Gun Violence Statistics and Studies

FIREARM FACTS

Guns in the United States - Easy Access to Deadly Weapons

• Currently, an estimated 34.5% of households have a gun ¹, while 24% have a handgun.²
  
  
• As of 2004, there were approximately 283 million privately owned firearms in the U.S -- 40 percent of them handguns.³
  
  
• In 1998 alone, licensed firearms dealers sold an estimated 4.4 million guns, 1.7 million of which were handguns.⁴ Additionally, it is estimated that 1 to 3 million guns change hands in the secondary market each year, and many of these sales are not regulated.⁵
  
  

Gun Deaths and Injury - The United States Leads the World in Firearm Violence

• In 2005, 30,694 people in the United States died from firearm-related deaths – 12,352 were murdered; 17,002 killed themselves; 789 were accidents; 330 died by police intervention, and in 221, the intent was unknown. ⁶ In comparison, 33,651 Americans were killed in the Korean War and 58,193 Americans were killed in the Vietnam War.⁷
  
  
• An additional 71,417 people were shot and survived their injuries -- 52,748 people injured in an attack; 3,190 people injured in a suicide attempt; 14,678 people shot accidentally, and 801 people shot in a police intervention.⁸
  
  
• In 2004, firearms were used to murder 56 people in Australia, 184 people in Canada, 73 people in England and Wales, 5 people in New Zealand, and 37 people in Sweden.⁹ In comparison, firearms were used to murder 11,344 in the United States.¹⁰
  
  
• In 2006, there were only 154 justifiable homicides by private citizens using handguns in the United States.¹¹
  
  

Gun Violence - Young Lives Cut Short

• In 2005, nearly 8 children and teenagers, ages 19 and under, were killed with guns everyday.¹²
  
  
• In 2005, firearm homicide was the second leading cause of injury death for men and women 10-24 years of age - second only to motor vehicle crashes.¹³
  
  
• In 2005, firearm homicide was the leading cause of death for black males ages 15-34.¹⁴
  
  
• From 1999 through 2005, an average of over 1,000 children and teenagers took their own lives with guns each year.¹⁵
  
  
• Each year during 1993 through 1997, an average of 1,621 murderers who had not reached their 18th birthdays took someone's life with a gun.¹⁶
  
  

Guns in the Home - A Greater Risk to Family and Friends

• For every time a gun is used in a home in a legally-justifiable shooting [note that every self-defense is legally justifiable] there are 22 criminal, unintentional, and suicide-related shootings.¹⁷
  
  
• The presence of a gun in the home triples the risk of homicide in the home.¹⁸
  
  
• The presence of a gun in the home increases the risk of suicide fivefold.¹⁹
  
  

The Economic Costs of Gun Violence - All Americans Pay a High Price

• A study of all direct and indirect costs of gun violence including medical, lost wages, and security costs estimates that gun violence costs the nation $100 billion a year.²⁰
  
  
• The average total cost of one gun crime can be as high as $1.79 million, including medical treatment and the prosecution and imprisonment of the shooter.²¹
  
  
• At least 80 percent of the economic costs of treating firearm injuries are paid for by taxpayer dollars.^22,23

April 2008

Endnotes:

1.    National Opinion Research Center, The University of Chicago, Public Attitudes towards the Regulation of Firearms, 1, March 2007 (hereafter Public Attitudes).
2.    Public Attitudes, Figure 2; Violence Policy Center, A Shrinking Minority: The Continuing Decline of Gun Ownership in America, 2, April 2007 (citing Public Attitudes, additional data from NORC).
3.   L Hepburn, M Miller, D Hemenway, “The U. S. Gun Stock: Results from the 2004 National Firearms Survey,” Injury Prevention 13 (2007): 15-19 .
4.    Cook PJ, Ludwig J. Guns in America: Results of a comprehensive national survey on firearms ownership and use. Police Foundation. Washington DC. 1996.
5.    US Department of the Treasury. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Commerce in Firearms in the United States, February 2000.
http://www.atf.gov/pub/fire-explo_pub/020400report.pdf
6.    WISQARS, Injury Mortality Reports, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control, 2005 data, http://webapp.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html (hereafter Injury Mortality Reports).
7.    Combat Area Casualty Figures. Center for Electronic Records. National Archives.
8.    WISQARS, Nonfatal Injury Reports, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control, 2006 data,  http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/nfirates2001.html.
9.    Crime in England and Wales 2004/2005, Canadian Crime Statistics, Australian Crime – Facts & Figures 2004, The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention – Criminal Statistics 2004, Statistics New Zealand.
10.    WISQARS, Injury Mortality Reports.
11.    FBI Uniform Crime Report, 2005, Expanded Homicide Table 14, http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/offenses/expanded_information/murder_homicide.html.
12.    WISQARS, Injury Mortality Reports, 2005.
13.    WISQARS, Leading Causes of Death Reports, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control, 2005 data, http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/leadcaus10.html.
14.    Ibid.
15.    WISQARS, Injury Mortality Reports, 2005.
16.    Supplemental Homicide Data provided to the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
17.    Kellermann AL, Somes G, Rivara FP, et al. "Injuries and deaths due to firearms in the home." The Journal of Trauma. 1998;45:263-267.
18.    Kellermann, AL, Rivara, FP, Rushforth NB, et al. "Gun ownership as a risk factor for homicide in the home." N Engl J Med. 1993;329:1084-1091.
19.    Kellermann, AL Rivara FP, Somes G, et al. "Suicide in the home in relation to gun ownership." N Engl J Med. 1992;327:467-472.
20.    Cook PJ, Ludwig J. Gun Violence: The Real Costs. New York, NY. Oxford University Press; 2000.
21.    Lengel A. "The price of urban violence." The Washington Post. December 28, 1997;B1.
22.    Rice M. "Shooting in the dark: estimating the cost of firearm injuries." Health Affairs. 1993;12:171-185.
23.    Wintemute GJ, Wright MA. "Initial and subsequent hospital costs of firearm injuries." The Journal of Trauma. 1992;34:556-560.