GUN VIOLENCE FACT SHEET

​Children & Guns in AMERICA 


​Each day approximately 7 children and young adults (under the age of 19) die from gun violence. This is equivalent to one child dying every three hours and 18 minutes. (1)
 

In 2013, 2465 children & teens (under 20 years) died from gun violence in the United States (2):
  • 1,410 were homicidal shootings
  • 877 committed suicide
  • 124 were accidental shootings
  • 34 shootings were undetermined
  • 20 shootings were legal intervention
 

In 2013, of the 2465 gun related deaths in the United States (4):
  • 995 (40%) were Black children
  • 992 (40%) were White children
  • 403 (16%) were Hispanic children
  • 33 (1.3%) were American Indian/Alaska Native children
  • 42 (1.7%) were Asian/Pacific Islander children
 

In 2013, 15,045 children and teenagers (under 20 years) were injured due to guns in the United States (1):
  • 1 child/teenager every 35 minutes
  • 41 children/teenagers each day
  • 289 children/teenagers each week
 
 
Did you know?
  • In comparison with other industrialized countries, the U.S. has 11 times more firearm related deaths of children (under 14 years old)! (8)
  • More than 22 million kids live in households with loaded and unlocked firearms in the United States. (6)
  • Over 75% of guns used by children in suicide attempts or unintentional injuries are stored at their own residence, or a relatives or friends. (3)
  • Children as young as three years old are strong enough to fire handguns. 90% of 7 to 8 years old, 70% of 5 to 6 year olds, and 25% of 3 to 4 years olds are strong enough


to pull the trigger on a handgun (6). Violent images lead to the increase of aggressive behavior (7)
  • Video games based on violent behavior increase aggression and rude behavior (7)
  • Majority of gun related deaths occur in boys, in comparison to girls. (6)
  • Older teenagers have a higher risk of dying from gun related violence. (6)

​References:
http://www.childrensdefense.org/library/data/2014-gun-report-fact-sheet.pdf
http://www.ichv.org/gun-facts/kids-and-gun-violence/
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus13.pdf
http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_us.html
http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/cirp-gun-safety
http://www.childrenssafetynetwork.org/infographics/firearms-child-access-infographic
http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Robert_Morrison4/publication/273447989_Emotionally_anesthetized_Media_violence_induces_neural_chang es_during_emotional_face_processing/links/5547a7cf0cf2b0cf7ace762f.pdf
http://www.bradycampaign.org/about-gun-violence
 

Toddlers & Guns in AMERICA 
  • Of the 2465 children who died because of gun violence in 2013, 70 of them were between the ages of 0 and 4 years old (4).
  • In 2013, more preschoolers (total: 70) died from gun violence than law enforcement officers (total: 33) (2)
 
Sources:
http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_us.html
http://www.nleomf.org/assets/pdfs/reports/2013-End-of-Year-Preliminary-Report.pdf
 


Gun Violence in the United States 

EVERY YEAR in America more than 110,000 people are shot with a gun; these are homicides, suicides, assaults, or accidents. (1)
 
In 2020, 45,222 Americans died from gun violence. Of these (2):
  • 24,292 people committed suicide with a gun
  • 19,384 people were murdered with a gun
  • 1,546 people died by a gun, by accident, by police or intention unknown
This means on average; EVERY DAY, 124 people died from gun violence in 2020 or1 firearm every 10 minutes. (2)
 

Did you know?  Regions with higher rates of gun ownership have higher rates of homicide in comparison to those with lower rates. (3)
  • There are more gun-related homicides in areas where guns are more prevalent. (3)
  • Throughout the Vietnam War (8 years), about 58,000 American soldiers were killed. The number of lives lost was less than the number of people killed with guns in the U.S. over a two year period of time (5). Since 1968, more Americans have died from gunfire than died in all the wars of this country’s history

·    Approximately 4,400 American soldiers were killed throughout the first seven years of the U.S.-Iraq War. This is the approximate number of people killed in the U.S. every seven weeks due to gun violence. (6)
 
 
References:

(1)       http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/nfirates2001.html
(2)       http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_us.html
(3)      http://crimepreventionresearchcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Firearm-Ownership-and-Violent-Crime.pdf
(4)      http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf
(5)      U.S. Department of Defense, Statistical Information Analysis Division, Personnel & Military Casualty Statistics, U.S. Military Casualties in Southeast
Asia: Vietnam Conflict – Casualty Summary As of May 16, 2008, at  http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/vietnam.pdf  (last visited Feb. 10,
2012); WISQARS Injury Mortality Reports, 1999-2010, supra note 1.
(6)U.S. Department of Defense, Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) U.S. Casualty Status, Fatalities as of: March 12, 2012, 10 a.m. EST , at http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf (last visited Feb. 10, 2012); WISQARS Injury Mortality Reports, 1999-2010, supra note 1.
 
 
Gun Violence in Comparison with other Countries
 
In 2011, the number of gun homicides were (1):
·    5 in Norway
·    18 in Sweden
·    38 in the United Kingdom
·    40 in Australia
·    11,208 in the United States
 

Gun Ownership: As of 2022, there are more than 400 Million privately owned firearms in the US; 40% of these are handguns (2)
                           There are more guns in America than people.

Guns at Home: The guns kept at home supposedly for protection, put family, and friends at a higher risk of being shot, either in homicide, suicide, or accidentally. (3)
1. The risk of homicide in these homes is three times higher in homes with guns than those without guns. (3)
2. The risk of suicide is five times greater in households with a gun. (3)
 

​Economic Cost of Gun Violence: Gun violence, directly and indirectly, costs the U.S. 229
Billion Dollars annually. (4)
 
References:
http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/compare/192/number_of_ gun_homicides/194,10,135,137
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/06/04/a-minority-of-americans-own-guns-but-just-how-many-is-unclear/
https://www.apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statements/policy-database/2014/07/29/14/37/handgun-injury-reduction
http://smartgunlaws.org/costs-of-gun-violence-statistics/

Gun Violence

​“We lose eight children and teenagers to gun violence every day. If a mysterious virus suddenly started killing eight of our children every day, America would mobilize teams of doctors and public health officials. We would move heaven and earth until we found a way to protect our children. But not with gun violence.”
― Elizabeth Warren, A Fighting Chance