDC –
included Mississippi (28.6 per 100,000 people), Louisiana (26.3),
Wyoming (25.9), Missouri (23.9) and Alabama (23.6). The states with the
lowest rates included New York (5.3), Rhode Island (5.1), New Jersey
(5.0), Massachusetts (3.7) and Hawaii (3.4).
The gun death rate in the U.S. is much higher than in most other
nations, particularly developed nations. But it is still far below the
rates in several Latin American countries, according to a 2018 study of
195 countries and territories by researchers at the Institute for
Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
The U.S. gun death rate was 10.6 per 100,000 people in 2016, the most
recent year in the study, which used a somewhat different methodology
from the CDC. That was far higher than in countries such as Canada (2.1
per 100,000) and Australia (1.0), as well as European nations such as
France (2.7), Germany (0.9) and Spain (0.6). But the rate in the U.S.
was much lower than in El Salvador (39.2 per 100,000 people), Venezuela
(38.7), Guatemala (32.3), Colombia (25.9) and Honduras (22.5), the
study found. Overall, the U.S. ranked 20th in its gun fatality rate
that year.
This is a difficult question to answer because there is no single,
agreed-upon definition of the term “mass shooting.” Definitions can
vary depending on factors including the number of victims and the
circumstances of the shooting.
The FBI collects data on “active shooter incidents,” which it defines
as “one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting
to kill people in a populated area.” Using the FBI’s definition, 38
people – excluding the shooters – died in such incidents in 2020.
The Gun Violence Archive, an online database of gun violence incidents
in the U.S., defines mass shootings as incidents in which four or more
people are shot, even if no one was killed (again excluding the
shooters). Using this definition, 513 people died in these incidents in
2020.
Regardless of the definition being used, fatalities in mass shooting
incidents in the U.S. account for a small fraction of all gun murders
that occur nationwide each year.
A chart showing that active shooter incidents have become more common
in the U.S. in recent years
The same definitional issue that makes it challenging to arrive at an
exact number of mass shooting fatalities comes into play when trying to
determine the frequency of U.S. mass shootings over time. The
unpredictability of these incidents also complicates matters: As Rand
Corp. noted in a research brief, “Chance variability in the annual
number of mass shooting incidents makes it challenging to discern a
clear trend, and trend estimates will be sensitive to outliers and to
the time frame chosen for analysis.”
The FBI found an increase in active shooter incidents between 2000 and
2020. There were three such incidents in 2000; by 2020, that figure had
increased to 40.
In 2020, handguns were involved in 59% of the 13,620 U.S. gun murders
and non-negligent manslaughters for which data is available, according
to the FBI. Rifles – the category that includes guns sometimes referred
to as “assault weapons” – were involved in 3% of firearm murders.
Shotguns were involved in 1%. The remainder of gun homicides and non-
negligent manslaughters (36%) involved other kinds of firearms or those
classified as “type not stated.”
It’s important to note that the FBI’s statistics do not capture the
details on all gun murders in the U.S. each year. The FBI’s data is
based on information voluntarily submitted by police departments around
the country, and not all agencies participate or provide complete
information each year.
--
Let's go Brandon!
Just Wondering
Apr 4, 2023, 11:53:18 AM4/4/23
to
On 3/29/2023 8:05 PM, Ubiquitous wrote:
> More Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2020 than in any other
> year on record, according to recently published statistics from the
> Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That included a
> record number of gun murders, as well as a near-record number of gun
> suicides. Despite the increase in such fatalities, the rate of gun
> deaths – a statistic that accounts for the nation’s growing population
> – remains below the levels of earlier years.
>
During the same time period gun sales skyrocketed, both in actual
> More Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2020 than in any other
> year on record, according to recently published statistics from the
> Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That included a
> record number of gun murders, as well as a near-record number of gun
> suicides. Despite the increase in such fatalities, the rate of gun
> deaths – a statistic that accounts for the nation’s growing population
> – remains below the levels of earlier years.
>
numbers and in ownership rates. If guns caused gun violence,
gun-related injuries and deaths would have skyrocketed. Since
they haven't, there is no positive correlation between "gun
proliferation" )as the gun grabbers call it) and gun violence.
Mattb
Apr 4, 2023, 1:50:20 PM4/4/23
to
On Wed, 29 Mar 2023 21:05:01 -0500, Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net>
wrote:
>More Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2020 than in any other
>year on record, according to recently published statistics from the
>Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That included a
>record number of gun murders, as well as a near-record number of gun
>suicides. Despite the increase in such fatalities, the rate of gun
>deaths – a statistic that accounts for the nation’s growing population
>– remains below the levels of earlier years.
How many of these murders were gang and drug related?
wrote:
>More Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2020 than in any other
>year on record, according to recently published statistics from the
>Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That included a
>record number of gun murders, as well as a near-record number of gun
>suicides. Despite the increase in such fatalities, the rate of gun
>deaths – a statistic that accounts for the nation’s growing population
>– remains below the levels of earlier years.
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