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{{Short description|Phenomenon of gun violence in the United States}}
] in 1901; McKinley died eight days later from his wounds.]]
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2020}}
] in the United States results in tens of thousands of deaths and injuries annually.<ref name="NAS-exec"/> In 2013, there were 73,505 nonfatal firearm injuries (23.2 injuries per 100,000 U.S. citizens),<ref name="GQ Magazine">{{cite news|url=http://www.nap.edu/catalog/18319/priorities-for-research-to-reduce-the-threat-of-firearm-related-violence|title=Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence|date=2013|publisher=The National Academies Press|last1=|first1=|accessdate=28 June 2016}}</ref><ref></ref> and 33,636 deaths due to "injury by firearms" (10.6 deaths per 100,000 U.S. citizens).<ref name="cdc.gov">http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_02.pdf Page 84, Table 18 (accessed July 31, 2016)</ref> These deaths consisted of 11,208 homicides,<ref>FastStats: Mortality - All firearm deaths. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/homicide.htm (accessed July 27, 2015).</ref> 21,175 suicides,<ref name="cdc.gov" /> 505 deaths due to accidental or negligent discharge of a firearm, and 281 deaths due to firearms use with "undetermined intent".<ref name="cdc.gov" /> Of the 2,596,993 total deaths in the US in 2013, 1.3% were related to firearms.<ref name="NAS-exec"/><ref>http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_02.pdf Page 5 (accessed July 31, 2016)</ref> The ownership and control of guns are among the most widely debated issues in the country.
]) data |publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |access-date=August 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180829034947/https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/firearms/data-details/ |archive-date=August 29, 2018 |date=December 2017 |url-status=live }} ().
<br />● ''2017 data:'' {{cite news |last1=Howard |first1=Jacqueline |title=Gun deaths in US reach highest level in nearly 40 years, CDC data reveal |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/13/health/gun-deaths-highest-40-years-cdc/ |work=CNN |date=December 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213200738/https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/13/health/gun-deaths-highest-40-years-cdc/ |archive-date=December 13, 2018 |url-status=live }} (2017 CDC data)
<br />● ''2018 data:'' {{cite web |title=New CDC Data Show 39,740 People Died by Gun Violence in 2018 |url=https://efsgv.org/press-archive/2020/new-cdc-data-show-39740-people-died-by-gun-violence-in-2018/ |website=efsgv.org |date=January 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216032433/https://efsgv.org/press-archive/2020/new-cdc-data-show-39740-people-died-by-gun-violence-in-2018/ |archive-date=February 16, 2020 |url-status=live }} (2018 CDC data)
<br />● ''2019-2023 data:'' {{cite web |title=Past Summary Ledgers |url=https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/past-tolls |publisher=Gun Violence Archive |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105214732/https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/past-tolls |archive-date=5 January 2024 |date=January 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>
]]
]
] is a term of political, economic and sociological interest referring to the tens of thousands of annual firearms-related deaths and injuries occurring in the United States.<ref name="NAS-exec" />

In 2016, a U.S. male aged 15–24 was 70 times more likely to be killed with a gun than a French male or British male.<ref name="Forbes" />


In 2022, up to 100 daily fatalities and hundreds of daily injuries were attributable to '''gun violence in the United States'''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lancet |first=The |date=2022-06-04 |title=Gun violence in the USA: children's right to health |journal=The Lancet |language=English |volume=399 |issue=10341 |pages=2075 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01006-6 |issn=0140-6736 |pmid=35658980|s2cid=249321241 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In 2018, the most recent year for which data are available, the ]'s (CDC) ] reported 38,390 deaths by firearm, of which 24,432 were ]s.<ref> (PDF). Injury Prevention & Control, ].</ref><ref> (PDF). Violence Prevention Research Program,
In 2010, 67% of all ] in the U.S. were committed using a firearm.<ref> UNODC. Retrieved: 28 July 2012.</ref> In 2012, there were 8,855 total firearm-related homicides in the US, with 6,371 of those attributed to handguns.<ref name="fbi01">{{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-the-u.s.-2014/tables/expanded-homicide-data/expanded_homicide_data_table_8_murder_victims_by_weapon_2010-2014.xls|title=Expanded Homicide Data Table 8|work=FBI.gov|accessdate=13 June 2016}}</ref> In 2012, 64% of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wintemute|first1=Garen J.|authorlink=Garen Wintemute|title=The Epidemiology of Firearm Violence in the Twenty-First Century United States|journal=]|publisher=]|date=18 March 2015|volume=36|issue=1|pages=5–19|doi=10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122535}}</ref> In 2010, there were 19,392 firearm-related suicides, and 11,078 firearm-related homicides in the U.S.<ref name="National Vital Statistics System">{{cite web|year=2010|title=10 Leading Causes of Injury Death by Age Group Highlighting Violence-Related Injury Deaths, United States|url=http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/10LCID_Violence_Related_Injury_Deaths_2010-a.pdf|work=National Vital Statistics System|publisher=], ]}}</ref> In 2010, 358 murders were reported involving a ] while 6,009 were reported involving a ]; another 1,939 were reported with an unspecified type of firearm.<ref name="Fbi.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/10shrtbl08.xls |title=FBI — Expanded Homicide Data Table 8 |publisher=Fbi.gov |date=2011-07-25 |accessdate=2014-01-16}}</ref>
University of California Davis. June 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.</ref> The national rate of firearm deaths rose from 10.3 people for every 100,000 in 1999 to 11.9 people per 100,000 in 2018, equating to over 109 daily deaths (or about 14,542 annual homicides).<ref>Steinbrook R, Stern RJ, Redberg RF. Firearm injuries and gun violence: callfor papers.JAMA Intern Med. 2016;176(5):596–597</ref><ref name="auto2">{{cite journal| url=https://doi.org/10.1097/TA.0000000000002689| doi=10.1097/TA.0000000000002689| title=Universal background checks for handgun purchases can reduce homicide rates of African Americans| year=2020| last1=Kaufman| first1=Elinore J.| last2=Morrison| first2=Christopher N.| last3=Olson| first3=Erik J.| last4=Humphreys| first4=David K.| last5=Wiebe| first5=Douglas J.| last6=Martin| first6=Niels D.| last7=Sims| first7=Carrie A.| last8=Hoofnagle| first8=Mark H.| last9=Schwab| first9=C. William| last10=Reilly| first10=Patrick M.| last11=Seamon| first11=Mark J.| journal=Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery| volume=88| issue=6| pages=825–831| pmid=32459448| s2cid=216479388}}</ref><ref name="CNN 2018">{{cite news |title=Gun deaths in US reach highest level in nearly 40 years, CDC data reveal |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/13/health/gun-deaths-highest-40-years-cdc/index.html |access-date=August 10, 2019 |agency=CNN}}</ref><ref>. State Health Facts, ].</ref> In 2010, there were 19,392 firearm-related suicides, and 11,078 firearm-related homicides in the U.S.<ref name="National Vital Statistics System">{{cite web|year=2010|title=10 Leading Causes of Injury Death by Age Group Highlighting Violence-Related Injury Deaths, United States|url=https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/10LCID_Violence_Related_Injury_Deaths_2010-a.pdf|website=National Vital Statistics System|publisher=], ]}}</ref> In 2010, 358 murders were reported involving a rifle while 6,009 were reported involving a handgun; another 1,939 were reported with an unspecified type of firearm.<ref name="Fbi.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/10shrtbl08.xls |title=FBI — Expanded Homicide Data Table 8 |publisher=Fbi.gov |date=July 25, 2011 |access-date=January 16, 2014}}</ref> In 2011, a total of 478,400 fatal and nonfatal violent crimes were committed with a firearm.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Firearm Violence, 1993-2011|url=https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/firearm-violence-1993-2011|access-date=2021-12-17|website=Bureau of Justice Statistics|language=en|quote=In 2011, a total of 478,400 fatal and nonfatal violent crimes were committed with a firearm (table 1). Homicides made up about 2% of all firearm-related crimes.}}</ref>


According to a ] report, gun deaths among America's children rose 50% from 2019 to 2021.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.axios.com/2023/04/10/gun-deaths-among-children-are-soaring |title=Gun deaths among children are soaring |publisher=Axios |access-date=10 April 2023}}</ref>
Firearms were used to kill 13,286 people in the U.S. in 2015, excluding suicide.<ref name="BBC">"". BBC News. 5 January 2016.</ref> Approximately 1.4 million people have been killed using firearms in the U.S. between 1968 and 2011, equivalent to a ], falling between the populations of San Antonio and Dallas, Texas.<ref name="BBC"/>


Firearms are overwhelmingly used in more defensive scenarios (self-defense and home protection) than offensive scenarios in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sullum |first=Jacob |date=2022-09-09 |title=The largest-ever survey of American gun owners finds that defensive use of firearms is common |url=https://reason.com/2022/09/09/the-largest-ever-survey-of-american-gun-owners-finds-that-defensive-use-of-firearms-is-common/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Reason.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-17 |title=Firearm Homicide Trends {{!}}Violence Prevention{{!}}Injury Center{{!}}CDC |url=https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/firearms/firearm-homicide-trends.html |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=www.cdc.gov |language=en-us}}</ref> In 2021, The National Firearms Survey, currently the nation's largest and most comprehensive study into American firearm ownership, found that privately owned firearms are used in roughly 1.7 million defensive usage cases (self-defense from an attacker/attackers inside and outside the home) per year across the nation, compared to the ] (C.D.C.) report of 20,958 homicides in that same year.<ref>{{Cite web |last=English |first=William |date=May 18, 2022 |title=2021 National Firearms Survey: Updated Analysis Including Types of Firearms Owned |doi=10.2139/ssrn.4109494 |ssrn=4109494 |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4109494}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gramlich |first=John |title=What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/26/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Pew Research Center |date=April 26, 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-08 |title=Largest-Ever Survey of Gun Owners Finds Diversity Increasing, Carrying Common, and More Than 1.6 Million Defensive Uses Per Year |url=https://thereload.com/largest-ever-survey-of-gun-owners-finds-diversity-increasing-carrying-common-and-more-than-1-6-million-defensive-uses-per-year/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=The Reload |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2010, gun violence cost U.S. taxpayers approximately $516 million in direct hospital costs.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Howell|first1=Embry M.|title=The Hospital Costs of Firearm Assaults | url=http://www.urban.org/research/publication/hospital-costs-firearm-assaults/view/full_report|accessdate=12 September 2015|agency=Urban Institute|date=September 13, 2013}}</ref>


Legislation at the ], state, and local levels has attempted to address gun violence through methods including restricting firearms purchases by youths and other "at-risk" populations, setting waiting periods for firearm purchases, establishing ]s, law enforcement and policing strategies, stiff sentencing of gun law violators, education programs for parents and children, and community outreach programs.
Gun violence is most common in poor urban areas and frequently associated with ], often involving male juveniles or young adult males.<ref name="Bjerregaard">{{cite journal|author=Bjerregaard, Beth, Alan J. Lizotte|year=1995|title=Gun Ownership and Gang Membership|journal=]|volume=86 |issue=1 |pages=37–58|id={{NCJ|162688}}|doi=10.2307/1143999|publisher=The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1973-), Vol. 86, No. 1|jstor=1143999}}</ref><ref name="wright">{{cite journal|author=Wright, James D., Joseph F. Sheley, and M. Dwayne Smith|year=1993 |title=Kids, Guns, and Killing Fields|journal=]|volume=30 |issue=1|id={{NCJ|140211}}}}</ref> Although mass shootings have been covered extensively in the media, mass shootings account for a small fraction of gun-related deaths<ref name="cdc001">{{cite book|title=Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence|publisher=The National Academies Press|isbn=978-0-309-28438-7}}</ref> and the frequency of these events steadily declined between 1994 and 2007, rising between 2007 and 2013.<ref name=2013MassShootingssince1990s>{{cite news|last=Duwe|first=Grant|title=Seven Mass Shootings in 2012 Most since 1999|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-313884483.html|accessdate=29 May 2014|newspaper=The Washington Times (Washington, DC)|date=January 4, 2013}}</ref><ref name="highbeam.com"></ref>


Some medical professionals express concern regarding the prevalence and growth of gun violence in America, even comparing gun violence in the United States to a disease or epidemic.<ref>{{Cite web|title=U.S. doctors warn gun violence across the U.S. is like a disease|url=https://edition.cnn.com/videos/us/2023/06/05/exp-gun-violence-campbell-pkg--fst-060508aseg2--cnni-us.cnn|access-date=2023-06-14|website=edition.cnn.com|date=June 5, 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref> Relatedly, recent polling suggests up to 26% of Americans believe guns are the number one national public health threat.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Gun violence is top public health concern for quarter of Americans – poll|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/18/gun-violence-poll-public-health-threat|access-date=2023-06-14|newspaper=The Guardian|date=May 18, 2023 |language=en-US |last1=Oladipo |first1=Gloria }}</ref>
Legislation at the ], state, and local levels has attempted to address gun violence through a variety of methods, including restricting firearms purchases by youths and other "at-risk" populations, setting waiting periods for firearm purchases, establishing ]s, law enforcement and policing strategies, stiff sentencing of gun law violators, education programs for parents and children, and community-outreach programs. Despite widespread concern about the impacts of gun violence on public health, Congress has prohibited the ] (CDC) from conducting research that advocates in favor of gun control.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Zwillich|first1=Todd|title=Quietly, Congress extends a ban on CDC research on gun violence|url=http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-07-02/quietly-congress-extends-ban-cdc-research-gun-violence|accessdate=12 September 2015|agency=Public Radio International (PRI)}}</ref> The CDC has interpreted this ban to extend to all research on gun violence prevention, and so has not funded any research on this subject since 1996.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rubin|first1=Rita|title=Tale of 2 Agencies: CDC Avoids Gun Violence Research But NIH Funds It|journal=JAMA|date=26 April 2016|volume=315|issue=16|pages=1689|doi=10.1001/jama.2016.1707}}</ref>


==Gun ownership== ==Gun ownership==
{{see also|Gun culture in the United States}}
The ] in 2009 estimated there were 310 million firearms in the U.S., not including weapons owned by the military. Of these, 114 million were handguns, 110 million were rifles, and 86 million were shotguns.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/18/15977143-gun-control-offers-no-cure-all-in-america?lite |title=Gun control offers no cure-all in America - NBC Politics |publisher=Nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com |date=2012-10-24 |accessdate=2013-01-10}}</ref> In that same year, the Census bureau stated the population of people in the U.S. at 306 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb08-191.html |title=Census Bureau Projects U.S. Population of 305.5 Million on New Year's Day |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |accessdate=2013-01-10}}</ref>
]


]
Accurate figures for civilian gun ownership are difficult to determine.<ref name=conundrum>https://blogs.wsj.com/numbers/guns-present-polling-conundrum-1223/</ref> While the number of guns in civilian hands has been on the increase, the percentage of Americans and American households who claim to own guns has been in long-term decline, according to the ]. It found that gun ownership by households has declined steadily from about half, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, down to 32% in 2015. The percentage of individual owners declined from 31% in 1985 to 22% in 2014.<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/news/number-of-households-with-guns-on-the-decline-study-shows/</ref> However, the Gallup organization has been performing similar polls for the same interval, and finds that household ownership of firearms was approximately the same in 2013 as it was in 1970 - 43%, and individual ownership numbers rose from 27% in 2000, to 29% in 2013.<ref name=conundrum/> Pew found that fewer Americans are dying as a result of gun violence: In 1993, there were seven homicides using firearms for every 100,000; by 2013, that figure had fallen to 3.6.<ref>Max Ehrenfreund: - Wonk blog, December 3, 2015</ref>
]


The ] in 2009 estimated that among US population of 306 million people, there were 310 million firearms in the U.S., not including military armaments. Of these, 114 million were handguns, 110 million were rifles, and 86 million were shotguns.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/18/15977143-gun-control-offers-no-cure-all-in-america |title=Gun control offers no cure-all in America | work=nbcnews.com |date=October 24, 2012 |access-date=January 10, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb08-191.html |title= Census Bureau Projects U.S. Population of 305.5 Million on New Year's Day |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=January 10, 2013}}</ref>
What the Pew research does not account for though, is that household firearms ownership hit a high again in the 1993-1994 timeframe where household gun ownership exceeded 50% according to Gallup polls. The Gallup polls further show that household firearm ownership currently exceeds 40% and that the long-term trend is a sharp decline in polling for stricter gun control laws. Lastly, Gallup polling has consistently been over 65% against, when asking whether there should be bans on possession of handguns.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/1645/guns.aspx |title=Guns Gallup Historical Trends |publisher=www.gallup.com |date=Jan 6-10, 2016 |accessdate=}}</ref>
Accurate figures for civilian gun ownership are difficult to determine.<ref name= conundrum>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/numbers/guns-present-polling-conundrum-1223/|title=Guns Present Polling Conundrum|last=Bialik|first=Carl|date=March 23, 2013|website=WSJ|language=en-US|access-date=September 2, 2019}}</ref> The percentage of Americans and American households who claim to own guns has been in long-term decline, according to the ] poll. It found that gun ownership by households may have declined from about half, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, down to 32% in 2015. The percentage of individual owners may have declined from 31% in 1985 to 22% in 2014.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.cbsnews.com/news/number-of-households-with-guns-on-the-decline-study-shows/|title=Number of households with guns on the decline, study shows| website= CBSNEWS.com|date=March 10, 2015 }}</ref>


Gun ownership figures are generally estimated via polling, by such organizations as the ] (GSS), ], and ]. There are significant disparities in the results across polls by different organizations, calling into question their reliability.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/numbers/guns-present-polling-conundrum-1223/?mg=blogs-wsj&url=http%253A%252F%252Fblogs.wsj.com%252Fnumbersguy%252Fguns-present-polling-conundrum-1223%252F|title=Guns Present Polling Conundrum|last=Bialik|first=Carl|work=The Wall Street Journal|accessdate=21 June 2014}}</ref> In Gallup's 1972 survey, 43% reported having a gun in their home, while GSS's 1973 survey resulted in 49% reporting a gun in the home; in 1993, Gallup's poll results were 51%, while GSS's 1994 poll showed 43%.<ref name=Pew>{{cite web|url=http://www.people-press.org/2013/03/12/section-3-gun-ownership-trends-and-demographics/|title=Why Own a Gun? Protection Is Now Top Reason|publisher=Pew ResearchCenter for the People & the Press|accessdate=21 June 2014}}</ref> In 2012, Gallup's survey showed 47% of Americans reporting having a gun in their home,<ref name=Gallup>{{cite web |title=Self Reported gun ownership highest since 1993|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/150353/Self-Reported-Gun-Ownership-Highest-1993.aspx|accessdate=2014-06-21}}</ref> while the GSS in 2012 reports 34%.<ref name=Pew /> Gun ownership figures are generally estimated via polling, by such organizations as the ] (GSS), ], and ]. There are significant disparities in the results across polls by different organizations, calling into question their reliability.<ref>{{cite news| url= https://blogs.wsj.com/numbers/guns-present-polling-conundrum-1223/| title= Guns Present Polling Conundrum |last= Bialik|first=Carl|work=]|access-date=June 21, 2014}}</ref> In Gallup's 1972 survey, 43% reported having a gun in their home. GSS's 1973 survey resulted in 49% reporting a gun in the home. In 1993, Gallup's poll results were 51%. GSS's 1994 poll showed 43%.<ref name=Pew>{{cite web| url=http://www.people-press.org/2013/03/12/section-3-gun-ownership-trends-and-demographics/ |title=Why Own a Gun? Protection Is Now Top Reason| website= people-press.org |publisher=Pew Research Center for the People & the Press| access-date=June 21, 2014|date=March 12, 2013}}</ref> In 2012, Gallup's survey showed 47% of Americans reporting having a gun in their home,<ref name=Gallup>{{cite web |title=Self Reported gun ownership highest since 1993|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/150353/Self-Reported-Gun-Ownership-Highest-1993.aspx | work = Gallup.com |date=October 26, 2011 |access-date=June 21, 2014}}</ref> while the GSS in 2012 reports 34%.<ref name=Pew /> In 2018 it was estimated that ],<ref> Estimating Global CivilianHELD Firearms Numbers. Aaron Karp. June 2018</ref> and that 40% to 42% of the households in the country have at least one gun. However, record gun sales followed in the subsequent years.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schaeffer |first1=Kathleen |title=Key facts about Americans and guns |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/13/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns/ |website=Pew Research Center |publisher=Pew Research |access-date=14 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author1=Desilver, Drew|title=A Minority of Americans Own Guns, But Just How Many Is Unclear|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/06/04/a-minority-of-americans-own-guns-but-just-how-many-is-unclear/|website=Pew Research Center|access-date=October 25, 2015|date=June 4, 2013}}</ref><ref>, Gallup. Retrieved October 25, 2015.</ref>


In 1997, estimates were approximately 44 million gun owners in the United States. These owners possessed approximately 192 million firearms, of which an estimated 65 million were handguns.<ref name=Cook-Ludwig1997>{{cite web |last=Cook |first=Philip J. |last2=Ludwig |first2=Jens |date=May 1997 |title=Guns in America: National survey on private ownership and use of firearms |url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/165476.pdf |publisher=National Institute of Justice }}</ref> A National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms (NSPOF), conducted in 1994, indicated that Americans owned 192 million guns: 36% rifles, 34% handguns, 26% shotguns, and 4% other types of long guns.<ref name=Cook-Ludwig1997 /> Most firearm owners owned multiple firearms, with the NSPOF survey indicating 25% of adults owned firearms.<ref name=Cook-Ludwig1997 /> In the U.S., 11% of households reported actively being involved in ],{{Citation needed|date=June 2014}} with the remaining firearm owners having guns for self-protection and other reasons. Throughout the 1970s and much of the 1980s, the rate of gun ownership in the home ranged from 45-50%.<ref name="Pew"/> Rapid increases in gun purchases characterized by exceptionally large crowds accruing at gun vendors and gun shows is consistently observed due to the possibility of increased gun control following highly publicized mass murders.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lach|first=Eric|title=A History of the Rifle used in the Sandy Hook Massacre|url=http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/12/bushmaster_ar15_sandy_hook_adam_lanza.php|publisher=TPM|accessdate=11 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Isikoff|first=Michael|title=Authorities establish timeline of gun purchases in Connecticut school shooting|url=http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/18/15997539-authorities-establish-timeline-of-gun-purchases-in-connecticut-school-shooting?lite|publisher=NBC NEWS}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=McDaniel|first=Chris|title=Yuma gun show draws big crowd|url=http://www.yumasun.com/articles/gun-84364-murphy-rifles.html|publisher=YumaSun.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Gross|first=Daniel|title=This Gun Kills Kids -- and Reaps Profits|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/17/this-gun-kill-kids-and-reaps-profits.html|publisher=The Daily Beast}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Kopel|first=Dave|title=The AR-15 and the Second Amendment: No Respoect|url=http://www.nrapublications.org/index.php/12717/the-ar-15-and-the-second-amendment-no-respect/|publisher=NRA}}</ref> In 1997, estimates were about 44 million gun owners in the United States. These owners possessed around 192 million firearms, of which an estimated 65 million were handguns.<ref name= Cook-Ludwig1997>{{cite web |last1=Cook |first1=Philip J. |last2=Ludwig |first2=Jens |date=May 1997 |title=Guns in America: National survey on private ownership and use of firearms |url= http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/165476.pdf |publisher=National Institute of Justice }}</ref> A National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms (NSPOF), conducted in 1994, estimated that Americans owned 192 million guns: 36% rifles, 34% handguns, 26% shotguns, and 4% other types of long guns.<ref name= Cook-Ludwig1997 /> Most firearm owners owned multiple firearms, with the NSPOF survey indicating 25% of adults owned firearms.<ref name=Cook-Ludwig1997 /> Throughout the 1970s and much of the 1980s, the estimated rate of gun ownership in the home ranged from 45 to 50%.<ref name="Pew" /> After highly publicized mass murders, it is consistently observed that there are rapid increases in gun purchases and large crowds at gun vendors and gun shows, due to fears of increased gun control .<ref>{{cite web| last= Lach| first= Eric| title=A History of the Rifle used in the Sandy Hook Massacre| work= talkingpointsmemo.com| url= http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/12/bushmaster_ar15_sandy_hook_adam_lanza.php|publisher=TPM|access-date=February 11, 2013|date=December 20, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last= Isikoff| first=Michael|title=Authorities establish timeline of gun purchases in Connecticut school shooting| url= http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/18/15997539-authorities-establish-timeline-of-gun-purchases-in-connecticut-school-shooting |publisher= NBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=McDaniel|first=Chris|title=Yuma gun show draws big crowd|url=http://www.yumasun.com/articles/gun-84364-murphy-rifles.html|work=YumaSun.com|access-date=February 11, 2013|archive-date=September 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053346/http://www.yumasun.com/articles/gun-84364-murphy-rifles.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| last=Gross|first=Daniel|title=This Gun Kills Kids and Reaps Profits| url= http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/17/this-gun-kill-kids-and-reaps-profits.html|newspaper=]| date=December 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Kopel|first=Dave|title=The AR-15 and the Second Amendment: No Respect|url=http://www.nrapublications.org/index.php/12717/the-ar-15-and-the-second-amendment-no-respect/|publisher=National Rifle Association of America|access-date=February 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150117050755/http://www.nrapublications.org/index.php/12717/the-ar-15-and-the-second-amendment-no-respect/|archive-date=January 17, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>


Gun ownership also varied across geographic regions, ranging from 25% rates of ownership in the ] to 60% rates of ownership in the ].<ref name="azrael-2004">{{cite journal |title=State and Local Prevalence of Firearms Ownership Measurement, Structure, and Trends |author=Azrael, Deborah, Philip J. Cook, Matthew Miller |journal=] |year=2004 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=43–62 |id={{NCJ|205033}} |doi=10.1023/B:JOQC.0000016699.11995.c7}}</ref> A ] poll (2004) indicated that 49% of men reported gun ownership, compared to 33% of women, and 44% of whites owned a gun, compared to only 24% of nonwhites.<ref name="Gallup 2004">{{cite web|last=Carlson|first=Darren K.|title=Americans and Guns: Danger or Defense?|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/14509/americans-guns-danger-defense.aspx|work=2004 Poll report|publisher=Gallup|accessdate=23 December 2012}}</ref> More than half of those living in rural areas (56%) owned a gun, compared with 40% of suburbanites and 29% of those in urban areas.<ref name="Gallup 2004" /> More than half (53%) of Republicans owned guns, compared with 36% of political independents and 31% of Democrats.<ref name="Gallup 2004" /> One criticism of the GSS survey and other proxy measures of gun ownership, is that they do not provide adequate macro-level detail to allow conclusions on the relationship between overall firearm ownership and gun violence.<ref name="NAS-ch3"/> ] compared various survey and proxy measures and found no correlation between overall firearm ownership and gun violence.<ref name=Kleck-2004>{{cite journal|last=Kleck |first=Gary |year=2004 |title=Measures of Gun Ownership Levels of Macro-Level Crime and Violence Research |url=http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/Measures_of_Gun_Ownership_Levels_for_Macro-Level_Crime_and_Violence_Research.pdf |journal=Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency |publisher=Sage Publications |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=3–36 |doi=10.1177/0022427803256229 |id={{NCJ|203876}} |quote=Studies that attempt to link the gun ownership of individuals to their experiences as victims (e.g., Kellermann, et al. 1993) do not effectively determine how an individual's risk of victimization is affected by gun ownership by other people, especially those not living in the gun owner's own household. |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060920140145/http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/Measures_of_Gun_Ownership_Levels_for_Macro-Level_Crime_and_Violence_Research.pdf |archivedate=2006-09-20 |df= }}</ref><ref name=DOJ>{{cite journal|last=Travis|first=Jeremy|title=Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms.|journal=National Institute of Justice|date=May 1997|url=https://www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles/165476.txt}}</ref> In contrast, studies by ] and his colleagues, which used GSS data and the fraction of suicides committed with a gun as a proxy for gun ownership rates, found a strong positive association between gun ownership and homicide in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Matthew|last2=Azrael|first2=Deborah|last3=Hemenway|first3=David|title=Rates of Household Firearm Ownership and Homicide Across US Regions and States, 1988–1997|journal=]|date=December 2002|volume=92|issue=12|pages=1988–1993|doi=10.2105/AJPH.92.12.1988|pmid=12453821|pmc=1447364}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Matthew|last2=Hemenway|first2=David|last3=Azrael|first3=Deborah|title=State-level homicide victimization rates in the US in relation to survey measures of household firearm ownership, 2001–2003|journal=]|date=February 2007|volume=64|issue=3|pages=656–664|doi=10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.09.024}}</ref> Similarly, a 2006 study by ] and ], which also used the percent of suicides committed with a gun as a proxy, found that gun prevalence increased homicide rates. This study also found that the elasticity of this effect was between +0.1 and +0.3.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cook|first1=Philip J.|last2=Ludwig|first2=Jens|title=The social costs of gun ownership|journal=]|date=January 2006|volume=90|issue=1–2|pages=379–391|doi=10.1016/j.jpubeco.2005.02.003}}</ref> Gun ownership rates vary across geographic regions, ranging from 2004 estimates of 25% in the ] to 60% in the ].<ref name="azrael-2004">{{cite journal |title= State and Local Prevalence of Firearms Ownership Measurement, Structure, and Trends |author=Azrael, Deborah, Philip J. Cook, Matthew Miller |journal=] |year=2004 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=43–62 |id={{NCJ|205033}} |doi= 10.1023/B:JOQC.0000016699.11995.c7|url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w8570.pdf }}</ref> A 2004 ] poll estimated that 49% of men reported gun ownership, compared to 33% of women, while 44% of whites owned a gun, compared to 24% of nonwhites.<ref name="Gallup 2004">{{cite web |last= Carlson|first=Darren K.| title= Americans and Guns: Danger or Defense?|url= http://www.gallup.com/poll/14509/americans-guns-danger-defense.aspx | work= Gallup.com|date=January 4, 2005| access-date= December 23, 2012}}</ref> An estimated 56% of those living in rural areas owned a gun, compared to 40% of suburbanites and 29% of those in urban areas.<ref name="Gallup 2004" /> Approximately 53% of Republicans owned guns, compared to 36% of political independents and 31% of Democrats.<ref name="Gallup 2004" />


One criticism of the GSS survey and other proxy measures of gun ownership, is that they do not provide adequate macro-level detail to allow conclusions on the relationship between overall firearm ownership and gun violence.<ref name="NAS-ch3" /> ] compared various survey and proxy measures and found no correlation between overall firearm ownership and gun violence.<ref name=Kleck-2004>{{cite journal|last=Kleck |first=Gary |year=2004 |title=Measures of Gun Ownership Levels of Macro-Level Crime and Violence Research |url= http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/Measures_of_Gun_Ownership_Levels_for_Macro-Level_Crime_and_Violence_Research.pdf |journal=Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages= 3–36 |doi=10.1177/0022427803256229 |s2cid=145245290 |id={{NCJ|203876}} |quote=Studies that attempt to link the gun ownership of individuals to their experiences as victims (e.g., Kellermann, et al. 1993) do not effectively determine how an individual's risk of victimization is affected by gun ownership by other people, especially those not living in the gun owner's own household. |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060920140145/http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/Measures_of_Gun_Ownership_Levels_for_Macro-Level_Crime_and_Violence_Research.pdf |archive-date=September 20, 2006 }}</ref><ref name=DOJ>{{cite journal |last= |first=|title=Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms|journal=National Institute of Justice|date=May 1997 |url= https://www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles/165476.txt}}</ref> Studies by ] and his colleagues, which used GSS data and the fraction of suicides committed with a gun as a proxy for gun ownership rates, found a strong positive correlation between gun ownership and homicide in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Matthew|last2=Azrael|first2=Deborah|last3=Hemenway|first3=David|title=Rates of Household Firearm Ownership and Homicide Across US Regions and States, 1988–1997 |journal= ]|date=December 2002 |volume= 92| issue=12|pages=1988–1993| doi= 10.2105/AJPH.92.12.1988|pmid=12453821|pmc=1447364}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Matthew|last2=Hemenway|first2=David|last3=Azrael|first3=Deborah|title=State-level homicide victimization rates in the US in relation to survey measures of household firearm ownership, 2001–2003|journal=]|date=February 2007|volume=64|issue=3|pages=656–664|doi=10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.09.024|pmid=17070975}}</ref> A 2006 study by ] and ], also using the percentage of suicides committed with a gun as a proxy, found that gun prevalence correlated with increased homicide rates.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Cook |first1=Philip J.| last2= Ludwig |first2= Jens|title=The social costs of gun ownership|journal=]|date=January 2006| volume= 90|issue=1–2|pages=379–391 |doi=10.1016/j.jpubeco.2005.02.003|s2cid=16010314|url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w10736.pdf| via= nber.org}}</ref>
=== Self-protection ===
{{main article|Defensive gun use}}
The effectiveness and safety of guns used for personal defense is debated. Studies place the instances of guns used in personal defense as low as 65,000 times per year, and as high as 2.5 million times per year. Under President Clinton, the Department of Justice conducted a survey in 1994 that placed the usage rate of guns used in personal defense at 1.5 million times per year, but noted this was likely to be an overestimate.<ref name=DOJ/>


==Defensive gun violence==
Between 1987 and 1990, ] et al. found that guns were used in defense during a crime incident 64,615 times annually (258,460 times total over the whole period).<ref name="mcdowall">{{cite journal |title=The Incidence of Defensive Firearm Use by US Crime Victims, 1987 through 1990 |author=McDowall, David, Brian Wiersema |journal=] |year=1994 |volume=84 |pages=1982–1984 |pmid=7998641 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.84.12.1982 |issue=12 |pmc=1615397}}</ref> This equated to two times out of 1,000 criminal incidents (0.2%) that occurred in this period, including criminal incidents where no guns were involved at all.<ref name="mcdowall"/> For violent crimes, ], ], and ], guns were used 0.83% of the time in self-defense.<ref name="mcdowall"/> Of the times that guns were used in self-defense, 71% of the crimes were committed by strangers, with the rest of the incidents evenly divided between offenders that were acquaintances or persons well known to the victim.<ref name="mcdowall"/> In 28% of incidents where a gun was used for self-defense, victims fired the gun at the offender.<ref name="mcdowall"/> In 20% of the self-defense incidents, the guns were used by ]s.<ref name="mcdowall"/> During this same period, 1987 to 1990, there were 46,319 gun homicides,<ref>{{cite book |title=Uniform Crime Reports, 1987-1990 |publisher=]}}</ref> and the ] estimated that 2,628,532 nonfatal crimes involving guns occurred.<ref name="mcdowall"/>
{{Main|Defensive gun use}}
The effectiveness and safety of guns used for personal defense is debated. Studies place the instances of guns used in personal defense as low as 65,000 times per year, and as high as 2.5 million times per year. Under President ], the Department of Justice conducted a survey in 1994 that placed the usage rate of guns used in personal defense at 1.5 million times per year, based on an extrapolation from 45 survey respondents reporting using a firearm for self-defense, but noted this was likely to be an overestimate due to the low sample size.<ref name= DOJ /> A May 2014 ] survey of 150 firearms researchers found that only 8% of them agreed that 'In the United States, guns are used in self-defense far more often than they are used in crime'.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hemenway|first1=David|last2=Nolan|first2=Elizabeth P|date=2016-10-06|title=The scientific agreement on firearm issues|journal=Injury Prevention|volume=23|issue=4|pages=221–225|doi=10.1136/injuryprev-2016-042146|pmid=27758830|s2cid=19523541|issn=1353-8047|doi-access=free}}</ref>


] random-respondent national surveys were conducted in 1996 and 1999 to investigate the use of guns in self-defense. Survey participants were asked open-ended questions about defensive gun use incidents and detailed questions about both gun victimization and self-defense gun use. Self-reported defensive gun use incidents were then examined by five criminal court judges, who were asked to determine whether these self-defense gun uses were likely to be legal. The surveys found that far more respondents reported having been threatened or intimidated with a gun, than having used a gun to protect themselves, even after having excluded many of these responses; and, a majority of the reported self-defense gun uses were rated by a majority of judges as probably illegal. This was true even when it was assumed that the respondent had a permit to own and carry the gun, and that the event was described honestly. The conclusion being from this report that most self-described 'defensive' gun uses, are gun uses in escalating arguments, and are both socially undesirable and illegal.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last1=Avenue |first1=677 Huntington |last2=Boston |last3=Ma 02115 |date=2012-08-27 |title=Gun Threats and Self-Defense Gun Use |url=https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/firearms-research/gun-threats-and-self-defense-gun-use-2/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=Harvard Injury Control Research Center |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hemenway |first1=D. |last2=Azrael |first2=D. |last3=Miller |first3=M. |date=2000-12-01 |title=Gun use in the United States: results from two national surveys |journal=Injury Prevention |language=en |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=263–267 |doi=10.1136/ip.6.4.263 |issn=1353-8047 |pmid=11144624|pmc=1730664 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
McDowall's study for the '']'' contrasted with a 1995 study by ] and Gertz, who found that 2.45 million crimes were thwarted each year in the U.S. using guns, and in most cases, the potential victim never fired a shot.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kleck|first1=Gary|last2=Gertz|first2=Marc|title=Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense with a Gun|journal=]|date=Autumn 1995|volume=86|issue=1|pages=150|doi=10.2307/1144004}}</ref> The results of the Kleck studies have been cited many times in scholarly and popular media.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Firearms and the killing threshold (Letter) |author=Suter, E.A. |journal=] |year=1992 |volume=326 |page=1159 |pmid=1552925 |issue=17 | doi = 10.1056/NEJM199204233261712 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=The value of civilian handgun possession as a deterrent to crime or a defense against crime |author=Kates, D.B. |journal=] |year=1991 |volume=18 |pages=113–167 |id={{NCJ|132948}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Go ahead, make our day |publisher=] |date=February 22, 1988 |pages=7–9}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Do guns save lives? |publisher=] |date=August 12, 1988 |pages=25–26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Are we "a nation of cowards"? |publisher=] |date=November 15, 1993 |pages=93–94}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Hold your fire: gun control won't stop rising violence |author=Kopel, D.B. |publisher=Policy Review |year=1993 |volume=63 |pages=58–65 |id={{NCJ|153748}}}}</ref><ref name="medlit">{{cite web |url=http://teapot.usask.ca/cdn-firearms/Suter/med-lit.html |title=Guns in the Medical Literature - A Failure of Peer Review |author=Edgar A. Suter, MD}}</ref> The methodology of the Kleck and Gertz study has been criticized by some researchers.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cook|first1=Philip J.|last2=Ludwig|first2=Jens|last3=Hemenway|first3=David|title=The gun debate's new mythical number: How many defensive uses per year?|journal=]|date=Summer 1997|volume=16|issue=3|pages=463–469|doi=10.1002/(SICI)1520-6688(199722)16:3<463::AID-PAM6>3.0.CO;2-F|url=http://home.uchicago.edu/ludwigj/papers/JPAM_Cook_Ludwig_Hemenway_2007.pdf}}</ref>


Further studies by HICRC found the following: firearms in the home are used more often to intimidate intimates than to thwart crime;<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Azrael |first1=D. |last2=Hemenway |first2=D. |date=2000-01-01 |title='In the safety of your own home': results from a national survey on gun use at home |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10619696 |journal=Social Science & Medicine |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=285–291 |doi=10.1016/s0277-9536(99)00283-x |issn=0277-9536 |pmid=10619696}}</ref> gun use in self-defense is rare and not more effective at preventing injury than other protective actions;<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hemenway |first1=David |last2=Solnick |first2=Sara J. |date=2015-10-01 |title=The epidemiology of self-defense gun use: Evidence from the National Crime Victimization Surveys 2007–2011 |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0091743515001188 |journal=Preventive Medicine |language=en |volume=79 |pages=22–27 |doi=10.1016/j.ypmed.2015.03.029|pmid=25910555 }}</ref> and a study of hospital gun-shot appearances does not back up the claim of millions of defensive gun use, as virtually all criminals with a gunshot wound go to hospital;<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=May |first1=J. P. |last2=Hemenway |first2=D. |last3=Oen |first3=R. |last4=Pitts |first4=K. R. |date=2000-01-01 |title=Medical care solicitation by criminals with gunshot wound injuries: a survey of Washington, DC, jail detainees |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10647578 |journal=The Journal of Trauma |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=130–132 |doi=10.1097/00005373-200001000-00023 |issn=0022-5282 |pmid=10647578}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=May |first=J P |date=2002-09-01 |title=Do criminals go to the hospital when they are shot? |journal=Injury Prevention |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=236–238 |doi=10.1136/ip.8.3.236 |pmc=1730897 |pmid=12226123}}</ref> with virtually all having been shot whilst the victim of crime and not shot whilst offending.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=May |first1=J. P. |last2=Hemenway |first2=D. |last3=Oen |first3=R. |last4=Pitts |first4=K. |date=2000-06-28 |title=When criminals are shot: A survey of Washington, DC, jail detainees |url=https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/408060?form=fpf |journal=MedGenMed: Medscape General Medicine |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=E1 |issn=1531-0132 |pmid=11104447 |via=Medscape}}</ref><ref name=":4" />
== Suicides ==
{{See also|Suicide methods#Firearms}}
There were 19,392 firearm-related suicides in the U.S. in 2010.<ref name="National Vital Statistics System"/> The U.S. Department of Justice reports that approximately 60% of all adult firearm deaths are by suicide, 61% more than deaths by homicide.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/glance/tables/frmdth.cfm |title=Bureau of Justice Statistics Keyfacts at a Glance |publisher=Bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov |date=2010-01-20 |accessdate=2014-01-16}}</ref> In the U.S., firearms remain the most common method of suicide, accounting for 51% of all suicides committed in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.suicidology.org/c/document_library/get_file?folderId=228&name=DLFE-142.pdf|title=U.S.A. Suicide: 2006 Official Final Data|publisher=]}}</ref> One study found that military veterans used firearms in about 67% of suicides in 2014.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/docs/2016suicidedatareport.pdf |title=Suicide Among Veterans and Other Americans 2001–2014 |last=Office of Suicide Prevention |date=3 August 2016 |publisher=U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs }}</ref> Firearms are the most lethal method of suicide, with a lethality rate 2.6 times higher than suffocation (the second-most lethal method).<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Shenassa|first1=E D|title=Lethality of firearms relative to other suicide methods: a population based study|journal=Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health|date=1 February 2003|volume=57|issue=2|pages=120–124|doi=10.1136/jech.57.2.120}}</ref>


Between 1987 and 1990, ] et al. found that guns were used in defense during a crime incident 64,615 times annually (258,460 times total over the whole period).<ref name="mcdowall">{{cite journal |title=The Incidence of Defensive Firearm Use by US Crime Victims, 1987 through 1990 |last1= McDowall | first1= David | first2= Brian | last2= Wiersema |journal=] |year=1994 |volume=84 |pages= 1982–1984 |pmid= 7998641 |doi= 10.2105/AJPH.84.12.1982 |issue=12 |pmc= 1615397}}</ref> This equated to two times out of 1,000 criminal incidents (0.2%) that occurred in this period, including criminal incidents where no guns were involved at all.<ref name="mcdowall" /> For violent crimes, assault, robbery, and rape, guns were used 0.8% of the time in self-defense.<ref name="mcdowall" /> Of the times that guns were used in self-defense, 71% of the crimes were committed by strangers, with the rest of the incidents evenly divided between offenders that were acquaintances or persons well known to the victim.<ref name="mcdowall" /> In 28% of incidents where a gun was used for self-defense, victims fired the gun at the offender.<ref name="mcdowall" /> In 20% of the self-defense incidents, the guns were ]s.<ref name="mcdowall" /> During this same period, 1987 to 1990, there were 11,580 gun homicides per year (46,319 total),<ref>{{cite book |title=Uniform Crime Reports, 1987–1990 |publisher=]}}</ref> and the ] estimated that 2,628,532 nonfatal crimes involving guns occurred.<ref name="mcdowall" />
A 1992 case-control study in the '']'' showed an association between estimated household firearm ownership and ] rates, finding that individuals living in a home where firearms are present are more likely to commit suicide than those individuals who do not own firearms, by a factor of 3 or 4.<ref name="NAS-exec">{{cite book |author=National Research Council |year=2004 |chapter=Executive Summary |chapterurl=http://www.nap.edu/books/0309091241/html/1.html |editor1-last=Wellford |editor1-first=Charles F. |editor2-last=Pepper |editor2-first=John V. |editor3-last=Petrie |editor3-first=Carol V. |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review |url= |location=Washington, DC |publisher=National Academies Press |isbn=978-0-309-09124-4 |accessdate= }}</ref><ref name=NEJM327>{{cite journal |last=Kellerman |first=Arthur L. |last2=Rivara |first2=Frederick P. |date=August 13, 1992 |title=Suicide in the Home in Relation to Gun Ownership |url=http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199208133270705 |journal=The New England Journal of Medicine |publisher=Massachusetts Medical Society |volume=327 |issue=7 |pages=467–472 |doi=10.1056/NEJM199208133270705 |pmid=1308093 |accessdate= }}</ref> A 2006 study by researchers from the ] found a significant association between changes in estimated household gun ownership rates and suicide rates in the United States among men, women, and children.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=M|title=The association between changes in household firearm ownership and rates of suicide in the United States, 1981-2002|journal=Injury Prevention|date=1 June 2006|volume=12|issue=3|pages=178–182|doi=10.1136/ip.2005.010850}}</ref> A 2007 study by the same research team found that in the United States, estimated household gun ownership rates were strongly associated with overall suicide rates and gun suicide rates, but not with non-gun suicide rates.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=M|last2=Lippmann|first2=SJ|last3=Azrael|first3=D|last4=Hemenway|first4=D|title=Household firearm ownership and rates of suicide across the 50 United States.|journal=]|date=April 2007|volume=62|issue=4|pages=1029-34; discussion 1034-5|pmid=17426563|doi=10.1097/01.ta.0000198214.24056.40}}</ref> A 2013 study reproduced this finding, even after controlling for different underlying rates of suicidal behavior by states.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=M|last2=Barber|first2=C|last3=White|first3=RA|last4=Azrael|first4=D|title=Firearms and suicide in the United States: is risk independent of underlying suicidal behavior?|journal=]|date=15 September 2013|volume=178|issue=6|pages=946–55|pmid=23975641|doi=10.1093/aje/kwt197}}</ref> A 2015 study also found a strong association between estimated gun ownership rates in American cities and rates of both overall and gun suicide, but not with non-gun suicide.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Matthew|last2=Warren|first2=Molly|last3=Hemenway|first3=David|last4=Azrael|first4=Deborah|title=Firearms and suicide in US cities|journal=Injury Prevention|date=April 2015|volume=21|issue=e1|pages=e116–e119|doi=10.1136/injuryprev-2013-040969}}</ref> Correlation studies comparing different countries do not always find a statistically significant effect.<ref name=Miller-Hemenway2001>{{cite journal |last=Miller |first=Matthew |last2=Hemenway |first2=David |date=2001 |title=Firearm Prevalence and the Risk of Suicide: A Review |url=http://hhpronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/HHPR_Fall_2001.pdf#page=31 |journal=Harvard Health Policy Review |publisher=Exploring Policy in Health Care (EPIHC) |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=29–37 |doi= |accessdate= |quote=One study found a statistically significant relationship between estimated gun ownership levels and suicide rate across 14 developed nations (e.g. where survey data on gun ownership levels were available), but the association lost its statistical significance when additional countries were included.}}</ref>{{rp|30}} A 2016 cross-sectional study showed a strong association between estimated household gun ownership rates and gun-related suicide rates among men and women in the United States. The same study found a strong association between estimated gun ownership rates and overall suicide rates, but only in men.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Siegel|first1=Michael|last2=Rothman|first2=Emily F.|title=Firearm Ownership and Suicide Rates Among US Men and Women, 1981–2013|journal=]|date=July 2016|volume=106|issue=7|pages=1316–1322|doi=10.2105/AJPH.2016.303182|pmid=27196643|pmc=4984734}}</ref> During the 1980s and early 1990s, there was a strong upward trend in adolescent suicides with guns<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000>{{cite book |last=Cook |first=Philip J. |last2=Ludwig |first2=Jens |year=2000 |title=Gun Violence: The Real Costs |url=http://www.worldcat.org/title/gun-violence-the-real-cost/oclc/45580985 |location= |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195137934 |oclc=45580985 |accessdate= }}</ref>{{rp|29}} as well as a sharp overall increase in suicides among those age 75 and over.<ref name=FFI62-94>{{cite journal |last=Ikeda |first=Robin M. |last2=Gorwitz |first2=Rachel |last3=James |first3=Stephen P. |last4=Powell |first4=Kenneth E. |last5=Mercy |first5=James A. |year=1997 |title=Fatal Firearm Injuries in the United States 1962-1994 |url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=185663 |journal=Violence Surveillance Summary |publisher=National Center for Injury Prevention and Control |volume=3 |issue= |pages= |doi= |accessdate= }}</ref>


McDowall's study for the '']'' contrasted with a 1995 study by Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz, which found that 2.45 million crimes were thwarted each year in the U.S. using guns, and in most cases, the potential victim never fired a shot.<ref>{{cite journal | last1= Kleck| first1= Gary |last2= Gertz| first2=Marc|title=Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense with a Gun|journal=]| date= Autumn 1995| volume= 86 |issue= 1| pages= 150–187 |doi= 10.2307/1144004 |jstor=1144004|url=https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol86/iss1/8}}</ref> The results of the Kleck studies have been cited many times in scholarly and popular media.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Firearms and the killing threshold (Letter) |last=Suter | first=E.A. |journal=] |year=1992 |volume=326 |pmid=1552925 |issue=17 |pages=1159–60; author reply 1160–1 | doi = 10.1056/NEJM199204233261712 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=The value of civilian handgun possession as a deterrent to crime or a defense against crime |last=Kates | first= D.B. |journal=] |year=1991 |volume=18 |pages=113–167 |id={{NCJ|132948}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Go ahead, make our day |magazine=] |date= February 22, 1988 |pages=7–9}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Do guns save lives? |magazine= ] |date= August 12, 1988 |pages=25–26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Are We 'A Nation Of Cowards'? |work=] |date= November 15, 1993 |pages=93–94 |url= http://www.newsweek.com/are-we-nation-cowards-191556 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Hold your fire: gun control won't stop rising violence |last= Kopel | first=D.B. |journal=Policy Review |year=1993 |volume=63 |pages= 58–65 |id={{NCJ|153748}}}}</ref><ref name="medlit">{{cite journal |url= http://teapot.usask.ca/cdn-firearms/Suter/med-lit.html |title=Guns in the Medical Literature – A Failure of Peer Review |first=Edgar A. | last= Suter|journal=Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia |year=1994 |volume=83 |issue=3 |pages=133–48 |pmid=8201280 | url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070813232423/http://teapot.usask.ca/cdn-firearms/Suter/med-lit.html |archive-date= August 13, 2007 }}</ref> The methodology of the Kleck and Gertz study has been criticized by some researchers<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cook|first1=Philip J.|last2=Ludwig|first2=Jens|last3=Hemenway|first3=David|title=The gun debate's new mythical number: How many defensive uses per year?|journal=]|date=Summer 1997|volume=16|issue=3|pages=463–469|doi=10.1002/(SICI)1520-6688(199722)16:3<463::AID-PAM6>3.0.CO;2-F|url=http://home.uchicago.edu/ludwigj/papers/JPAM_Cook_Ludwig_Hemenway_2007.pdf|access-date=April 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604124437/http://home.uchicago.edu/ludwigj/papers/JPAM_Cook_Ludwig_Hemenway_2007.pdf|archive-date=June 4, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Defilippis|first1=Evan|last2=Hughes|first2=Devin|title=The Myth Behind Defensive Gun Ownership|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/defensive-gun-ownership-myth-114262|access-date=2021-12-17|website=POLITICO Magazine|date=January 14, 2015 |language=en}}</ref> but also defended by gun-control advocate ].<ref>{{cite journal | first= Marvin E. | last= Wolfgang | title=A Tribute to a View I Have Opposed| volume= 86 | pages= 188–192 | journal=J. Crim. L. & Criminology| number= 188 |year =1995–1996 | url= http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6854&context=jclc| doi= 10.2307/1144005 | jstor= 1144005 }}</ref>
== Homicides ==
]}}</ref>]]
]}}</ref>]]
] are concentrated in crime hot spots located in neighborhoods (including ], ], ], ], and ]) with ] disadvantage, while homicide is rare in other neighborhoods.]]


Using cross-sectional time-series data for U.S. counties from 1977 to 1992, Lott and Mustard of the Law School at the University of Chicago found that allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons deters violent crimes and appears to produce no increase in accidental deaths. They claimed that if those states which did not have right-to-carry concealed gun provisions had adopted them in 1992, approximately 1,570 murders, 4,177 rapes, and over 60,000 aggravated assaults would have been avoided yearly.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1150&context=law_and_economics|website=Chicago Unbound|publisher=University of Chicago Law School|title=Crime, Deterrence, and Right-to-Carry Concealed Handguns|date=1996|first1=David|last1=Mustard|first2=John|last2=Lott|location=Chicago, IL}}</ref>
According to the ], in 2012, there were 8,897 total firearm-related homicides in the US, with 6,404 of those attributed to handguns.<ref name="fbi01"/> The ] reports that there were 11,078 firearm-related homicides in the U.S. in 2010.<ref name="National Vital Statistics System"/> The FBI breaks down the gun-related homicides in 2010 by weapon: 6,009 involved a handgun, 358 involved a rifle, and 1,939 involved an unspecified type of firearm.<ref name="Fbi.gov"/> In 2005, 75% of the 10,100 ]s committed using firearms in the U.S. were committed using ]s, compared to 4% with ]s, 5% with ]s, and the rest with unspecified firearms.<ref>

{{cite web
On the other hand, regarding the efficacy of laws allowing use of firearms for self-defense like ] laws, a 2018 ] review of existing research concluded that "there is moderate evidence that stand-your-ground laws may increase homicide rates and limited evidence that the laws increase firearm homicides in particular."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2018|others=Morral, Andrew R., Ramchand, Rajeev, Smart, Rosanna, Gresenz, Carole Roan, Cherney, Samantha, Nicosia, Nancy|title=The Science of Gun Policy|url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2088.html|language=en}}</ref> In 2019, RAND authors published an update, writing "Since publication of RAND's report, at least four additional studies meeting RAND's standards of rigor have reinforced the finding that "stand your ground" laws increase homicides. None of them found that "stand your ground" laws deter violent crime. No rigorous study has yet determined whether "stand your ground" laws promote legitimate acts of self-defense.<ref name=RANDupdate>Andrew R. Morral and Rosanna Smart. . Reprinted by RAND from the ''Orlando Sentinel'' of September 11, 2019.</ref>
|year=2001–2005

|url=https://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/offenses/expanded_information/data/shrtable_07.html
==Suicides==
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412084914/http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/offenses/expanded_information/data/shrtable_07.html
{{See|Suicide in the United States|Suicide methods#Firearms}}
|archivedate=2010-04-12
{{multiple image | total_width=600
|title=Expanded Homicide Data Table 7 - Murder Victims by Weapon
| image1= 200012 Suicide methods in order of lethality - variable-width bar chart.svg |caption1= In 2000, substance overdoses were the most common method of attempted suicide in the US. Guns were the most lethal method.<ref name=AmJnlPublicHealth_20001200>{{cite journal |last1=Spicer |first1=Rebecca S. |last2=Miller |first2=Ted R. |title=Suicide Acts in 8 States: Incidence and Case Fatality Rates by Demographics and Method |journal=American Journal of Public Health |date=December 2000 |volume=90 |issue=12 |pages=1885–1891 |doi=10.2105/ajph.90.12.1885 |pmid=11111261 |pmc=1446422 |quote=Table 1}}</ref>
|publisher=]
| image2= 2019 Gun suicides per capita - by country.svg |caption2= The US has had the largest number of gun-related suicides in the world every year from 1990 to at least 2019.<ref name="CNN_20211126b">{{cite news |last1=Fox |first1=Kara |last2=Shveda |first2=Krystina |last3=Croker |first3=Natalie |last4=Chacon |first4=Marco |title=How US gun culture stacks up with the world |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/26/world/us-gun-culture-world-comparison-intl-cmd/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=26 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221215124/https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/26/world/us-gun-culture-world-comparison-intl-cmd/index.html/ |archive-date=21 December 2023 |url-status=live }} Article updated October 26, 2023. CNN cites data source: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (Global Burden of Disease 2019), UN Population Division.</ref>
}}</ref>
| image3= 1981- Suicide rates vs gun ownership rates, by gender.svg |caption3= For both men and women, gun suicide death rates are correlated with household gun ownership rates.<ref name=Siegel_AJPH_20160610>{{cite journal |last1=Siegel |first1=Michael |last2=Rothman |first2=Emily F. |title=Firearm Ownership and Suicide Rates Among US Men and Women, 1981–2013 |journal=American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) |date=10 June 2016 |volume=106 |issue=7 |pages=1316–1322 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2016.303182|pmid=27196643 |pmc=4984734 }} Table 1.</ref>
}}
]

In the U.S., most people who die of ] use a gun, and most deaths by gun are suicides.

In 2010, there were 19,392 firearm-related suicides in the U.S.<ref name="National Vital Statistics System" /> In 2017, over half of the nation's 47,173 suicides involved a firearm.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide|title=Suicide|website=National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Deaths From Drugs and Suicide Reach a Record in the U.S. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/07/us/deaths-drugs-suicide-record.html |work=The New York Times |date=March 7, 2019}}</ref> In 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice reported that about 60% of all adult firearm deaths were by suicide, 61% more than deaths by homicide.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/glance/tables/frmdth.cfm |title=Bureau of Justice Statistics Keyfacts at a Glance |publisher=Bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov |date=January 20, 2010 |access-date=January 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130118071124/http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/glance/tables/frmdth.cfm |archive-date=January 18, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> One study found that military veterans used firearms in about 67% of suicides in 2014.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/docs/2016suicidedatareport.pdf |title=Suicide Among Veterans and Other Americans 2001–2014 |last=Office of Suicide Prevention |date=August 3, 2016 |publisher=U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs }}</ref> Firearms are the most lethal method of suicide, with a lethality rate 2.6 times higher than suffocation, the second-most lethal method.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Shenassa|first1=E D|title=Lethality of firearms relative to other suicide methods: a population-based study|journal=Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health|date=February 1, 2003|volume=57|issue=2|pages=120–124|doi=10.1136/jech.57.2.120|pmid=12540687|pmc=1732374}}</ref> From 1999-2020, youth firearm suicide death rates increased on average 1.0% per year.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=Ormiston |first1=Cameron K. |last2=Lawrence |first2=Wayne R. |last3=Sulley |first3=Saanie |last4=Shiels |first4=Meredith S. |last5=Haozous |first5=Emily A. |last6=Pichardo |first6=Catherine M. |last7=Stephens |first7=Erica S. |last8=Thomas |first8=Aleah L. |last9=Adzrago |first9=David |last10=Williams |first10=David R. |last11=Williams |first11=Faustine |date=2024-03-29 |title=Trends in Adolescent Suicide by Method in the US, 1999-2020 |url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2816956 |journal=JAMA Network Open |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=e244427 |doi=10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.4427 |pmid=38551558 |issn=2574-3805|pmc=10980967 }}</ref> American Indian and Alaska Native adolescents had the highest absolute increase in firearm suicide (3.83 per 100 000 population), followed by White (0.69 per 100 000 population), Black (0.67 per 100 000 population), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.64 per 100 000 population), and Hispanic or Latino (0.18 per 100 000 population) individuals.<ref name=":5" />

In the United States, access to firearms is associated with an increased risk of suicide.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.7326/M13-1301 |pmid=24592495 |title=The Accessibility of Firearms and Risk for Suicide and Homicide Victimization Among Household Members |journal=Annals of Internal Medicine |volume=160 |issue=2 |pages=101–10 |year=2014 |last1=Anglemyer |first1=Andrew |last2=Horvath |first2=Tara |last3=Rutherford |first3=George |s2cid=261282665 |doi-access= }}</ref> A 1992 case-control study in the '']'' showed an association between estimated household firearm ownership and suicide rates, finding that individuals living in a home where firearms are present are more likely to successfully commit suicide than those individuals who do not own firearms, by a factor of 3 or 4.<ref name="NAS-exec">{{cite book |author=National Research Council |year=2004 |chapter=Executive Summary |chapter-url=http://www.nap.edu/books/0309091241/html/1.html |editor1-last=Wellford |editor1-first=Charles F. |editor2-last=Pepper |editor2-first=John V. |editor3-last=Petrie |editor3-first=Carol V. |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review |location=Washington, DC |publisher=National Academies Press |isbn=978-0-309-09124-4 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=NEJM327>{{cite journal |doi=10.1056/NEJM199208133270705 |pmid=1308093 |title=Suicide in the Home in Relation to Gun Ownership |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |volume=327 |issue=7 |pages=467–72 |year=1992 |last1=Kellermann |first1=Arthur L |last2=Rivara |first2=Frederick P |last3=Somes |first3=Grant |last4=Reay |first4=Donald T |last5=Francisco |first5=Jerry |last6=Banton |first6=Joyce Gillentine |last7=Prodzinski |first7=Janice |last8=Fligner |first8=Corinne |last9=Hackman |first9=Bela B |s2cid=35031090 |doi-access=free }}</ref> A 2006 study by researchers from the ] found a significant association between changes in estimated household gun ownership rates and suicide rates in the United States among men, women, and children.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=M|title=The association between changes in household firearm ownership and rates of suicide in the United States, 1981–2002|journal=Injury Prevention|date=June 1, 2006|volume=12|issue=3|pages=178–182|doi=10.1136/ip.2005.010850|pmid=16751449|pmc=2563517}}</ref>

A 2007 study by the same research team found that in the United States, estimated household gun ownership rates were strongly associated with overall suicide rates and gun suicide rates, but not with non-gun suicide rates.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1097/01.ta.0000198214.24056.40 |pmid=17426563 |title=Household Firearm Ownership and Rates of Suicide Across the 50 United States |journal=The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care |volume=62 |issue=4 |pages=1029–34; discussion 1034–5 |year=2007 |last1=Miller |first1=Matthew |last2=Lippmann |first2=Steven J |last3=Azrael |first3=Deborah |last4=Hemenway |first4=David |s2cid=27028514 }}</ref> A 2013 study reproduced this finding, even after controlling for different underlying rates of suicidal behavior by states.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal |doi=10.1093/aje/kwt197 |pmid=23975641 |title=Firearms and Suicide in the United States: Is Risk Independent of Underlying Suicidal Behavior? |journal=American Journal of Epidemiology |volume=178 |issue=6 |pages=946–55 |year=2013 |last1=Miller |first1=M |last2=Barber |first2=C |last3=White |first3=R. A |last4=Azrael |first4=D |doi-access=free }}</ref> A 2015 study also found a strong association between estimated gun ownership rates in American cities and rates of both overall and gun suicide, but not with non-gun suicide.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1136/injuryprev-2013-040969 |pmid=24302479 |title=Firearms and suicide in US cities |journal=Injury Prevention |volume=21 |issue=e1 |pages=e116–9 |year=2015 |last1=Miller |first1=Matthew |last2=Warren |first2=Molly |last3=Hemenway |first3=David |last4=Azrael |first4=Deborah |s2cid=3275417 }}</ref> Correlation studies comparing different countries do not always find a statistically significant effect.<ref name=Miller-Hemenway2001>{{cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Matthew |last2=Hemenway |first2=David |date=2001 |title=Firearm Prevalence and the Risk of Suicide: A Review |url=https://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~epihc/currentissue/Fall2001/miller.htm |journal=Harvard Health Policy Review |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=29–37 |quote=One study found a statistically significant relationship between estimated gun ownership levels and suicide rate across 14 developed nations (e.g. where survey data on gun ownership levels were available), but the association lost its statistical significance when additional countries were included. |access-date=December 9, 2017 |archive-date=October 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016215319/http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~epihc/currentissue/Fall2001/miller.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{rp|30}}

A 2016 cross-sectional study showed a strong association between estimated household gun ownership rates and gun-related suicide rates among men and women in the United States. The same study found a strong association between estimated gun ownership rates and overall suicide rates, but only in men.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2016.303182 |pmid=27196643 |pmc=4984734 |title=Firearm Ownership and Suicide Rates Among US Men and Women, 1981–2013 |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=106 |issue=7 |pages=1316–22 |year=2016 |last1=Siegel |first1=Michael |last2=Rothman |first2=Emily F }}</ref> During the 1980s and early 1990s, there was a strong upward trend in adolescent suicides with guns<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000p29>{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Philip J. |last2=Ludwig |first2=Jens |year=2000 |title=Gun Violence: The Real Costs |url=https://archive.org/details/gunviolencerealc0000cook |url-access=registration |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-513793-4 |oclc=45580985 |page= }}</ref> as well as a sharp overall increase in suicides among those age 75 and over.<ref name=FFI62-94>{{cite journal |last1=Ikeda |first1=Robin M. |last2=Gorwitz |first2=Rachel |last3=James |first3=Stephen P. |last4=Powell |first4=Kenneth E. |last5=Mercy |first5=James A. |year=1997 |title=Fatal Firearm Injuries in the United States 1962–1994 |id={{NCJ|185663}} |journal=Violence Surveillance Summary |volume=3 }}</ref> A 2018 study found that temporary gun seizure laws were associated with a 13.7% reduction in firearm suicides in Connecticut and a 7.5% reduction in firearm suicides in Indiana.<ref name=PMID29852823>{{cite journal |doi=10.1176/appi.ps.201700250 |pmid=29852823 |title=Effects of Risk-Based Firearm Seizure Laws in Connecticut and Indiana on Suicide Rates, 1981–2015 |journal=Psychiatric Services |volume=69 |issue=8 |pages=855–862 |year=2018 |last1=Kivisto |first1=Aaron J |last2=Phalen |first2=Peter Lee |doi-access=free }}</ref>

David Hemenway, professor of health policy at Harvard University's School of Public Health, and director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center and the Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center, stated

{{blockquote|Differences in overall suicide rates across cities, states and regions in the United States are best explained not by differences in mental health, suicide ideation, or even suicide attempts, but by availability of firearms. Many suicides are impulsive, and the urge to die fades away. Firearms are a swift, lethal method of suicide with a high case-fatality rate.<ref name="CBS" />}}

There are over twice as many gun-related suicides as gun-related homicides in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/asap.12100 |title=Firearm Availability and Violent Death: The Need for a Culture Change in Attitudes toward Guns |journal=Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=7–35 |year=2016 |last1=Stroebe |first1=Wolfgang |s2cid=146652202 |url=https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/65064924/Stroebe_2016_Analyses_of_Social_Issues_and_Public_Policy.pdf }}</ref> Firearms are the most popular method of suicide due to the lethality of the weapon. 90% of all suicides attempted using a firearm result in a fatality, as opposed to less than 3% of suicide attempts involving cutting or drug-use.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> The risk of someone attempting suicide is 4.8 times greater if they are exposed to a firearm on a regular basis; for example, in the home.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1056/NEJM198606123142406 |pmid=3713749 |title=Protection or Peril? |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |volume=314 |issue=24 |pages=1557–60 |year=1986 |last1=Kellermann |first1=Arthur L |last2=Reay |first2=Donald T |s2cid=36120920 }}</ref>

==Homicides==
{{also|List of U.S. states and territories by intentional homicide rate}}
[[File:2012- U.S. gun murder victims by weapon (FBI UCR).png|thumb |upright=1.35 |Handguns are involved in most U.S. gun homicides.<ref>
● , Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reporting Program. from the original on January 18, 2020. (used only for 2012 and 2013 data)
<br />● , Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reporting Program. from the original on January 18, 2020.
<br />● , Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reporting Program. from the original on November 22, 2020.</ref>]]

===Statistics===
Unlike other high-income ] countries, most homicides in the U.S. are gun homicides.<ref name=AJM201603 /> In the U.S. in 2011, 67 percent of homicide victims were killed using a firearm: 66 percent of single-victim homicides and 79 percent of multiple-victim homicides.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4863 |title=Homicide in the U.S. Known to Law Enforcement, 2011 |last1=Cooper |first1=Alexia |last2=Smith |first2=Erica L. |date=December 30, 2013 |website=bjs.gov |publisher=U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics |access-date=February 28, 2014}}</ref> Between 1968 and 2011, about 1.4 million people died from firearms in the U.S. This number includes all deaths resulting from a firearm, including suicides, homicides, and accidents.<ref name="BBC">"". BBC News. January 5, 2016.</ref>

In 2017, compared to 22 other high-income nations, the U.S. gun-related homicide rate was 25 times higher.<ref name="CBS" /> Although the US has half the population of the other 22 nations combined, among those 22 nations studied, the U.S. had 82 percent of gun deaths, 90 percent of all women killed with guns, 91 percent of children under 14 and 92 percent of young people between ages 15 and 24 killed with guns, with guns being the leading cause of death for children.<ref name="CBS">{{cite news|title=How U.S. gun deaths compare to other countries|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-u-s-gun-deaths-compare-to-other-countries/|publisher=CBS|date=October 7, 2017}}</ref> The ownership and ] are among the most widely debated issues in the US.

In 1993, there were seven gun homicides for every 100,000 people. By 2013, that figure had fallen to 3.6, according to Pew Research.<ref>Max Ehrenfreund: – Wonk blog, December 3, 2015</ref>

The ] reports that there were 11,078 gun homicides in the U.S. in 2010.<ref name="National Vital Statistics System" /> This is higher than the FBI's count.<ref name="Fbi.gov" /> The CDC stated there were 14,414 (or 4.4 per 100,000 population) homicides by firearm in 2018, and stated that there were a total of 19,141 homicides (5.8 per 100,000 population) in 2019.<ref>Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, March 1). FastStats - Homicide. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Ret. April 28, 2021).https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/homicide.htm.</ref> Gun-related deaths among children in the U.S. in 2021 was 4,752, surpassing the record total seen during the first year of the pandemic, a new analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data found.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-21 |title=Gun deaths among children and teens in the U.S. reached a new record in 2021, study finds |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/gun-deaths-us-children-rose-2021-cdc-data-shows-rcna100601 |access-date=2023-08-21 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref>

The police chief of Washington, DC attributes the 203 homicides in 2022 to an influx of guns from out-of-town, marking the first time in nearly 20 years that the nation's capital exceeded the 200 homicide threshold in consecutive years. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Washington last experienced such violence in 2002 and 2003, when it recorded 262 and 246 homicides, respectively. Property crime has decreased by 3% and violent crime decreased by 7% overall since 2021.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nation's capital tops 200 homicides in city for the second year in a row |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jan/3/nations-capital-tops-200-homicides-city-second-yea/ |website=washingtontimes}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=washington d-c hits 200 murders consecutive years first time since 2003 |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/washington-d-c-hits-200-murders-consecutive-years-first-time-since-2003 |website=foxnews|date=December 30, 2022 }}</ref>

====2021====
In 2021, a little above 80% of all murders (20,958 out of 26,031) in the US involved a firearm{{px2}}{{mdash}}{{hsp}}the highest percentage since at least 1968, the earliest year for which the CDC has online records. A little under 55% of all suicides (26,328 out of 48,183) in 2021 involved a gun, the highest percentage since 2001.<ref> Retrieved 10 December 2023</ref>

===History===
In the 19th century, gun violence played a role in ] such as the ].<ref name="friedman-ch8">{{cite book|author=Friedman, Lawrence M.|year=1993|chapter=Chapter 8: Lawful Law and Lawless Law: Forms of American Violence|title=Crime and Punishment in American History|publisher=]|isbn=978-0-465-01461-3|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/crimepunishmenti00frie|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/crimepunishmenti00frie}}</ref> Homicide rates in cities such as ] were significantly lower in the 19th century than in modern times.<ref>{{cite book|author=Lane, Roger|year=1999|title=Violent Death in the City: Suicide, Accident, and Murder in Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia|publisher=]|isbn=978-0-8142-5021-1}}</ref> During the 1980s and early 1990s, homicide rates surged in cities across the United States (see applicable graphs).<ref>{{cite web|author=Fox, James Alan, Marianne W. Zawitz|title=Homicide trends in the United States|url=http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/homtrnd.htm#contents|publisher=]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061113234843/http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/homtrnd.htm#contents|archive-date=November 13, 2006}}</ref> Handgun homicides accounted for nearly all of the overall increase in the homicide rate, from 1985 to 1993, while homicide rates involving other weapons declined during that time frame.<ref name="NAS-ch3">{{cite book |author=Committee on Law and Justice |year=2004 |chapter=Chapter 3 |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review|chapter-url=http://www.nap.edu/books/0309091241/html/53.html|publisher=]|isbn=978-0-309-09124-4}}</ref>

The rising trend in homicide rates during the 1980s and early 1990s was most pronounced among lower income and especially unemployed males. Youths and Hispanic and African American males in the U.S. were the most represented, with the injury and death rates tripling for black males aged 13 to 17 and doubling for black males aged 18 to 24.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000-missing-p>{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Philip J. |last2=Ludwig |first2=Jens |year=2000 |title=Gun Violence: The Real Costs |url=https://archive.org/details/gunviolencerealc0000cook |url-access=registration |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-513793-4 |oclc=45580985}}{{page needed|date=December 2017}}</ref><ref name="bjs-age">{{cite web |url=http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/teens.htm |title=Homicide trends in the U.S. – Age trends |publisher=] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061115183053/http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/teens.htm |archive-date=November 15, 2006 }}</ref> The rise in ] use in cities across the U.S. has been cited as a factor for increased gun violence among youths during this time period.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Cork, Daniel |year=1999 |title=Examining Time-Space Interaction in City-Level Homicide Data: Crack Markets and the Diffusion of Guns Among Youth |journal=] |volume=15 |pages=379–406 |doi=10.1023/A:1007540007803 |id={{NCJ|180974}} |issue=4|s2cid=141078205 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first1=Jeff |last1=Grogger |first2=Michael |last2=Willis |title=The Emergence of Crack Cocaine and the Rise in Urban Crime Rates |journal=] |volume=82 |issue=4 |year=2000 |pages=519–529 |jstor=2646648 |doi=10.1162/003465300558957 |s2cid=57571159 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Blumstein |first=Alfred |year=1995 |title=Youth Violence, Guns and the Illicit-Drug Industry |journal=] |volume=86 |issue=1 |pages=10–36 |id={{NCJ|162687}} |jstor=1143998|doi=10.2307/1143998 |url=https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol86/iss1/2 }}</ref> After 1993, gun violence in the United States began a period of dramatic decline.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/fv9311.pdf|title=Firearm Violence, 1993-2011|publisher=U.S. Department of Justice|date=May 2013|accessdate=June 1, 2022}}</ref><ref name=trenddecrease>{{cite web |url=http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/homicide/weapons.cfm |title=Homicide trends in the U.S. – Weapons used |publisher=] |access-date=December 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123074121/http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/homicide/weapons.cfm |archive-date=January 23, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


===Demographics of risk===
In the United States, states with higher gun ownership rates have higher rates of overall and gun homicides, but not higher rates of non-gun homicides.<ref name=ajpm>{{cite journal|last1=Monuteaux|first1=Michael C.|last2=Lee|first2=Lois K.|last3=Hemenway|first3=David|last4=Mannix|first4=Rebekah|last5=Fleegler|first5=Eric W.|title=Firearm Ownership and Violent Crime in the U.S.|journal=]|date=August 2015|volume=49|issue=2|pages=207–214|doi=10.1016/j.amepre.2015.02.008}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Siegel|first1=Michael|last2=Ross|first2=Craig S|last3=King|first3=Charles|title=Examining the relationship between the prevalence of guns and homicide rates in the USA using a new and improved state-level gun ownership proxy|journal=]|publisher=]|date=December 2014|volume=20|issue=6|pages=424–426|doi=10.1136/injuryprev-2014-041187}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gius|first1=Mark|title=The effect of gun ownership rates on homicide rates: a state-level analysis|journal=]|date=13 November 2009|volume=16|issue=17|pages=1687–1690|doi=10.1080/13504850701675508}}</ref> Higher gun availability is positively associated with homicide rates.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=McDowall|first1=David|authorlink=David McDowall (criminologist)|title=Firearm Availability and Homicide Rates in Detroit, 1951-1986|journal=]|date=June 1991|volume=69|issue=4|pages=1085|doi=10.2307/2579303}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Duggan|first1=Mark|authorlink=Mark Duggan (economist)|title=More Guns, More Crime|journal=]|date=October 2001|volume=109|issue=5|pages=1086–1114|doi=10.1086/322833}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hepburn|first1=Lisa M|last2=Hemenway|first2=David|authorlink2=David Hemenway|title=Firearm availability and homicide: A review of the literature|journal=]|date=July 2004|volume=9|issue=4|pages=417–440|doi=10.1016/S1359-1789(03)00044-2}}</ref> There is evidence, however, that gun ownership has less of an effect on rates of gun homicide than it does on gun suicide.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kaplan|first1=Mark S.|last2=Geling|first2=Olga|title=Firearm suicides and homicides in the United States: regional variations and patterns of gun ownership|journal=Social Science & Medicine|date=May 1998|volume=46|issue=9|pages=1227–1233|doi=10.1016/S0277-9536(97)10051-X}}</ref>
]
In the U.S. in 2011, 67 percent of homicide victims were killed using a firearm: 66 percent of single-victim homicides and 79 percent of multiple-victim homicides.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4863 |title=Homicide in the U.S. Known to Law Enforcement, 2011 |last1=Cooper |first1=Alexia |last2=Smith |first2=Erica L. |date=December 30, 2013 |website=bjs.gov |publisher=U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics |accessdate=February 28, 2014}}</ref>


Prevalence of homicide and violent crime is higher in ] of the U.S. than it is in non-metropolitan counties;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013|title=Crime in the U.S. 2013|website=FBI}}</ref> the vast majority of the U.S. population lives in statistical metropolitan areas.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |title=U.S. Census website |access-date=May 24, 2016 }}</ref> In ], the 2013 homicide rate was 4.7 per 100,000 compared with 3.4 in non-metropolitan ].<ref>{{cite web |year=2013 |title=Crime in the United States in 2013, table 2 |url=https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013 |publisher=]}}</ref> More narrowly, the rates of murder and non-negligent manslaughter are identical in metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan counties.<ref>{{cite web |year=2013 |title=Crime in the United States in 2013, table 16 |url=https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013 |publisher=]}}</ref>
In the 19th century gun violence played a role in ] such as the ].<ref name="friedman-ch8">{{cite book|author=Friedman, Lawrence M.|year=1993|chapter=Chapter 8: Lawful Law and Lawless Law: Forms of American Violence|title=Crime and Punishment in American History|publisher=]|isbn=0-465-01461-5}}</ref> Homicide rates in cities such as ] were significantly lower in the 19th century than in modern times.<ref>{{cite book|author=Lane, Roger|year=1999|title=Violent Death in the City: Suicide, Accident, and Murder in Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia|publisher=]|isbn=0-8142-5021-1}}</ref>
In 2005, in U.S. cities with populations greater than 250,000, the mean homicide rate was 12.1 per 100,000.<ref>{{cite web |year=2005 |title=Rate: Number of Crimes per 100,000 Inhabitants by Population Group |url=https://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/data/table_16.html |publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation
During the 1980s and early 1990s, homicide rates surged in cities across the United States (see graphs at right).<ref>{{cite web|author=Fox, James Alan, Marianne W. Zawitz|title=Homicide trends in the United States|url=http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/homtrnd.htm#contents | publisher=]}}</ref> Handgun homicides accounted for nearly all of the overall increase in the homicide rate, from 1985 to 1993, while homicide rates involving other weapons declined during that time frame.<ref name="NAS-ch3">{{cite book |author=Committee on Law and Justice |year=2004 |chapter=Chapter 3 |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review|url=http://www.nap.edu/books/0309091241/html/53.html|publisher=]|isbn=0-309-09124-1}}</ref> The rising trend in homicide rates during the 1980s and early 1990s was most pronounced among lower income and especially unemployed males. Youths and ] and ] males in the U.S. were the most represented, with the injury and death rates tripling for black males aged 13 through 17 and doubling for black males aged 18 through 24.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000 /><ref name="bjs-age"/> The rise in ] use in cities across the U.S. is often cited as a factor for increased gun violence among youths during this time period.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Cork, Daniel |year=1999 |title=Examining Time-Space Interaction in City-Level Homicide Data: Crack Markets and the Diffusion of Guns Among Youth |journal=] |volume=15 |pages=379–406 |doi=10.1023/A:1007540007803 |id={{NCJ|180974}} |issue=4}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference
}}</ref> According to 2005 FBI statistics, the highest per capita rates of gun-related homicides in 2005 were in ] (35.4/100,000), Puerto Rico (19.6/100,000), Louisiana (9.9/100,000), and Maryland (9.9/100,000).<ref>{{cite web |year=2005 |title=Murder, Types of Weapons Used Percent Distribution within Region |url= http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/data/table_05.html |publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation}}</ref> In 2017, according to the Associated Press, Baltimore broke a record for homicides.<ref name="2017 Baltimore">{{cite news|last1=Linderman|first1=Juliet|title=Residents propose 3-day cease fire|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/baltimore-residents-propose-day-cease-fire-49027569|agency=ABC News|date=August 4, 2017}}</ref> {{citation needed|date=November 2023}}
|author=Grogger, Jeff, Mike Willis|year=1998 |title=The Introduction of Crack Cocaine and the Rise of Urban Crime Rates |booktitle=National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 6352 |publisher=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Blumstein, Alfred |year=1995 |title=Youth Violence, Guns and the Illicit-Drug Industry |journal=] |volume=86 |issue=1 |pages=10–36 |doi=10.2307/1143998 |id={{NCJ|162687}} |publisher=The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1973-), Vol. 86, No. 1 |jstor=1143998}}</ref>


In 2005, the 17-24 age group was significantly over-represented in violent ], particularly homicides involving firearms.<ref>{{cite conference |author=Butts, Jeffrey A., Howard N. Snyder |date=November 2006 |title=Too Soon to Tell: Deciphering Recent Trends in Youth Violence |book-title=Issue Brief |url=http://www.chapinhall.org/article_abstract.aspx?ar=1437&L2=61&L3=132 |publisher=], ] |access-date=November 17, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930193438/http://www.chapinhall.org/article_abstract.aspx?ar=1437&L2=61&L3=132 |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2005, 17- to 19-year-olds were 4.3% of the overall ] of the U.S.<ref name="census">{{cite web |title=U.S. Census website |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=] |access-date=June 21, 2015 }}</ref> but 11.2% of those killed in firearm homicides.<ref name="fbi-table8">{{cite web |year=2005 |title=Expanded Homicide Data Table 3, Murder Victims by Age by Weapon
Prevalence of homicide and violent crime is higher in ] of the U.S. than it is in non-metropolitan counties;<ref>https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013</ref> the vast majority of the U.S. population lives in statistical metropolitan areas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src%3Dbkmk |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2016-05-24 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/6gpGlyhlr?url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk |archivedate=2016-04-17 |df= }}</ref> In ], the homicide rate in 2013 was 4.7 per 100,000 compared with 3.4 in non-metropolitan ].<ref>{{cite web |year=2013 |title=Crime in the United States in 2013, table 2 |url=https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013 |publisher=]}}</ref> More narrowly, the rates of murder and non-negligent manslaughter are identical in metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan counties.<ref>{{cite web |year=2013 |title=Crime in the United States in 2013, table 16 |url=https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013 |publisher=]}}</ref>
In U.S. cities with populations greater than 250,000, the mean homicide rate was 12.1 per 100,000.<ref>{{cite web |year=2005 |title=Rate: Number of Crimes per 100,000 Inhabitants by Population Group |url=https://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/data/table_16.html |publisher=] |url=https://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/offenses/expanded_information/data/shrtable_08.html}}</ref> This age group accounted for 10.6% of all homicide offenses.<ref name="fbi-table3">{{cite web |year=2005 |title=Expanded Homicide Data Table 3, Murder Offenders by Age, Sex, and Race|url=https://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/offenses/expanded_information/data/shrtable_03.html
}}</ref> The 20-24-year-old age group accounted for 7.1% of the population,<ref name="census" /> but 22.5% of those killed in firearm homicides.<ref name="fbi-table8" /> The 20-24 age group accounted for 17.7% of all homicide offenses.<ref name="fbi-table3" />
}}</ref> According to FBI statistics, the highest per capita rates of gun-related homicides in 2005 were in D.C. (35.4/100,000), Puerto Rico (19.6/100,000), Louisiana (9.9/100,000), and Maryland (9.9/100,000).<ref>{{cite web |year=2005 |title=Murder, Types of Weapons Used Percent Distribution within Region |url= http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/data/table_05.html |publisher=]}}</ref> In 2017, according to the Associated Press, Baltimore broke a record for homicides.<ref name="2017 Baltimore">{{cite news|last1=Linderman|first1=Juliet|title=Residents propose 3-day cease fire|url=http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/baltimore-residents-propose-day-cease-fire-49027569|work=Associated Press|agency=ABC News|date=August 4, 2017}}</ref>


African American populations in the United States disproportionately represent the majority of firearms injury and homicide compared to other ].<ref>Kalesan B, Vasan S, Mobily ME, Villarreal MD, Hlavacek P, Teperman S, Fagan JA, Galea S. State-specific, racial and ethnic heterogeneity in trendsof firearm-related fatality rates in the USA from 2000 to 2010.BMJ Open.2014;4(9):e005628.</ref><ref name="auto2"/> Although ]s are covered extensively in the media, ] account for only a small fraction of gun-related deaths.<ref name="cdc001">{{cite book|title=Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence|publisher=The National Academies Press|isbn=978-0-309-28438-7|year=2013}}</ref> Regardless, mass shootings occur on a larger scale and much more frequently than in other developed countries. ]s are described as a "uniquely American crisis", according to '']'' in 2018.<ref>{{cite news |title=Scarred by school shootings |first1=John |last1=Woodrow Cox |first2=Steven |last2=Rich |date=March 25, 2018 |access-date=May 20, 2018 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/local/us-school-shootings-history/ |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Children at U.S. schools have active shooter drills.<ref name="shooter drills" /> According to '']'' in 2019, "About 95% of public schools now have students and teachers practice huddling in silence, hiding from an imaginary gunman."<ref name="shooter drills">{{cite news |title=My school's lockdown drills, active shooter training are security theater. Yours are, too. |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2019/05/23/teachers-active-shooter-trainings-ineffective-stressful-column/3754113002/ |access-date=August 6, 2019 |work=USA Today}}</ref>
In 2005, the 17 through 24 age group remains significantly over-represented in violent ], particularly homicides involving firearms.<ref>{{cite conference |author=Butts, Jeffrey A., Howard N. Snyder |date=November 2006 |title=Too Soon to Tell: Deciphering Recent Trends in Youth Violence |booktitle=Issue Brief |url=http://www.chapinhall.org/article_abstract.aspx?ar=1437&L2=61&L3=132 |publisher=], ]}}</ref> In 2005, 17- through 19-year-olds were 4.3% of the overall ] of the U.S.<ref name="census">{{cite web |title=American Fact Finder |url=http://factfinder.census.gov
Those under 17 are not over-represented in homicide statistics. In 2005, 13-16-year-olds accounted for 6% of the overall population of the U.S., but only 3.6% of firearm homicide victims,<ref name="fbi-table8" /> and 2.7% of overall homicide offenses.<ref name="fbi-table3" />
|publisher=]}}</ref> This same age group accounted for 11.2% of those killed in firearm homicides.<ref name="fbi-table8">{{cite web |year=2005 |title=Expanded Homicide Data Table 3, Murder Victims by Age by Weapon
|url=https://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/offenses/expanded_information/data/shrtable_08.html}}</ref> This age group also accounted for 10.6% of all homicide offenses.<ref name="fbi-table3">{{cite web |year=2005 |title=Expanded Homicide Data Table 3, Murder Offenders by Age, Sex, and Race|url=https://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/offenses/expanded_information/data/shrtable_03.html
}}</ref> The 20- through 24-year-old age group accounted for 7.1% of the population,<ref name="census"/> while accounting for 22.5% of those killed in firearm homicides.<ref name="fbi-table8"/> The 20 through 24 age group also accounted for 17.7% of all homicide offenses.<ref name="fbi-table3"/> Those under age 17 are not overrepresented in homicide statistics. In 2005, 13- through 16-year-olds accounted for 6% of the overall population of the U.S., but only accounted for 3.6% of firearm homicide victims,<ref name="fbi-table8"/> and 2.7% of overall homicide offenses.<ref name="fbi-table3"/>


People with a ] were also more likely to die as homicide victims.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000 /> Between 1990 and 1994, 75% of all homicide victims age 21 and younger in the city of ] had a prior criminal record.<ref name=YVB1996>{{cite journal |last=Kennedy |first=David M. |last2=Piehl |first2=Anne M. |last3=Braga |first3=Anthony A. |year=1996 |title=Youth Violence in Boston: Gun Markets, Serious Youth Offenders, and a Use-reduction Strategy |journal=] |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=147–196 |id={{NCJ|169549}} |doi=10.2307/1192213 |jstor=1192213 |publisher=Duke University School of Law }}</ref> In ], the percentage of those killed in gun homicides that had prior criminal records increased from 73% in 1985 to 93% in 1996.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000 /><ref>{{cite journal |author = McGonigal|year = 199|title = Urban Firearm Deaths: A Five-Year Perspective|journal = ]|volume = 35|issue = 4|pages = 532–6|doi = 10.1097/00005373-199310000-00006|pmid = 8411275|first = Michael D.|last2 = Cole|first2 = John|first3 = C. William|last3 = Schwab|first4 = Donald R.|last4 = Kauder|first5 = Michael F.|first6 = Peter B.|last5 = Rotondo|last6 = Angood|author-link3 = C. William Schwab|author-link6 = Peter B. Angood}}{{Closed access}}</ref> In ], the risk of ] injury is 22 times higher for those males involved with crime.<ref>{{cite conference |author=McLaughlin, Colleen R., Jack Daniel, Scott M. Riener, Dennis E. Waite|title=Factors Associated with Assault-Related Firearm Injuries in Male Adolescents |booktitle=Working paper |publisher=]|display-authors=etal}}</ref> People with a ] are more likely to die as homicide victims.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000-missing-p /> Between 1990 and 1994, 75% of all homicide victims age 21 and younger in the city of Boston had a prior criminal record.<ref name=YVB1996>{{cite journal |last1=Kennedy |first1=David M. |last2=Piehl |first2=Anne M. |last3=Braga |first3=Anthony A. |year=1996 |title=Youth Violence in Boston: Gun Markets, Serious Youth Offenders, and a Use-reduction Strategy |journal=] |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=147–196 |id={{NCJ|169549}} |doi=10.2307/1192213 |jstor=1192213 |url=https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/lcp/vol59/iss1/8 }}</ref> In Philadelphia, the percentage of those killed in gun homicides that had prior criminal records increased from 73% in 1985 to 93% in 1996.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000-missing-p /><ref>{{cite journal |last1 = McGonigal|year = 199|title = Urban Firearm Deaths: A Five-Year Perspective|journal = ]|volume = 35|issue = 4|pages = 532–6|doi = 10.1097/00005373-199310000-00006|pmid = 8411275|first1 = Michael D.|last2 = Cole|first2 = John|first3 = C. William|last3 = Schwab|first4 = Donald R.|last4 = Kauder|first5 = Michael F.|first6 = Peter B.|last5 = Rotondo|last6 = Angood|s2cid = 24922385|author-link3 = C. William Schwab|author-link6 = Peter B. Angood}}{{Closed access}}</ref> In ], the risk of gunshot injury is 22 times higher for those males involved with crime.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McLaughlin |first1=Colleen R. |first2=Jack |last2=Daniel |first3=Scott M. |last3=Riener |first4=Dennis E. |last4=Waite |display-authors=1 |title=Factors Associated with Assault-Related Firearm Injuries in Male Adolescents |journal=Journal of Adolescent Health |volume=27 |issue=3 |year=2000 |pages=195–201 |doi=10.1016/S1054-139X(99)00100-7 |pmid=10960218 }}</ref>


The likelihood that a death will result is significantly increased when either the victim or the attacker has a firearm.<ref> It is significantly more likely that a death will result when either the victim or the attacker has a firearm.<ref>{{cite book
{{cite book
|author=Cook, Philip J., Mark H. Moore |author=Cook, Philip J., Mark H. Moore
|year=1995 |year=1995
Line 79: Line 129:
|editor=Wilson, James Q. |editor2=Joan Petersilia |editor=Wilson, James Q. |editor2=Joan Petersilia
|title=Crime |title=Crime
|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/crimewils00wils
|chapter-url-access=registration
|publisher=] |publisher=]
}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Zimring|first1=Franklin E.|authorlink=Franklin Zimring|title=Firearms, Violence, and the Potential Impact of Firearms Control|journal=]|date=March 2004|volume=32|issue=1|pages=34–37|doi=10.1111/j.1748-720X.2004.tb00446.x|quote=Gun assaults are seven times as likely to kill as all other kinds of criminal assault, and about five times as likely to kill as are knives, the next most deadly weapon that is frequently used in criminal attacks.}}</ref> For example, the mortality rate for gunshot wounds to the ] is 84%, compared to 30% for people who sustain stab wounds to the heart.<ref> }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Zimring|first1=Franklin E.|author-link=Franklin Zimring|title=Firearms, Violence, and the Potential Impact of Firearms Control|journal=]|date=March 2004|volume=32|issue=1|pages=34–37|doi=10.1111/j.1748-720X.2004.tb00446.x|pmid=15152424|s2cid=15213800|quote=Gun assaults are seven times as likely to kill as all other kinds of criminal assault, and about five times as likely to kill as are knives, the next most deadly weapon that is frequently used in criminal attacks.|url=https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1780&context=facpubs|access-date=July 12, 2019|archive-date=April 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190429035826/https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1780&context=facpubs|url-status=dead}}</ref> The mortality rate for gunshot wounds to the heart is 84%, compared to 30% for people who suffer stab wounds to the heart.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/S1072-7515(97)00144-0 |pmid=9449597 |title=Penetrating Cardiac Injuries: A Prospective Study of Variables Predicting Outcomes |journal=Journal of the American College of Surgeons |volume=186 |issue=1 |pages=24–34 |year=1998 |last1=Asensio |first1=J |last2=Murray |first2=J |last3=Demetriades |first3=D |last4=Berne |first4=J |last5=Cornwell |first5=E |last6=Velmahos |first6=G |last7=Gomez |first7=H |last8=Berne |first8=T. V }}</ref>
{{cite journal
|author1=Asensio J.A. |author2=J. Murray |author3=D. Demetriades |title=Penetrating cardiac injuries: A prospective study of variables predicting outcome
|journal=]
|year=1998 |volume=186 |pages=24–34
|pmid=9449597
|doi=10.1016/S1072-7515(97)00144-0
|issue=1
|display-authors=etal}}</ref>
The U.S. is ranked 4th out of 34 developed nations in regards to the incidence of homicides committed with a firearm, according to ] (OECD) data. Mexico, Turkey, Estonia are ranked ahead of the U.S. in incidence of homicides. A U.S. male aged 15–24 is 70 times more likely to be killed with a gun than their counterpart in the eight (G-8) largest industrialized nations in the world (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, Italy, Russia).<ref name="Forbes"/> In a broader comparison of 218 countries the U.S. is ranked 111.<ref name=UNODC2013>{{cite web |url=http://www.unodc.org/documents/gsh/pdfs/2014_GLOBAL_HOMICIDE_BOOK_web.pdf |title=Global Study on Homicide 2013: Trends, Contexts, Data |publisher=] (UNODC) |website=www.unodc.org |date=2014 |location=Vienna, Austria |format=PDF |type=report}}</ref> In 2010, the U.S.' homicide rate is 7 times higher than the average for populous developed countries in the OECD, and its firearm-related homicide rate was 25.2 times higher.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Grinshteyn|first1=E|last2=Hemenway|first2=D|title=Violent Death Rates: The US Compared with Other High-income OECD Countries, 2010.|journal=The American Journal of Medicine|date=March 2016|volume=129|issue=3|pages=266–73|doi=10.1016/j.amjmed.2015.10.025|pmid=26551975}}</ref> In 2013 the United States' ] was 10.64 deaths for every 100,000 inhabitants, a figure very close to Mexico's 11.17, although in Mexico firearm deaths are predominantly homicides whereas in the United States they are predominantly suicides.<ref>{{cite web |title=Guns and Suicide: the Hidden Toll |url=http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine-features/guns-and-suicide-the-hidden-toll/ |publisher=]}}</ref> (Although Mexico has ], the laws restricting carry are often unenforced, and the laws restricting manufacture and sale are often circumvented by trafficking from the United States and other countries.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mexico: Dynamics of the Gun Trade |url=https://www.stratfor.com/weekly/mexico_dynamics_gun_trade |publisher=]}}</ref>) ] and ] each have much looser gun control regulation than the majority of developed nations, although significantly more than in the United States, and have firearm death rates of 2.22 and 2.91 per 100,000 citizens, respectively. By comparison ], which imposed sweeping gun control laws in response to the ] in 1996, has a firearm death rate of 0.86 per 100,000, and in the ] the rate is 0.26. In 2015, there were 372 mass shootings and 33,636 deaths due to firearms in the U.S, while guns were used to kill about 50 people in the U.K.<ref name="Forbes"/> More people are typically killed with guns in the U.S. in a day (about 85) than in the U.K. in a year.<ref name="Forbes">{{cite news|title=Stopping Gun Violence: Time for Innovative Solutions|url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanfurrjeffdyer/2016/07/08/stopping-gun-violence-time-for-innovative-solutions/|publisher=Forbes|date=July 8, 2016}}</ref>


In the United States, states with higher gun ownership rates have higher rates of gun homicides and homicides overall, but not higher rates of non-gun homicides.<ref name=ajpm>{{cite journal|last1=Monuteaux|first1=Michael C.|last2=Lee|first2=Lois K.|last3=Hemenway|first3=David|last4=Mannix|first4=Rebekah|last5=Fleegler|first5=Eric W.|author-link1=Michael Monuteaux|title=Firearm Ownership and Violent Crime in the U.S|journal=]|date=August 2015|volume=49|issue=2|pages=207–214|doi=10.1016/j.amepre.2015.02.008|pmid=26091930}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Siegel|first1=Michael|last2=Ross|first2=Craig S|last3=King|first3=Charles|title=Examining the relationship between the prevalence of guns and homicide rates in the USA using a new and improved state-level gun ownership proxy|journal=]|date=December 2014|volume=20|issue=6|pages=424–426|doi=10.1136/injuryprev-2014-041187|pmid=24740937|s2cid=206980488}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gius|first1=Mark|title=The effect of gun ownership rates on homicide rates: a state-level analysis|journal=]|date=November 13, 2009|volume=16|issue=17|pages=1687–1690|doi=10.1080/13504850701675508|s2cid=154312542}}</ref> Higher gun availability is positively associated with homicide rates.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=McDowall|first1=David|author-link=David McDowall (criminologist)|title=Firearm Availability and Homicide Rates in Detroit, 1951–1986|journal=]|date=June 1991|volume=69|issue=4|pages=1085–1101|doi=10.2307/2579303|jstor=2579303}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Duggan|first1=Mark|author-link=Mark Duggan (economist)|title=More Guns, More Crime|journal=]|date=October 2001|volume=109|issue=5|pages=1086–1114|doi=10.1086/322833|s2cid=33899679}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hepburn|first1=Lisa M|last2=Hemenway|first2=David|author-link2=David Hemenway|title=Firearm availability and homicide: A review of the literature|journal=]|date=July 2004|volume=9|issue=4|pages=417–440|doi=10.1016/S1359-1789(03)00044-2}}</ref>
Deadly mass shootings have resulted in considerable coverage by the media. These shootings have represented 1% of all deaths using gun between 1980 and 2008.<ref name="mass">{{Cite news | first=Kathleen | last=Parker | title=Here we go again: After another mass shooting we have same debate | url=http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/21/mass-shootings-domestic-violence-nra/1937041/| work= | newspaper=Florida Today | location=Melbourne, Florida | pages= 9A | date=September 19, 2013 | id= | accessdate=September 19, 2013}}</ref><!---hard copy and soft copy are very different articles but contain similar information---> Although mass shootings have been covered extensively in the media, mass shootings account for a small fraction of gun-related deaths<ref name="cdc001">{{cite book|title=Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence|publisher=The National Academies Press|isbn=978-0-309-28438-7}}</ref> and the frequency of these events had steadily declined between 1994 and 2007. Between 2007 and 2013, the rate of active shooter incidents per year in the US has increased.<ref name=2013MassShootingssince1990s>{{cite news|last=Duwe|first=Grant|title=Seven Mass Shootings in 2012 Most since 1999|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-313884483.html|accessdate=29 May 2014|newspaper=The Washington Times (Washington, DC)|date=January 4, 2013}}</ref><ref name="highbeam.com"/>


Some studies suggest that the concept of guns can prime aggressive thoughts and aggressive reactions. An experiment by Berkowitz and LePage in 1967 examined this "weapons effect." Ultimately, when study participants were provoked, their reaction was substantially more aggressive when a gun was visibly present in the room, in contrast with a more benign object like a tennis racket.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1037/h0025008 |title=Weapons as aggression-eliciting stimuli |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=7 |issue=2, Pt.1 |pages=202–7 |year=1967 |last1=Berkowitz |first1=Leonard |last2=Lepage |first2=Anthony |s2cid=47642747 }}</ref> Other similar experiments like those conducted by Carson, Marcus-Newhall and Miller yield similar results.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.58.4.622 |pmid=14570078 |title=Effects of situational aggression cues: A quantitative review |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=622–33 |year=1990 |last1=Carlson |first1=Michael |last2=Marcus-Newhall |first2=Amy |last3=Miller |first3=Norman |s2cid=17735768}}</ref> Such results imply that the presence of a gun in an altercation could elicit an aggressive reaction, which may result in homicide.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1037/h0025008 |title=Weapons as aggression-eliciting stimuli |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=7 |issue=2, Pt.1 |pages=202–7 |year=1967 |last1=Berkowitz |first1=Leonard |last2=Lepage |first2=Anthony |s2cid=47642747 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.58.4.622 |pmid=14570078 |title=Effects of situational aggression cues: A quantitative review |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=622–33 |year=1990 |last1=Carlson |first1=Michael |last2=Marcus-Newhall |first2=Amy |last3=Miller |first3=Norman |s2cid=17735768}}</ref>
Handguns figured in the ], ], ], ], and ].<!-- but both handguns and a rifle were used in the ]<ref name "handguns_and_rifle">{{cite web|last=Tenser|first=Phil | title= AR-15 with high-capacity magazines used by Adam Lanza in Sandy Hook School shooting | url=http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/national/ar-15-with-high-capacity-magazines-used-by-adam-lanza-in-sandy-hook-school-shooting|accessdate=7 January 2013}}</ref>. {The actual weapons used in Sandy Hook have yet to be confirmed as of 9 January 2013. Newtown police have not responded to FOIA requests stating the incident is still under investigation.}--> The ] and the ] were committed by assailants armed with multiple weapons.

===Comparison to other countries===
]
{{multiple image |total_width=500
| image1= 2010 homicide suicide rates high-income countries.png| thumb | caption1= The U.S. leads other high-income countries in gun-related homicides and in gun-related suicides.<ref name=AJM201603>{{cite journal |last1=Grinshteyn |first1=Erin |last2=Hemenway |first2=David |title=Violent Death Rates: The US Compared with Other High-income OECD Countries, 2010 |journal=] |date=March 2016 |volume=129 |issue=3 |pages=266–273 |doi=10.1016/j.amjmed.2015.10.025 |pmid=26551975 |doi-access=free}} (). ().</ref>
| image2= 2010 homicide rates - gun versus non-gun - high-income countries.png | caption2= U.S. ''gun'' homicide rates exceed ''total'' homicide rates in high-income OECD countries.<ref name=AJM201603 />
}}

In 2023, the U.S. was ranked 4th out of 34 developed nations for the highest incidence rate of homicides committed with a firearm, according to ] (OECD) data. Mexico, Turkey, and Estonia are ranked ahead of the U.S. in incidence of homicides. However, according to comprehensive research by the ], the firearm-related homicide rates in Estonia and Turkey are both below the US, at 0.78 in Turkey and 0 in Estonia, while being 5.9 in the US, with Estonia registering zero in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Compare Turkey – Rate of Gun Homicide per 100,000 People |url=https://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/compare/187/rate_of_gun_homicide/61,194 |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=www.gunpolicy.org}}</ref>

In 2016, a U.S. male aged 15–24 was 70 times more likely to be killed with a gun than their counterpart in the eight (G-8) largest industrialized nations in the world, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, Italy, Russia.<ref name="Forbes" /> In 2013, in a broader comparison of 218 countries, the U.S. was ranked 111.<ref name=UNODC2013>{{cite web |url=http://www.unodc.org/documents/gsh/pdfs/2014_GLOBAL_HOMICIDE_BOOK_web.pdf |title=Global Study on Homicide 2013: Trends, Contexts, Data |publisher=] (UNODC) |website=www.unodc.org |date=2014 |location=Vienna, Austria |type=report}}</ref> In 2010, the U.S.' homicide rate was 7 times higher than the average for populous developed countries in the OECD, and its firearm-related homicide rate was 25.2 times higher.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Grinshteyn|first1=E|last2=Hemenway|first2=D|title=Violent Death Rates: The US Compared with Other High-income OECD Countries, 2010|journal=The American Journal of Medicine|date=March 2016|volume=129|issue=3|pages=266–73|doi=10.1016/j.amjmed.2015.10.025|pmid=26551975|doi-access=free}}</ref> In 2013, the United States' ] was 10.64 deaths for every 100,000 inhabitants, a figure very close to Mexico's 11.17, although in Mexico firearm deaths are predominantly homicides whereas in the United States they are predominantly suicides.<ref>{{cite web |title=Guns and Suicide: the Hidden Toll |url=http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine-features/guns-and-suicide-the-hidden-toll/ |publisher=]|date=August 16, 2016}}</ref> Although Mexico ], the laws restricting carry are often unenforced, and the laws restricting manufacture and sale are often circumvented by trafficking from the United States and other countries.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mexico: Dynamics of the Gun Trade |url=https://www.stratfor.com/weekly/mexico_dynamics_gun_trade |publisher=]}}</ref>

] and ] each have much looser gun control regulation than the majority of developed nations, although significantly more than in the United States, and have firearm death rates of 2.22 and 2.91 per 100,000 citizens, respectively. By comparison Australia, ] in response to the ] in 1996, has a firearm death rate of 0.86 per 100,000. In the ] the rate is 0.26.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/upshot/compare-these-gun-death-rates-the-us-is-in-a-different-world.html|title=Compare These Gun Death Rates: The U.S. Is in a Different World|last1=Quealy|first1=Kevin|date=June 13, 2016|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 3, 2017|last2=Sanger-Katz|first2=Margot|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 2014, there were 8,124 gun homicides in the U.S.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/upshot/compare-these-gun-death-rates-the-us-is-in-a-different-world.html|title=Compare These Gun Death Rates: The U.S. Is in a Different World|last1=Quealy|first1=Kevin|date=June 13, 2016|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 3, 2017|last2=Sanger-Katz|first2=Margot|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 2015, there were 33,636 deaths due to firearms in the U.S, with homicides accounting for 13,286 of those, while guns were used to kill about 50 people in the U.K., a country with population one-fifth of the size of the U.S. population.<ref name="Forbes" /> More people are typically killed with guns in the U.S. in a day, about 85, than in the U.K. in a year, if suicides are included.<ref name="Forbes">{{cite news|title=Stopping Gun Violence: Time for Innovative Solutions|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanfurrjeffdyer/2016/07/08/stopping-gun-violence-time-for-innovative-solutions/|work=Forbes|date=July 8, 2016}}</ref> With deaths by firearm reaching almost 40,000 in the U.S. in 2017, their highest level since 1968, almost 109 people died per day.<ref name="CNN 2018" />

A study conducted by the ] determined that worldwide yearly gun deaths had reached 250,000 by 2018 and that the United States was one of only six countries that collectively accounted for roughly half of those fatalities.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/worldwide-gun-deaths-study_us_5b869e09e4b0cf7b0030dfec|title=Worldwide Gun Deaths Reach 250,000 Yearly|last=AP|date=August 29, 2018|work=Huffington Post|access-date=August 30, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/global-gun-deaths-reach-250000-annually-study-finds/a-45260748|title=Global gun deaths reach 250,000 annually, study finds {{!}} DW {{!}} August 28, 2018|last=(www.dw.com)|first=Deutsche Welle|website=DW.COM|language=en|access-date=August 30, 2018}}</ref>
According to the 2023 ], there are about 120 guns for every 100 Americans. In other words, there are more civilian guns in the United States than there are people. The rate of deaths from gun violence in the United States is eight times greater than in Canada, which has the seventh-highest rate of gun ownership in the world.<ref>{{cite web |last1=LeBlanc |first1=Paul |title=One nation, under gun violence: America tops 100 mass shootings in 2023 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/06/politics/america-mass-shootings-2023-gun-violence/index.html |website=] |date=6 March 2023}}</ref>

===Mass shootings===
{{Main|Mass shootings in the United States}}
{{See also|List of mass shootings in the United States}}
] following the ]]]
{{multiple image | total_width=450
| image1=1998- Mass shootings in developed countries - bubble chart.svg |caption1= The U.S. has substantially more mass shootings (in which four or more people are killed) than other developed countries.<ref name=NYTimes_20220526>{{cite news |last1=Lopez |first1=German |title=America's Gun Problem |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/26/briefing/guns-america-shooting-deaths.html |work=The New York Times |date=26 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526114221/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/26/briefing/guns-america-shooting-deaths.html |archive-date=26 May 2022 |quote=Source: Jason R. Silva, William Paterson University |url-status=live}}</ref>

| image2=2000- Outcomes of active shooter attacks (stacked bar chart).svg |caption2= Outcomes of active shooter attacks vary with actions of the attacker, the police (42% of total incidents), and bystanders.<ref name=NYTimes_20220622>{{cite news |last1=Buchanan |first1=Larry |last2=Leatherby |first2=Lauren |title=Who Stops a 'Bad Guy With a Gun'? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/06/22/us/shootings-police-response-uvalde-buffalo.html |work=The New York Times |date=June 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622111531/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/06/22/us/shootings-police-response-uvalde-buffalo.html |archive-date=June 22, 2022 |quote=Data source: Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center |url-status=live}}</ref>
}}
The definition of a mass shooting remains under debate. The precise inclusion criteria are disputed, and there no broadly accepted definition exists.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/10/04/the-squishy-definition-of-mass-shooting-complicates-media-coverage/|title=The squishy definition of 'mass shooting' complicates media coverage|last=Borchers|first=Callum|date=October 4, 2017|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=August 26, 2018|quote=...'mass shooting' is a term without a universally-accepted definition.}}</ref><ref name=":0b">{{Cite web|url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43004.pdf|title=Public Mass Shootings in the United States|last=Bjelopera|first=Jerome|date=March 18, 2013|website=Congressional Research Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909213006/http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43004.pdf|archive-date=September 9, 2013|url-status=dead|access-date=August 26, 2018|quote=There is no broadly agreed-to, specific conceptualization of this issue, so this report uses its own definition for public mass shootings.}}</ref> '']'', using their standard of a mass shooting where a lone gunman kills at least four people in a public place for motivations excluding gang violence or robbery,<ref name=MotherJonesGuide>{{cite web |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shootings-map |title=A Guide to Mass Shootings in America |newspaper=Motherjones.com |date=June 12, 2016 |author1=Mark Follman |author2=Gavin Aronsen |author3=Deanna Pan |access-date= June 13, 2016}}</ref> concluded that between 1982 and 2006 there were 40 mass shootings, an average of 1.6 per year. From 2007 to May 2018, there were 61 mass shootings, an average of 5.4 per year.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Follman|first1=Mark|last2=Aronsen|first2=Gavin|last3=Pan|first3=Deanna|title=US Mass Shootings, 1982–2018: Data From Mother Jones' Investigation|url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-mother-jones-full-data/|website=Mother Jones|access-date=May 20, 2018}}</ref> More broadly, the frequency of mass shootings steadily declined throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, then increased dramatically.<ref name=2013MassShootingssince1990s>{{cite news|last=Duwe|first=Grant|title=Seven Mass Shootings in 2012 Most since 1999|url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-313884483|access-date=May 29, 2014|newspaper=The Washington Times|location=Washington, DC|date=January 4, 2013}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="highbeam.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-383559650.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328211904/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-383559650.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 28, 2015|title=FBI Confirms Rise in Mass Shootings in US|date=September 24, 2014}}</ref>

Studies indicate that the rate at which public mass shootings occur has tripled since 2011. Between 1982 and 2011, a mass shooting occurred roughly once every 200 days. Between 2011 and 2014, that rate accelerated greatly with at least one mass shooting occurring every 64 days in the United States.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/10/mass-shootings-increasing-harvard-research/|title=Rate of mass shootings has tripled since 2011, new research from Harvard shows|work=Mother Jones|access-date=December 13, 2017|language=en-US}}</ref> In "Behind the Bloodshed", a report by '']'', said that there were mass killings every two weeks and that public mass killings account for 1 in 6 of all mass killings (26 killings annually would thus be equivalent to 26/6, 4 to 5, public killings per year).<ref name=usatoday>{{cite news|title=Behind the Bloodshed|url=http://www.gannett-cdn.com/GDContent/mass-killings/index.html#frequency|newspaper=USA Today|access-date=December 3, 2015}}</ref>

''Mother Jones'' listed seven mass shootings in the U.S. for 2015.<ref name=MotherJonesGuide /> The average for the period 2011–2015 was about 5 a year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-mother-jones-full-data |title=US Mass Shootings, 1982–2016: Data From Mother Jones' Investigation |newspaper=Motherjones.com |author1=Mark Follman |author2=Gavin Aronsen |author3=Deanna Pan |access-date= June 13, 2016}} Original date December 28, 2012; list updated every 5 minutes. Figures for years 2011–2015: 3, 7, 5, 4, 7.</ref> An analysis by ]'s gun violence prevention group, '']'', identified 110 mass shootings, defined as shootings in which at least four people were murdered with a firearm, between January 2009 and July 2014. At least 57% were related to domestic or family violence.<ref name="alter2">{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/17/domestic-violence-gun_n_5595898.html |title=Mass Shooting Analysis Finds Strong Domestic Violence Connection |newspaper=The Huffington Post |date= July 18, 2014 |author= Melissa Jeltsen|access-date= June 13, 2016}}</ref>

Other media outlets have reported that hundreds of mass shootings take place in the United States in a single calendar year, citing a crowd-funded website known as Shooting Tracker which defines a mass shooting as having four or more people injured.<ref name="shooting tracker">{{cite web |url=https://www.massshootingtracker.org/about |title=About the Mass Shooting Tracker |website=Mass Shooting Tracker |access-date=June 13, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104222719/https://www.massshootingtracker.org/about |archive-date=January 4, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In December 2015, '']'' reported that there had been 355 mass shootings in the United States so far that year.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/02/the-san-bernardino-mass-shooting-is-the-second-today-and-the-355th-this-year/|title=The San Bernardino shooting is the second mass shooting today and the 355th this year|newspaper=Washington Post|date=December 2, 2015|access-date=December 16, 2015}}</ref> In August 2015, ''The Washington Post'' reported that the United States was averaging one mass shooting per day.<ref name=one>{{cite news|last1=Ingraham|first1=Christopher|title=We're now averaging more than one mass shooting per day in 2015|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/08/26/were-now-averaging-more-than-one-mass-shooting-per-day-in-2015/|newspaper=]|date=August 26, 2015|access-date=September 6, 2015|archive-date=September 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908172939/http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/08/26/were-now-averaging-more-than-one-mass-shooting-per-day-in-2015/|url-status=dead}}</ref> An earlier report had indicated that in 2015 alone, there had been 294 mass shootings that killed or injured 1,464 people.<ref>{{cite web|title = More than one mass shooting happens per day in the U.S., data shows|url = https://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/one-mass-shooting-happens-per-day-u-s-data-shows/|website = PBS NewsHour|access-date = October 8, 2015|date = October 2, 2015}}</ref> Shooting Tracker and Mass Shooting Tracker, the two sites that the media have been citing, have been criticized for using a criterion much more inclusive than that used by the government—they count four victims injured as a mass shooting—thus producing much higher figures.<ref name="NYTDec_2015">{{cite news|first=Mark|last=Follman|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/opinion/how-many-mass-shootings-are-there-really.html|title=How Many Mass Shootings Are There, Really?|work=]|date=December 3, 2015|access-date=December 6, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Elizabeth|last=Stuart|url=http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/number-of-us-mass-shootings-greatly-exaggerated-in-media-acclaimed-researcher-states-7872731|title=Number of U.S. Mass Shootings Greatly Exaggerated in Media, Acclaimed Researcher States|website=Phoenix New Times|date=December 7, 2015|access-date=December 10, 2015}}</ref>

Handguns figured in the ], the ], the ], the ], and the ], but both a handgun and a rifle were used in the ].<ref name ="handguns_and_rifle">{{cite web|last=Tenser|first=Phil|title=AR-15 with high-capacity magazines used by Adam Lanza in Sandy Hook School shooting|url=http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/national/ar-15-with-high-capacity-magazines-used-by-adam-lanza-in-sandy-hook-school-shooting|access-date=January 7, 2013|archive-date=December 31, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121231170032/http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/national/ar-15-with-high-capacity-magazines-used-by-adam-lanza-in-sandy-hook-school-shooting|url-status=dead}}</ref> The ] and the ] were committed by assailants armed with multiple weapons. ]s have been used in a number of the deadliest mass shooting incidents, and have come to be widely characterized as the weapon of choice for perpetrators of mass shootings,<ref>{{cite news |agency=] |title=Why the AR-15 is the mass shooter's go-to weapon |first=Aaron |last=Smith |date=June 21, 2016 |access-date=February 15, 2018 |url=https://money.cnn.com/2016/06/13/news/ar-15-assault-rifle/index.html |quote=The AR-15, the type of rifle used in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, is the weapon of choice for mass killers.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Aimee |last=Picchi |date=June 15, 2016 |title=America's rifle: The marketing of assault-style weapons |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/orlando-shooting-ar15-rifles-omar-mateen/ |publisher=CBS News |work=] |access-date=February 23, 2018 |quote=America has grown accustomed to military-style semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15. It's not hard to see why: These firearms have been heavily marketed to gun owners. But at the same time, they're often the weapons of choice for mass murderers.}}</ref><ref name=wired20160617>{{cite news |first=Sarah |last=Zhang |title=What an AR-15 Can Do to the Human Body |magazine=] |date=June 17, 2016 |access-date=March 3, 2018 |url=https://www.wired.com/2016/06/ar-15-can-human-body/ | quote=The AR-15 is America's most popular rifle. It has also been the weapon of choice in mass shootings from Sandy Hook to Aurora to San Bernardino. }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |magazine=] |title=How the AR-15 Became One of the Most Popular Guns in America, A brief history of the guns that have become the weapons of choice for mass shootings |first=Joseph P. |last=Williams |date=November 7, 2017 |access-date=February 15, 2018 |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-11-07/how-the-ar-15-assault-rifle-became-one-of-the-most-popular-guns-in-america |quote=They're lightweight, relatively cheap and extremely lethal, inspired by Nazi infantrymen on the Eastern Front during World War II. They're so user-friendly some retailers recommend them for children, yet their design is so aggressive one marketer compared them to carrying a "man card" – although ladies who dare can get theirs in pink. And if the last few mass shootings are any indication, guns modeled after the AR-15 assault rifle – arguably the most popular, most enduring and most profitable firearm in the U.S. – have become the weapon of choice for unstable, homicidal men who want to kill a lot of people very, very quickly.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Why mass shooters are increasingly using AR-15s |first1=Bart |last1=Jansen |first2=William |last2=Cummings |newspaper=] |date=November 6, 2017 |access-date=February 15, 2018 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/11/06/ar-15-style-rifles-common-among-mass-shootings/838283001/ |quote=AR-15 style rifles have been the weapon of choice in many recent mass shootings, including the Texas church shooting Sunday, the Las Vegas concert last month, the Orlando nightclub last year and Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.}}</ref><ref name=nyt20180215>{{cite news |newspaper=] |author-link=Richard A. Oppel Jr. |first=Richard A. |last=Oppel Jr. |access-date=February 15, 2018 |date=February 15, 2018 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/15/us/ar15-mass-shootings-guns.html |title=In Florida, an AR-15 Is Easier to Buy Than a Handgun |quote=The N.R.A. calls the AR-15 the most popular rifle in America. The carnage in Florida on Wednesday that left at least 17 dead seemed to confirm that the rifle and its variants have also become the weapons of choice for mass killers.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Why AR-15-style rifles are popular among mass shooters |first=Whitney |last=Lloyd |date=February 16, 2018 |access-date=March 2, 2018 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/ar-15-style-rifles-popular-mass-shooters/story?id=53111745 |agency=ABC News |quote=AR-15-style rifles have become something of a weapon of choice for mass shooters.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Lois |last=Beckett |date=February 16, 2018 |access-date=March 2, 2018 |title=Most Americans can buy an AR-15 rifle before they can buy beer |newspaper=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/16/americans-age-to-buy-ar15-assault-rifle-mass-shootings |quote=While AR-15 style rifles have become the weapon of choice for some of America's most recent and deadly mass shootings, these military-style guns are still comparatively rarely used in everyday gun violence.}}</ref> despite statistics which show that handguns are the most commonly used weapon type in mass shootings.<ref>{{cite news |agency=] |title=Weapon types used in mass shootings in the United States between 1982 and August 2019 |first=Mother |last=Jones |date=August 5, 2019 |access-date=August 9, 2019 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/476409/mass-shootings-in-the-us-by-weapon-types-used/ |quote=While handguns are the most commonly used weapon type in mass shootings...}}</ref>

The number of public mass shootings has increased substantially over several decades, with a steady increase in gun-related deaths.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/past-tolls |title=Past Summary Ledgers |publisher=Gun Violence Archive |access-date=September 29, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/03/weve-had-a-massive-decline-in-gun-violence-in-the-united-states-heres-why/|title=We've had a massive decline in gun violence in the United States. Here's why.|last=Ehrenfreund|first=Max|date=December 3, 2015|newspaper=]|access-date=December 13, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Although mass shootings are covered extensively in the media, they account for a small fraction of gun-related deaths,<ref name="cdc001" /> only 1 percent of all gun deaths between 1980 and 2008.<ref name="mass">{{Cite news | first=Kathleen | last=Parker | title=Here we go again: After another mass shooting we have same debate | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/21/mass-shootings-domestic-violence-nra/1937041/| newspaper=Florida Today | location=Melbourne, Florida | pages= 9A | date=September 19, 2013 | access-date=September 19, 2013}}</ref> Between January 1 and May 18, 2018, 31 students and teachers were killed inside U.S. schools, exceeding the number of U.S. military service members who died in combat and noncombat roles during the same period.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sommerfeldt|first1=Chris|title=This year has been deadlier for American students than American military members|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/year-deadlier-american-students-troops-article-1.3997382|access-date=May 20, 2018|newspaper=NY Daily News|date=May 18, 2018}}</ref>


==Accidental and negligent injuries== ==Accidental and negligent injuries==
The perpetrators and victims of accidental and negligent gun discharges may be of any age. Over 120 children 15 years old or younger were killed in gun accidents in 1998.<ref name=Lott-2001>{{cite journal |last=Lott |first=John R. |last2=Whitley |first2=John E. |year=2001 |title=Safe-Storage Gun Laws: Accidental Deaths, Suicides, and Crime |url=http://johnrlott.tripod.com/whitney.pdf |journal=Journal of Law and Economics |publisher= |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=659–689 |doi=10.1086/338346 }}</ref> Accidental injuries are most common in homes where guns are kept for self-defense.<ref name=Lott-2001/> The injuries are self-inflicted in half of the cases.<ref name=Lott-2001/> The perpetrators and victims of accidental and negligent gun discharges may be of any age. Accidental injuries are most common in homes where guns are kept for self-defense.<ref name=Lott-2001>{{cite journal |last1=Lott |first1=John R. |last2=Whitley |first2=John E. |year=2001 |title=Safe-Storage Gun Laws: Accidental Deaths, Suicides, and Crime |url=http://johnrlott.tripod.com/whitney.pdf |journal=Journal of Law and Economics |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=659–689 |doi=10.1086/338346 |citeseerx=10.1.1.180.3066 |s2cid=154446568 }}</ref> The injuries are self-inflicted in half of the cases.<ref name=Lott-2001 />
On January 16, 2013, President Obama issued 23 Executive Orders on Gun Safety,<ref></ref> one of which was for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to research causes and possible prevention of gun violence. The five main areas of focus were gun violence, risk factors, prevention/intervention, gun safety and how media and violent video games influence the public. They also researched the area of accidental firearm deaths. According to this study not only have the number of accidental firearm deaths been on the decline over the past century but they now account for less than 1% of all unintentional deaths, half of which are self-inflicted.<ref>" Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence ." Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence . Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2013 .</ref> On January 16, 2013, President ] issued 23 Executive Orders on Gun Safety,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2013/01/16/here-are-the-23-executive-orders-on-gun-safety-signed-today-by-the-president|title=Here Are The 23 Executive Orders On Gun Safety Signed Today By The President|first=Rick|last=Ungar|website=]}}</ref> one of which was for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to research causes and possible prevention of gun violence. The five main areas of focus were gun violence, risk factors, prevention/intervention, gun safety and how media and violent video games influence the public. They also researched the area of accidental firearm deaths. According to this study not only have the number of accidental firearm deaths been on the decline over the past century but they now account for less than 1% of all unintentional deaths, half of which are self-inflicted.<ref>" Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence ." Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence . Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2013 .</ref>


== Violent crime == ==Violent crime==
{{see also|Gun violence in the United States by state}} {{See also|Gun violence in the United States by state}}
In the United States, states with higher levels of gun ownership were associated with higher rates of gun assault and gun robbery.<ref name=ajpm /> However it is unclear if higher crime rates are a result of increased gun ownership or if gun ownership rates increase as a result of increased crime.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/analysis/supplementary/firearm-prevalence-violent-crime.html|title=The Relationship Between Firearm Prevalence and Violent Crime|last1=Monica|first1=1776 Main Street Santa|last2=California 90401-3208|website=www.rand.org|language=en|access-date=March 29, 2019}}</ref>
In the United States, areas with higher levels of gun ownership also have higher rates of gun assault and gun robbery.<ref name=ajpm/>


===Costs===
=== U.S. presidential assassinations and attempts ===
]
{{Main article|List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots}}
In 2000, the costs of gun violence in the United States were estimated to be on the order of $100 billion per year, plus the costs associated with the gun violence avoidance and prevention behaviors.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Philip J. |last2=Ludwig |first2=Jens |title=Gun Violence: The Real Costs |url=https://archive.org/details/gunviolencerealc0000cook |url-access=registration |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-19-513793-4 |page= |quote=Taken together, the best available evidence suggests that the costs of gun violence in America are on the order of $100 billion per year, plus the value of the avoidance and prevention behaviors...}}</ref>
At least eleven assassination attempts with firearms have been made on U.S. presidents (over one-fifth of all presidents); four were successful, three with handguns and one with a rifle.

In 2010, gun violence cost U.S. taxpayers about $516 million in direct hospital costs.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Howell|first1=Embry M.|title=The Hospital Costs of Firearm Assaults|url=http://www.urban.org/research/publication/hospital-costs-firearm-assaults/view/full_report|access-date=September 12, 2015|agency=Urban Institute|date=September 13, 2013|archive-date=September 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918224957/http://www.urban.org/research/publication/hospital-costs-firearm-assaults/view/full_report|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===U.S. presidential assassinations and attempts===
{{Main|List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots}}
] in 1901; McKinley died eight days later from his wounds.]]
At least eleven assassination attempts with firearms have been made on U.S. presidents (over one-fifth of all presidents); four sitting presidents have been killed, three with handguns and one with a rifle.


] survived an earlier attack,<ref>{{cite book|title=Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America|last=Gienapp|first=William E|publisher=]|year=2002|isbn=978-0-19-515100-8}}</ref> but was killed using a .44-caliber ] pistol fired by ].<ref name="Koller"> ] survived an earlier attack,<ref>{{cite book|title=Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America|url=https://archive.org/details/abrahamlincolnci00gien|url-access=registration|last=Gienapp|first=William E|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-19-515100-8}}</ref> but was killed using a .44-caliber ] pistol fired by ].<ref name="Koller">{{cite book
{{cite book
|author=Koller, Larry |author=Koller, Larry
|year=1957 |year=1957
Line 115: Line 202:
|page=4 |page=4
|publisher=] |publisher=]
}}</ref> ] was shot two times and mortally wounded by ] using a .44-caliber ] on July 2, 1881. He would die of ] the same year on September 19. On September 6, 1901, ] was fatally wounded by ] when he fired twice at ] using a .32-caliber revolver. Despite only being struck by one of the bullets and receiving immediate surgical treatment, McKinley died 8 days later of ].<ref name="Koller" /> ] was killed by ] with a ] on November 22, 1963.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-4.html |title=Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, Chapter 4 |publisher=Archives.gov |accessdate=2014-01-16}}</ref> }}</ref> ] was shot two times and mortally wounded by ] using a .44-caliber ] on July 2, 1881. He would die of ] the same year on September 19. On September 6, 1901, ] was fatally wounded by ] when he fired twice at ] using a .32-caliber revolver. Struck by one of the bullets and receiving immediate surgical treatment, McKinley died 8 days later of ] infection.<ref name="Koller" /> ] was killed by ] with a ] on November 22, 1963.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-4.html |title=Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, Chapter 4 |publisher=Archives.gov |access-date=January 16, 2014}}</ref>


], ], and ] (the latter twice) survived assassination attempts involving firearms unharmed.<ref> ], ], and ] (the latter twice) survived unharmed from assassination attempts involving firearms.<ref>{{cite book
{{cite book
|author=Ward, John William |author=Ward, John William
|year=1962 |year=1962
|title=Andrew Jackson |title=Andrew Jackson
|url=https://archive.org/details/andrewjacksonsym0000ward
|page=114
|url-access=registration
|publisher=]
|page=
|isbn=0-19-500699-2
|publisher=Oxford University Press
}}</ref><ref>
|isbn=978-0-19-500699-5
{{cite book
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
|author=Donovan, Robert J. |author=Donovan, Robert J.
|year=1996 |year=1996
|title=Tumultuous Years |title=Tumultuous Years
|page=
|page=291
|publisher=] |publisher=University of Missouri Press
|isbn=0-393-01619-6 |isbn=978-0-393-01619-2
|url=https://archive.org/details/tumultuousyearsp0000dono_n2q0/page/291
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book }}</ref><ref>{{cite book
|author=Winget, Mary Mueller |author=Winget, Mary Mueller
|year=2007 |year=2007
Line 140: Line 227:
|page=86 |page=86
|publisher=] |publisher=]
|isbn=0-8225-1509-1 |isbn=978-0-8225-1509-8
}}</ref> }}</ref>


] was critically wounded in the March 30, 1981 assassination attempt by ] with a .22-caliber revolver. He remains the only U.S. President to survive being shot while in office.<ref name="pbs attempt"> ] was critically wounded in the March 30, 1981 assassination attempt by ] with a .22-caliber revolver. He is the only U.S. president to survive being shot while in office.<ref name="pbs attempt">{{cite news
|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reagan/timeline/index_3.html
{{cite news
|title=Ronald Reagan's Life, 1979–1982
|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reagan/timeline/index_3.html
|access-date=January 14, 2008
|title=Ronald Reagan's Life, 1979-1982
|accessdate=2008-01-14
|publisher=] |publisher=]
|archive-date=January 25, 2008
}}</ref> Former president ] was shot and wounded right before delivering a speech during his ]. Despite bleeding from his chest, Roosevelt refused to go to a hospital until he delivered the speech.<ref>
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080125155801/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reagan/timeline/index_3.html
{{cite book
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> Former president ] was shot and wounded right before delivering a speech during his ]. Despite bleeding from his chest, Roosevelt refused to go to a hospital until he delivered the speech.<ref>{{cite book
|author=Miller, Nathan |author=Miller, Nathan
|year=1993 |year=1993
|title=Theodore Roosevelt |title=Theodore Roosevelt
|page=
|page=530
|publisher=] |publisher=HarperCollins
|isbn=0-688-06784-0 |isbn=978-0-688-06784-7
|url=https://archive.org/details/theodoreroosevel00mill/page/530
}}</ref> On February 15, 1933, ] attempted to assassinate president-elect ], who was giving a speech from his car in Miami, Florida.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://digital.library.miami.edu/gov/FDRAssn.html |title=Franklin D. Roosevelt Assassination Attempt - FBI Freedom of Information Act Files - Miami Public Pages |publisher=Digital.library.miami.edu |accessdate=2013-01-10}}</ref> Although Roosevelt was unharmed, Chicago mayor ] died in that attempt, and several other bystanders received non-fatal injuries.<ref name=Weaver2002>{{cite journal |last=Weaver |first=Greg S. |year=2002 |title=Firearm Deaths, Gun Availability, and Legal Regulatory Changes: Suggestions from the Data |journal=The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology |location=Chicago, Illinois |publisher=Northwestern University School of Law |publication-date=2002 |volume=92 |issue=3/4 (Spring-Summer) |pages=823–842 |quote= |doi=10.2307/1144246 |jstor=1144246}}</ref>
}}</ref> On February 15, 1933, ] attempted to assassinate president-elect ], who was giving a speech from his car in Miami, Florida, with a .32-caliber pistol.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://digital.library.miami.edu/gov/FDRAssn.html |title=Franklin D. Roosevelt Assassination Attempt – FBI Freedom of Information Act Files – Miami Public Pages |publisher=Digital.library.miami.edu |access-date=January 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721144316/http://digital.library.miami.edu/gov/FDRAssn.html |archive-date=July 21, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Roosevelt was unharmed, but Chicago mayor ] died in the attempt, and several other bystanders received non-fatal injuries.<ref name=Weaver2002>{{cite journal |last=Weaver |first=Greg S. |year=2002 |title=Firearm Deaths, Gun Availability, and Legal Regulatory Changes: Suggestions from the Data |journal=The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology |publication-date=2002 |volume=92 |issue=3/4 (Spring–Summer) |pages=823–842 |doi=10.2307/1144246 |jstor=1144246|url=https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol92/iss3/10 }}</ref>


Response to these events has resulted in federal legislation to regulate the public possession of firearms. For example, the attempted assassination of Franklin Roosevelt contributed to passage of the ],<ref name=Weaver2002 /> and the ] (along with ]) resulted in the ]. The GCA is a federal law signed by President Lyndon Johnson that broadly regulates the firearms industry and firearms owners. It primarily focuses on regulating interstate commerce in firearms by largely prohibiting interstate firearms transfers except among licensed manufacturers, dealers, and importers. The assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan largely contributed to the passage of the ] in 1986.<ref>]§Aftermath</ref> Response to these events has resulted in federal legislation to regulate the public possession of firearms. For example, the attempted assassination of Franklin Roosevelt contributed to passage of the ] of 1934,<ref name=Weaver2002 /> and the ] (along with ]) resulted in the ]. The GCA is a federal law signed by President ] that broadly regulates the firearms industry and firearms owners. It primarily focuses on regulating interstate commerce in firearms by largely prohibiting interstate firearms transfers except among licensed manufacturers, dealers, and importers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/gun-control-act-1968 |title=Gun Control Act of 1968 |last=Eakins |first=Keith Rollins |website=Major Acts of Congress |language=en |access-date=November 30, 2017}}</ref>


=== Other violent crime === ===Other violent crime===
{{See also|Assault with a deadly weapon}}
A quarter of ] of commercial premises in the U.S. are committed with guns.<ref name="cook-1987">{{cite journal |author=Cook, Philip J. |title=Robbery Violence |journal=] |volume=70 |issue=2 |year=1987 |id={{NCJ|108118}}}}</ref> Fatalities are three times as likely in robberies committed with guns than where other, or no, weapons are used,<ref name="cook-1987"/><ref>{{cite journal |author=Kleck, Gary, K. McElrath |title=The Effects of Weaponry on Human Violence |journal=] |volume=69 |pages=669–692 |year=1991 |id={{NCJ|134329}} |doi=10.2307/2579469 |issue=3 |publisher=Social Forces, Vol. 69, No. 3 |jstor=2579469}}</ref><ref name="zimring-1972">{{cite journal |author=Zimring, Franklin E. |title=The Medium is the Message: Firearm Caliber as a Determinant of Death from Assault |journal=] |year=1972 |volume=1 |pages=97–123 |id={{NCJ|47874}} |doi=10.1086/467479}}</ref> with similar patterns in cases of family violence.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Saltzman, L., J.A. Mercy|title=Weapon Involvement and Injury Outcomes in Family and Intimate Assaults |journal=] |volume=267 |pages=3043–3047 |year=1992 |pmid=1588718 |doi=10.1001/jama.267.22.3043 |issue=22|display-authors=etal}}</ref> Criminologist ] hypothesized that if guns were less available, criminals might commit the same crime, but with less-lethal weapons.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000Ch3>{{cite book |last=Cook |first=Philip J. |last2=Ludwig |first2=Jens |year=2000 |chapter=How Guns Matter |chapterurl=https://books.google.com/books?id=rbPQxZ5r44cC&lpg=PR9&ots=tnCE5cLStu&dq=gun%20violence%20the%20real%20costs%20chapter%203&pg=PA29#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Gun Violence: The Real Costs |url=http://www.worldcat.org/title/gun-violence-the-real-cost/oclc/45580985 |location= |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195137934 |oclc=45580985 |accessdate= }}</ref> He finds that the level of gun ownership in the 50 largest U.S. cities correlates with the rate of robberies committed with guns, but not with overall robbery rates.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Cook, Philip J. |title=The Effect of Gun Availability on Robbery and Robbery Murder: A Cross-Section Study of Fifty Cities |journal=] |volume=3 |pages=743–781 |year=1979}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Kleck, Gary |title=Targeting guns: Firearms and their control |publisher=] |year=1997 |isbn=0-202-30569-4}}</ref> He also finds that robberies in which the assailant uses a gun are more likely to result in the death of the victim, but less likely to result in injury to the victim.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cook|first1=Philip J.|title=The Influence of Gun Availability on Violent Crime Patterns|journal=]|date=January 1983|volume=4|pages=49–89|doi=10.1086/449086}}</ref> A significant number of homicides are the consequence of an unintended escalation of another crime in which firearms are present, with no initial intent to kill.<ref name="zimring-1972"/><ref name="zimring-1997">{{cite book |author=Zimring, Franklin E., Gordon Hawkins |title=Crime Is Not the Problem: Lethal Violence in America |publisher=] |year=1997 |isbn=0-19-513105-3}}</ref> Overall robbery and ] rates in the U.S. are comparable to those in other developed countries, such as Australia and ], with much lower levels of gun ownership.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000Ch3 /><ref name="zimring-1997"/> A strong association exists between the availability of illegal guns and violent crime rates, but not between legal gun availability and violent crime rates.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Stolzenberg|authorlink1=Lisa Stolzenberg|first1=L.|last2=D'Alessio|first2=S. J.|title=Gun Availability and Violent Crime: New Evidence from the National Incident-Based Reporting System|journal=]|date=1 June 2000|volume=78|issue=4|pages=1461–1482|publisher=]|doi=10.1093/sf/78.4.1461|url=https://academic.oup.com/sf/article-abstract/78/4/1461/2234027/Gun-Availability-and-Violent-Crime-New-Evidence}}</ref>
A quarter of robberies of commercial premises in the U.S. are committed with guns.<ref name="cook-1987">{{cite journal |author=Cook, Philip J. |title=Robbery Violence |journal=] |volume=70 |issue=2 |year=1987 |id={{NCJ|108118}}}}</ref> Fatalities are three times as likely in robberies committed with guns than where other, or no, weapons are used,<ref name="cook-1987" /><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.2307/2579469 |id={{NCJ|134329}} |jstor=2579469 |title=The Effects of Weaponry on Human Violence |journal=Social Forces |volume=69 |issue=3 |pages=669–92 |year=1991 |last1=Kleck |first1=Gary |last2=McElrath |first2=Karen }}</ref><ref name="zimring-1972">{{cite journal |author=Zimring, Franklin E. |title=The Medium is the Message: Firearm Caliber as a Determinant of Death from Assault |journal=] |year=1972 |volume=1 |pages=97–123 |id={{NCJ|47874}} |doi=10.1086/467479 |s2cid=54623762 |url=https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1403&context=facpubs |access-date=July 12, 2019 |archive-date=March 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327192442/https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1403&context=facpubs |url-status=dead }}</ref> with similar patterns in cases of family violence.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1001/jama.1992.03480220061028 |pmid=1588718 |title=Weapon Involvement and Injury Outcomes in Family and Intimate Assaults |journal=JAMA |volume=267 |issue=22 |pages=3043–7 |year=1992 |first1=Linda E. |last1=Saltzman |first2=James A. |last2=Mercy |first3=Patrick W. |last3=O'Carroll |first4=Mark L. |last4=Rosenberg |first5=Philip H. |last5=Rhodes }}</ref> Criminologist ] hypothesized that if guns were less available, criminals might commit the same crime, but with less-lethal weapons.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000Ch3>{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Philip J. |last2=Ludwig |first2=Jens |year=2000 |chapter=How Guns Matter |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rbPQxZ5r44cC&pg=PA29 |title=Gun Violence: The Real Costs |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-513793-4 |oclc=45580985 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/gunviolencerealc0000cook }}{{page needed|date=December 2017}}</ref> He finds that the level of gun ownership in the 50 largest U.S. cities correlates with the rate of robberies committed with guns, but not with overall robbery rates.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Cook, Philip J. |title=The Effect of Gun Availability on Robbery and Robbery Murder: A Cross-Section Study of Fifty Cities |journal=] |volume=3 |pages=743–781 |year=1979}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Kleck, Gary |title=Targeting guns: Firearms and their control |publisher=] |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-202-30569-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/targetinggunsfir00klec }}</ref> He also finds that robberies in which the assailant uses a gun are more likely to result in the death of the victim, but less likely to result in injury to the victim.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cook|first1=Philip J.|title=The Influence of Gun Availability on Violent Crime Patterns|journal=]|date=January 1983|volume=4|pages=49–89|doi=10.1086/449086|s2cid=144425492}}</ref> Overall robbery and ] rates in the U.S. are comparable to those in other developed countries, such as Australia and Finland, with much lower levels of gun ownership.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000Ch3 /><ref name="zimring-1997">{{cite book |author=Zimring, Franklin E., Gordon Hawkins |title=Crime Is Not the Problem: Lethal Violence in America |publisher=] |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-19-513105-5}}</ref> A 2000 study showed a strong association between the availability of illegal guns and violent crime rates, but not between legal gun availability and violent crime rates.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Stolzenberg|author-link1=Lisa Stolzenberg|first1=L.|last2=D'Alessio|first2=S. J.|title=Gun Availability and Violent Crime: New Evidence from the National Incident-Based Reporting System|journal=]|date=June 1, 2000|volume=78|issue=4|pages=1461–1482|doi=10.1093/sf/78.4.1461}}</ref>
:''See also ]''


==Offenders== ==Victims==
] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/briefing/gun-violence-kids.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215120005/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/briefing/gun-violence-kids.html |archive-date=December 15, 2022}} ''Data source attribution:'' "U.S. data is from 2020; data for other countries from 2019. Sources: C.D.C.; IMHE; United Nations." ''Source's bar chart:''
<!---Title could be "perpetrators" or "accused" perhaps-->
<!---not inclusive. Needs more material--->
<!-- ] violation: ] (left) and ] (right) caught on the ] security cameras in the cafeteria, 11 minutes before their suicides.]] -->
Considering ] alone (four people shot dead in a public place), nearly all were male. About 47% were white, 12% black, and 6% Asian (1982-2016).<ref>"". '']''. June 12, 2016.</ref><!--according to Mother Jones study which needs to be substituted when found--><ref name=week>{{Cite journal |title=The killing contagion |journal=] |pages=11 |id= |url=http://www.pressreader.com/uae/the-week-middle-east/20150913/282312498876691/TextView |date=September 11, 2015 |quote= }}</ref><!---subscription required for softcopy--->
This definition of mass shooting was created by two bloggers and does not match the international definition of a mass shooting or the definition utilized by the Department of Justice.<ref>http://www.thetrace.org/2015/10/mass-shooting-tracker-redditors-challenge-fbi-data/</ref> The mass shootings have represented 1% of all deaths using gun between 1980 and 2008.<ref name="mass"/>


{{Cite AV media |url=https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/12/14/briefing/15morning-kids-gun-deaths-chart/oakImage-1671058324147-jumbo.png |title=U.S. data is from 2020; data for other countries from 2019. Sources: C.D.C.; IMHE; United Nations {{!}} Original source bar chart |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215121424/https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/12/14/briefing/15morning-kids-gun-deaths-chart/oakImage-1671058324147-jumbo.png |archive-date=2022-12-15 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
===Vectors===
Firearms are the leading cause of death for ages 16–19 in United States since 2020; with the US accounting for 97% of gun-related deaths of late-teens among similarly large and wealthy countries.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lopez |first1=German |date=December 15, 2022 |title=Gun Violence and Children / A portrait of an American tragedy |newspaper=] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/briefing/gun-violence-kids.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215120005/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/briefing/gun-violence-kids.html |archive-date=December 15, 2022}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2022-05-26 |title=Guns killed more children than cars for the first time in 2020 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/gun-deaths-car-accidents-firearms-us-b2088061.html |access-date=2022-05-31 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, from 1980 to 2008, 84% of white homicide victims were killed by white offenders and 93% of black homicide victims were killed by black offenders.<ref>"" (PDF). U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. November 2011.</ref>
In 2015, ] researcher Sherry Towers said "National news media attention is like a 'vector' that reaches people who are vulnerable." She stated that disaffected people can become infected by the attention given other disturbed people who have become mass killers.<ref name=week/>


]s, who were only 13% of the U.S. population in 2010, were 55% of the victims of gun homicide. In 2017 African-American males aged 15 to 34 years were the most frequent victims of firearm homicide in the United States with a 81 deaths per 100,000 population.<ref>U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web-based Injury StatisticsQuery and Reporting System. . Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html .</ref><ref name="auto2" /> ] were 65% of the U.S. population in 2010, but only 25% of the victims. ] were 16% of the population in 2010 and 17% of victims.<ref>"". ]. May 21, 2013.</ref>
==Victims==

]s were 55% of the victims of gun homicide in 2010, but 13% of the population. ] were 25% of victims but 65% of the population in 2010. ] were 17% of victims and 16% of the population in 2010.<ref>"". ]. May 21, 2013.</ref>
According to a 2021 CDC study, the male gun homicide rate was over five times the female gun homicide rate. The highest gun homicide rate was among those age 25-44. Non-Hispanic blacks had the highest gun homicide rate in every age group, with a rate 13 times higher than whites in the 25-44 age group.<ref>Simon TR, Kegler SR, Zwald ML, et al. Notes from the Field: Increases in Firearm Homicide and Suicide Rates — United States, 2020–2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022;71:1286–1287. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7140a4.</ref> According to ], so far, more than 11,500 Americans killed by firearms in 2023.<ref> ABC News, Retrieved 28 April 2023</ref>

== Public opinion ==
With a rise in gun violence and mass shootings in the United States, many surveys have been conducted throughout the recent years to examine the public opinion on certain gun policies and prevention methods in an effort to gain an understanding on the major trends in public opinion. Americans have found to have a range of opinions regarding this issue.

Across different studies conducted, it has been found that US public opinion varies based on gender, age, gun ownership status, occupation, education, political affiliation among many other demographics. However, most Americans support some form of restrictions and limitations with firearms, whether they are gun owners or not.

A study conducted by Berry College's Department of Political Science utilized data from surveys that were administered from 1999–2001, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2018. They compared the attitude of the massacre generation which refers to people born after the Columbine high school shooting in 1999 to the older generation. An age effect was only seen in studies conducted after 2012.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite journal |last1=Vegter |first1=Abigail |last2=Middlewood |first2=Alexandra T. |date=July 2022 |title=The massacre generation: Young people and attitudes about mass shooting prevention |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ssqu.13148 |journal=Social Science Quarterly |language=en |volume=103 |issue=4 |pages=820–832 |doi=10.1111/ssqu.13148 |s2cid=248765450 |issn=0038-4941}}</ref> Results from these surveys indicated that the younger generation are more likely to believe that the government can effectively prevent future mass shootings with more gun prevention laws.<ref name="auto1"/> The data also suggested that the younger generation are more likely to attribute mass shootings to lack of government regulation.<ref name="auto1"/>

Another study was conducted in April 2015 which measured public opinion of carrying firearms in public places. Results from the study showed that overall, less than one third of the adults in the US supported carrying firearms in public spaces.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite journal |last1=Wolfson |first1=Julia A. |last2=Teret |first2=Stephen P. |last3=Azrael |first3=Deborah |last4=Miller |first4=Matthew |date=June 2017 |title=US Public Opinion on Carrying Firearms in Public Places |journal=American Journal of Public Health |language=en |volume=107 |issue=6 |pages=929–937 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2017.303712 |pmid=28426305 |pmc=5425856 |issn=0090-0036}}</ref> Support was greater in gun owners compared to non- gun owners.<ref name="auto3"/> Support for carrying firearms in public was lowest for schools, bars, and sport stadiums.<ref name="auto3"/> According to the data, 18.2 percent of the respondents supported carrying guns in bars, 17.1 percent supported carrying guns in sport stadiums and 18.8 percent supported carrying guns in schools.<ref name="auto3"/> Support for carrying firearms was greatest in restaurants and retail stores. 32.9 percent of the respondents support carrying guns in restaurants and 30.8 percent support carrying guns in retail stores.<ref name="auto3"/> From this study it was concluded that most people in the United States, even most gun owners, are in support of limiting the places gun owners are allowed to carry their weapons.

Another study that was conducted in 2015 by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health revealed that the majority of Americans supported various gun laws and there was minimal difference between gun owners and non-gun owners for a majority of the policies.<ref name="auto4">{{Cite journal |last1=Barry |first1=Colleen L. |last2=McGinty |first2=Emma E. |last3=Vernick |first3=Jon S. |last4=Webster |first4=Daniel W. |date=October 2015 |title=Two years after Newtown—public opinion on gun policy revisited |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0091743515001668 |journal=Preventive Medicine |language=en |volume=79 |pages=55–58 |doi=10.1016/j.ypmed.2015.05.007|pmid=25998881 }}</ref> Support for "prohibiting a person subject to a temporary domestic violence restraining order from having a gun" was around 77.5 percent among gun owners and around 79.6 percent among non-gun owners.<ref name="auto4"/> Overall, support for a policy that authorizes law enforcement to remove firearms from a person temporarily who may be a threat to themselves or others was 70.9 percent, non- gun owner support was 71.8 percent and gun owner support was 67 percent.<ref name="auto4"/> The study examined a comparison between public opinion on gun policy immediately after the 2013 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newton, Connecticut and 2 years after the shooting. In most cases there was only a slight change in opinion. For example, overall support for prohibiting a person under the age of 21 from having a gun only decreased 4 percent.<ref name="auto4"/>

A national study of gun policy was conducted in 2019 examining the trends in data from surveys that were administered by the Johns Hopkins ] in 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2019. This study analyzed how the attitude towards certain gun policies changed overtime based on political party affiliation and gun ownership status. The study has found that the majority of the people supported a range of gun policies whether they were gun owners or not. From 2015 to 2019, there was an overall increase in support among American adults for 18- gun policies.<ref name="auto6">{{Cite journal |last1=Barry |first1=Colleen L. |last2=Stone |first2=Elizabeth M. |last3=Crifasi |first3=Cassandra K. |last4=Vernick |first4=Jon S. |last5=Webster |first5=Daniel W. |last6=McGinty |first6=Emma E. |date=2019-10-01 |title=Trends In Public Opinion On US Gun Laws: Majorities Of Gun Owners And Non–Gun Owners Support A Range Of Measures |journal=Health Affairs |language=en |volume=38 |issue=10 |pages=1727–1734 |doi=10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00576 |pmid=31498657 |pmc=7040851 |issn=0278-2715}}</ref> For instance, support for requiring purchaser licensing and safe gun storage laws increased 5 percent. There was a 4 percent increase in support for universal background checks.<ref name="auto6"/> Moreover, data showed that a majority of Republicans and Independents supported all except one of the 18 policies.<ref name="auto6"/> The data reveal high support for safety training among gun owners and non-gun owners. The results of the study indicated that overall 81 percent of the respondents supported the requirement of a safety test for those who have applied for a license to carry firearms in public, in which the support was 73 percent from gun owners and 83 percent from non-gun owners.<ref name="auto6"/>&nbsp;Additionally, 36 percent of the participants in the study supported permitting a person to carry a concealed gun on a college campus and only 31 percent supported permitting someone to carry guns in elementary school.<ref name="auto6"/> Overall support for prohibiting a person convicted of a violent crime from carrying a gun in public for 10 years was around 78 percent, where gun owner support was around 71 percent and non-gun owner support was around 80%.<ref name="auto6"/> Data from this study suggests that both gun owners and non- gunowners support a range of gun policies.

A study conducted in 2021 examines American public opinion on several gun violence prevention funding policies among different racial and ethnic groups.<ref name="auto5">{{Cite journal |last1=Ward |first1=Julie A. |last2=McGinty |first2=Emma E. |last3=Hudson |first3=Talib |last4=Stone |first4=Elizabeth M. |last5=Barry |first5=Colleen L. |last6=Webster |first6=Daniel W. |last7=Crifasi |first7=Cassandra K. |date=December 2022 |title=Reimagining public safety: Public opinion on police reform and gun violence prevention by race and gun ownership in the United States |journal=Preventive Medicine |language=en |volume=165 |issue=Pt A |pages=107180 |doi=10.1016/j.ypmed.2022.107180|pmid=35933003 |pmc=9722519 |s2cid=251355647 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Support for funding community-based prevention programs that provide social support was 71 percent among blacks, 68 percent among whites and 69 percent among Hispanics.<ref name="auto5"/> Moreover, support for funding hospital- based gun violence prevention programs that provide counseling to people to reduce an individual's risk of future violence was 57 percent among whites, 66 percent among blacks and 57 percent among Hispanics.<ref name="auto5"/> Support for redirecting government funding from police to social programs was 35% among whites, 60% among blacks and 43% among Hispanics.<ref name="auto5"/> Overall, data revealed that black support for most of the policies examined was greater than white support, however the differences were minimal.<ref name="auto5"/>
Public opinion polls show Americans are about evenly split on banning guns like the AR-15, with recent polls showing support for the ban has dipped slightly.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schuppe |first1=Jon |title=What makes the AR-15 so beloved and so reviled |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ar-15-rifle-mass-shootings-semiautomatic-weapon-rcna84193 |agency=NBC News |date=2023}}</ref>


===Poll (2023)===
According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, from 1980 to 2008, 84% of white homicide victims were killed by white offenders and 93% of black homicide victims were killed by black offenders.<ref>"" (PDF). U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. November 2011.</ref>
In the midst of a recent surge in mass shootings, including a record 46 ]s in 2022, an April 2023 ] poll found registered voters overwhelmingly supported a wide variety of gun restrictions:
* 87% said they support requiring criminal background checks for all gun buyers;
* 81% support raising the age requirement to buy guns to 21;
* 80% said police should be allowed take guns away from people considered a danger to themselves or others;
* 80% support requiring mental health checks for all gun purchasers;
* 61% supported banning ]s and ].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yousif |first1=Nadine |title=Why number of US mass shootings has risen sharply |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64377360 |publisher=BBC |date=March 2, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Saric |first1=Ivana |title=Fox News poll finds voters overwhelmingly want restrictions on guns |url=https://www.axios.com/2023/04/28/fox-news-poll-voters-want-gun-control |work=Axios |date=April 29, 2023}}</ref>


== Public policy == ==Public policy==
{{main article|Gun politics in the United States}} {{Main|Gun politics in the United States}}
]
Public policy as related to preventing gun violence is an ongoing political and social debate regarding both the restriction and availability of firearms within the United States. Policy at the Federal level is/has been governed by the ], ], ], ], ], ], and the ]. Gun policy in the U.S. has been revised many times with acts such as the ], which loosened provisions for gun sales while also strengthening automatic firearms law.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d099:HR04332: |title=Library of Congress Record |publisher=Library of Congress}}</ref>
Public policy as related to preventing gun violence is an ongoing political and social debate regarding both the restriction and availability of firearms within the United States. Policy at the Federal level is/has been governed by the ], ], ], ], ], ], and the ]. Gun policy in the U.S. has been revised many times with acts such as the ], which loosened provisions for gun sales while banning civilian ownership of machine guns made after 1986.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d099:HR04332: |title=Library of Congress Record |publisher=Library of Congress |year=1986 |access-date=October 17, 2011 |archive-date=January 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160118055337/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d099:HR04332: |url-status=dead }}</ref>


At the federal, state and local level gun laws such as handgun bans have been overturned by the Supreme Court in cases such as ] and ]. These cases hold that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm. Columbia v. Heller only addressed the issue on Federal enclaves, while McDonald v. Chicago addressed the issue as relating to the individual states.<ref>{{cite news | title = Justices to Decide if State Gun Laws Violate Rights | first = Robert | last = Barnes | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/30/AR2009093001723.html | newspaper = ] | date = 2009-10-01 |quote = the 5 to 4 opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller did not address the question of whether the Second Amendment extends beyond the federal government and federal enclaves such as Washington. | accessdate = 2010-02-19}}</ref> At the federal, state and local level, gun laws such as handgun bans have been overturned by the Supreme Court in cases such as ] and ]. These cases hold that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm. D.C. v. Heller only addressed the issue on Federal enclaves, while McDonald v. Chicago addressed the issue as relating to the individual states.<ref>{{cite news | title = Justices to Decide if State Gun Laws Violate Rights | first = Robert | last = Barnes | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/30/AR2009093001723.html | newspaper = ] | date = October 1, 2009 |quote = the 5 to 4 opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller did not address the question of whether the Second Amendment extends beyond the federal government and federal enclaves such as Washington. | access-date = February 19, 2010}}</ref>


] ]
Gun control proponents often cite the relatively high number of homicides committed with firearms as reason to support stricter gun control laws.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1056/NEJM199112053252311 |title=Firearms and the killing threshold. (Editorial) |author=Kassirer, Jerome P. |journal=] |year=1991 |volume=325 |issue=23 |pages=1647–1651 |pmid=1944455}}</ref> ] are a subject of debate in the U.S., with firearms used for recreational purposes as well as for personal protection.<ref name="NAS-exec"/> Gun rights advocates cite the use of firearms for self-protection, and to deter violent crime, as reasons why more guns can reduce crime.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Baker, James Jay |title=Second amendment message in Los Angeles |journal=] |date=July 1992 |pages=32–34}}</ref> Gun rights advocates also say criminals are the least likely to obey firearms laws, and so limiting access to guns by law-abiding people makes them more vulnerable to armed criminals.<ref name="mcdowall"/> Gun control proponents often cite the relatively high number of homicides committed with firearms as reason to support stricter gun control laws.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1056/NEJM199112053252311 |pmid=1944455 |title=Firearms and the Killing Threshold |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |volume=325 |issue=23 |pages=1647–1650 |year=1991 |last1=Kassirer |first1=Jerome P }}</ref> Policies and laws that reduce homicides committed with firearms prevent homicides overall; a decrease in firearm-related homicides is not balanced by an increase in non-firearm homicides.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Smart|first1=Rosanna|last2=Schell|first2=Terry L.|last3=Cefalu|first3=Matthew|last4=Morral|first4=Andrew R.|date=October 2020|title=Impact on Nonfirearm Deaths of Firearm Laws Affecting Firearm Deaths: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis|journal=American Journal of Public Health|volume=110|issue=10|pages=e1–e9|doi=10.2105/AJPH.2020.305808|issn=1541-0048|pmc=7483123|pmid=32816550}}</ref> ] are a subject of debate in the U.S., with firearms used for recreational purposes as well as for personal protection.<ref name="NAS-exec" /> Gun rights advocates cite the use of firearms for self-protection, and to deter violent crime, as reasons why more guns can reduce crime.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Baker, James Jay |title=Second amendment message in Los Angeles |journal=] |date=July 1992 |pages=32–34}}</ref> Gun rights advocates also say criminals are the least likely to obey firearms laws, and so limiting access to guns by law-abiding people makes them more vulnerable to armed criminals.<ref name="mcdowall" />


In a survey of 41 studies, half of the studies found a connection between gun ownership and homicide but these were usually the least rigorous studies. Only six studies controlled at least six statistically significant confounding variables, and none of them showed a significant positive effect. Eleven macro-level studies showed that crime rates increase gun levels (not vice versa). The reason that there is no opposite effect may be that most owners are noncriminals and that they may use guns to prevent violence.<ref name=jocj15>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2014.12.002 |title=The Impact of Gun Ownership Rates on Crime Rates: A Methodological Review of the Evidence |journal=Journal of Criminal Justice |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=40–48 |year=2015 |last1=Kleck |first1=Gary }}</ref>
In an interview with ] of HBO, ] said that gun control will be the "dominant" issue on his agenda in his last year of presidency.<ref name="GQ Magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last1 = Boyer|first1 = Dave|title = Obama says gun control to be top issue of final year|url = http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/nov/17/obama-says-gun-control-be-top-issue-final-year/|accessdate = 14 January 2016|work = The Washington Times|date = 17 November 2015}}</ref>


==Access to firearms==
In a survey of 41 studies, half of the studies found a connection between gun ownership and homicide but these were usually least rigorous studies. Only six studies controlled at least six statistically significant confound variables, and none of them showed a significant positive effect. Eleven macro-level studies showed that crime rates increase gun levels (not vice versa). The reason that there is no opposite effect may be that most owners are noncriminals and that they may use guns to prevent violence.<ref name=jocj15>, Gary Kleck, Journal of Criminal Justice 43 (2015) 40–48.</ref>
]
The United States Constitution enshrines the right to gun ownership in the Second Amendment of the ] to ensure the security of a free state through a well regulated Militia. It 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 Constitution makes no distinction between the type of firearm in question or state of residency.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nccs.net/blogs/americas-founding-documents/bill-of-rights-amendments-1-10|title=The Bill of Rights (Amendments 1 – 10)|website=National Center for Constitutional Studies}}</ref>


=== Access to firearms === ===Age limits, background checks===
]
] and traced by the ] are ] revolvers, such as this ] ] revolver with a 3-inch barrel<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite book |title=Guns, Crime, and Freedom |publisher=] |author= LaPierre, Wayne |year=1994 |page=58 |isbn=0-89526-477-3}}</ref>]]
Gun dealers in the U.S. are prohibited from selling handguns to those under the age of 21, and ]s to those under the age of 18.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000Ch3 /> In 2017, the ] released a state ranking on firearms access indicators such as background checks, waiting periods, safe storage, training, and sharing of mental health records with the ] database to restrict firearm access.<ref>National Safety Council (2017). The State of Safety – A State-by-State Report. Itasca, IL. p. 27 accessed at: https://www.nsc.org/Portals/0/Documents/NSCDocuments_Advocacy/State-of-Safety/State-Report.pdf</ref>


===Guns favored by criminals===
U.S. policy aims to maintain the right of most people to own most types of firearms, while restricting access to firearms by people considered to present a higher risk of misuse.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000Ch3 /> Gun dealers in the U.S. are prohibited from selling handguns to those under the age of 21, and ]s to those under the age of 18.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000Ch3 /> There are also restrictions on selling guns to people not resident in the state.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000Ch3 /> In 2017, the National Safety Council released a state ranking on firearms access indicators such as background checks, waiting periods, safe storage, training, and sharing of mental health records with the ] database to restrict firearm access.<ref>National Safety Council (2017). The State of Safety - A State-by-State Report. Itasca, IL. pg. 27 accessed at: http://www.nsc.org/NSCDocuments_Advocacy/State-of-Safety/State-Report.pdf</ref>
] are ] revolvers, such as this ] ] revolver with a 3-inch barrel.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite book |title=Guns, Crime, and Freedom |publisher=] |author=LaPierre, Wayne |year=1994 |page= |isbn=978-0-89526-477-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/gunscrimefreedom00lapi_0/page/58 }}</ref>]]
Assuming access to guns, the top ten guns involved in ] show a definite tendency to favor handguns over long guns. The top ten guns used in crime, as reported by the ATF in 1993, were the ] .38 Special and .357 revolvers; ] .25 caliber, ] P-380 .380 caliber, ] .22 caliber, ] L-380 .380 caliber, and Smith & Wesson semi-automatic handguns; ] and ] 12 gauge shotguns; and the ] 9&nbsp;mm handgun.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> An earlier 1985 study of 1,800 incarcerated felons showed that criminals preferred revolvers and other non-semi-automatic firearms over semi-automatic firearms.<ref>{{cite book |title=Armed and Consideted Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and their Firearms |publisher=] |first1=James D. |last1=Wright |first2=Peter H. |last2=Rossi |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-202-30543-1}}{{page needed|date=December 2017}}</ref> In ] a change in preferences towards pistols occurred in the early 1990s, coinciding with the arrival of ] and the rise of violent ]s.<ref name="cohen-2002">{{cite book |title=Guns and Youth Violence: An Examination of Crime Guns in One City |last1=Cohen |first1=Jacqueline |first2=Wilpen |last2=Gorr |first3=Piyusha |last3=Singh |url=http://repository.cmu.edu/heinzworks/257/ |year=2002 |doi=10.1184/R1/6471440.v1}}{{page needed|date=December 2017}}</ref> Background checks in California from 1998 to 2000 resulted in 1% of sales being initially denied.<ref name="wright2005">{{cite journal |doi=10.1136/ip.2005.008482 |pmid=16081756 |pmc=1730243 |title=People and guns involved in denied and completed handgun sales |journal=Injury Prevention |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=247–250 |year=2005 |last1=Wright |first1=M A |last2=Wintemute |first2=G J |last3=Claire |first3=B E }}</ref> The types of guns most often denied included semiautomatic pistols with short barrels and of medium caliber.<ref name="wright2005" /> A 2018 study determined that California's implementation of comprehensive background checks and misdemeanor violation policies was not associated with a net change in the firearm homicide rate over the ensuing 10 years.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.annepidem.2018.10.001|pmid=30744830|title=California's comprehensive background check and misdemeanor violence prohibition policies and firearm mortality|journal=Annals of Epidemiology|volume=30|pages=50–56|year=2019|last1=Castillo-Carniglia|first1=Alvaro|last2=Kagawa|first2=Rose M.C.|last3=Cerdá|first3=Magdalena|last4=Crifasi|first4=Cassandra K.|last5=Vernick|first5=Jon S.|last6=Webster|first6=Daniel W.|last7=Wintemute|first7=Garen J.|s2cid=73451154}}</ref> A 2018 study found no evidence of an association between the repeal of comprehensive background check policies and firearm homicide and suicide rates in Indiana and Tennessee.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kagawa|first1=Rose M. C.|last2=Castillo-Carniglia|first2=Alvaro|last3=Vernick|first3=Jon S.|last4=Webster|first4=Daniel|last5=Crifasi|first5=Cassandra|last6=Rudolph|first6=Kara E.|last7=Cerdá|first7=Magdalena|last8=Shev|first8=Aaron|last9=Wintemute|first9=Garen J.|date=July 2018|title=Repeal of Comprehensive Background Check Policies and Firearm Homicide and Suicide|journal=Epidemiology|volume=29|issue=4|pages=494–502|doi=10.1097/EDE.0000000000000838|issn=1531-5487|pmid=29613872|s2cid=4594013}}</ref>


===Gun possession by juvenile offenders===
Assuming access to guns, the top ten guns involved in crime in the U.S. show a definite trend to favor handguns over long guns. The top ten guns used in crime, as reported by the ATF in 1993, were the ] .38 Special and .357 revolvers; ] .25 caliber, ] P-380 .380 caliber, ] .22 caliber, ] L-380 .380 caliber, and Smith & Wesson semi-automatic handguns; ] and ] 12 gauge shotguns; and the ] 9&nbsp;mm handgun.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> An earlier 1985 study of 1,800 incarcerated felons showed that criminals preferred revolvers and other non-semi-automatic firearms over semi-automatic firearms.<ref>{{cite book |title=ARMED AND CONSIDERED DANGEROUS: A Survey of Felons and their Firearms |publisher=] |author1=James D. Wright |author2=Peter H. Rossi |year=1986 |isbn=0-202-30543-0}}</ref> In ] a change in preferences towards pistols occurred in the early 1990s, coinciding with the arrival of ] and the rise of violent ]s.<ref name="cohen-2002">{{cite conference|title=Guns and Youth Violence: An Examination of Crime Guns in One City |booktitle=Final report |author=Cohen, Jacqueline, Wilpen Gorr, Piyusha Singh |publisher=]/] |url=http://www.heinz.cmu.edu/wpapers/retrievePDF?id=2002-46 |date=December 2002}}</ref> Background checks in California from 1998 to 2000 resulted in 1% of sales being initially denied.<ref name="wright2005">{{cite journal |author=Wright, M.A., G.J. Wintemute, B E Claire |title=People and guns involved in denied and completed handgun sales |journal=] |volume=11 |pages=247–250 |year=2005 |pmid=16081756 |doi=10.1136/ip.2005.008482 |issue=4 |pmc=1730243}}</ref> The types of guns most often denied included semiautomatic pistols with short barrels and of medium caliber.<ref name="wright2005"/>


Among ] (minors under the age of 16, 17, or 18, depending on legal jurisdiction) serving in correctional facilities, 86% had owned a gun, with 66% acquiring their first gun by age 14.<ref name="wright"/> There was also a tendency for juvenile offenders to have owned several firearms, with 65% owning three or more.<ref name="wright"/> Juveniles most often acquired guns illegally from family, friends, ], and street contacts.<ref name="wright"/> ] youths cited "self-protection from enemies" as the top reason for carrying a gun.<ref name="wright"/> In ], 22% of young males have carried a firearm illegally, most for only a short time.<ref name="lizotte-1997">{{cite journal |title=Patterns of Illegal Gun Carrying Among Urban Young Males |author=Lizotte, Alan J., Gregory J. Howard, Marvin D. Krohn, Terence P. Thornberry |year=1997 |journal=] |volume=31 |issue=2}}</ref> There is little overlap between legal gun ownership and illegal gun carrying among youths.<ref name="lizotte-1997"/> Among ] (minors under the age of 16, 17, or 18, depending on legal jurisdiction) serving in correctional facilities, 86% had owned a gun, with 66% acquiring their first gun by age 14.<ref name="wright">{{cite journal|author=Wright, James D., Joseph F. Sheley, and M. Dwayne Smith|year=1993 |title=Kids, Guns, and Killing Fields|journal=]|volume=30 |issue=1|id={{NCJ|140211}}}}</ref> There was also a tendency for juvenile offenders to have owned several firearms, with 65% owning three or more.<ref name="wright" /> Juveniles most often acquired guns illegally from family, friends, ], and street contacts.<ref name="wright" /> ] youths cited "self-protection from enemies" as the top reason for carrying a gun.<ref name="wright" /> In ], 22% of young males have carried a firearm illegally, most for only a short time.<ref name="lizotte-1997">{{cite journal |title=Patterns of Illegal Gun Carrying Among Urban Young Males |author=Lizotte, Alan J., Gregory J. Howard, Marvin D. Krohn, Terence P. Thornberry |year=1997 |journal=] |volume=31 |issue=2}}</ref> There is little overlap between legal gun ownership and illegal gun carrying among youths.<ref name="lizotte-1997" />


=== Firearms market === ===Effect of laws on mortality===

]}}</ref>]]
A 2011 study indicated that in states where local background checks for gun purchases are completed, the suicide rate was lower than states without.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.healthpol.2010.10.005 |pmid=21044804 |title=Gun control and suicide: The impact of state firearm regulations in the United States, 1995–2004 |journal=Health Policy |volume=101 |issue=1 |pages=95–103 |year=2011 |last1=Rodríguez Andrés |first1=Antonio |last2=Hempstead |first2=Katherine }}</ref>

===Firearms market===
]}}</ref>]]
] inspector at a federally licensed gun dealer]] ] inspector at a federally licensed gun dealer]]


Gun rights advocates complain that policy aimed at the supply side of the firearms market is based on limited research.<ref name="NAS-exec"/> One consideration is that only 60-70% of firearms sales in the U.S. are transacted through federally licensed firearm dealers, with the remainder taking place in the "secondary market", in which previously owned firearms are transferred by non-dealers.<ref name=Cook-Ludwig1997 /><ref name="cook-1995">{{cite journal |author=Cook, Philip J., S.Molliconi, T.B. Cole |title=Regulating Gun Markets |journal=] |year=1995 |volume=86 |pages=59–92 |id={{NCJ|162689}} |doi=10.2307/1144000 |issue=1 |publisher=The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1973-), Vol. 86, No. 1 |jstor=1144000}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Wright, James D., Peter H. Rossi |title=Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms |publisher=] |year=1994 |isbn=0-202-30543-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Ash, Peter, Arthur L. Kellermann|title=Gun Acquisition and Use by Juvenile Offenders |year=1996 |journal=] |volume=275 |issue=22 |pages=1754–1758 |pmid=8637174 |doi=10.1001/jama.275.22.1754|display-authors=etal}}</ref> Access to secondary markets is generally less convenient to purchasers, and involves such risks as the possibility of the gun having been used previously in a crime.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000>{{cite book |last=Cook |first=Philip J. |last2=Ludwig |first2=Jens |year=2000 |title=Gun Violence: The Real Costs |url=http://www.worldcat.org/title/gun-violence-the-real-cost/oclc/45580985 |location= |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195137934 |oclc=45580985 |accessdate= }}</ref>{{rp|119}} Unlicensed private sellers were permitted by law to sell privately owned guns at gun shows or at private locations in 24 states as of 1998.<ref>{{cite book |author=Boston T. Party (Kenneth W. Royce) |title=Boston on Guns & Courage |publisher=] |year=1998 |pages=3:15 |isbn=1-888766-04-2}}</ref> Regulations that limit the number of handgun sales in the primary, regulated market to ] per customer have been shown to be effective at reducing illegal gun trafficking by reducing the supply into the secondary market.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Weil, Douglas S., Rebecca C. Knox |title=Effects of Limiting Handgun Purchases on Interstate Transfer of Firearms |journal=] |volume=275 |issue=22 |pages=1759–1761 |year=1996 |pmid=8637175 |doi=10.1001/jama.275.22.1759}}</ref> ]es on firearm purchases are another means for government to influence the primary market.<ref name="NAS-ch4">{{cite book |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review |year=2004 |publisher=] |author=Committee on Law and Justice |chapter=Chapter 4 |url=http://www.nap.edu/books/0309091241/html/72.html |isbn=0-309-09124-1}}</ref> Gun rights advocates argue that policy aimed at the supply side of the firearms market is based on limited research.<ref name="NAS-exec" /> One consideration is that 60–70% of firearms sales in the U.S. are transacted through federally licensed firearm dealers, with the remainder taking place in the "secondary market", in which previously owned firearms are transferred by non-dealers.<ref name=Cook-Ludwig1997 /><ref name="cook-1995">{{cite journal |doi=10.2307/1144000 |id={{NCJ|162689}} |jstor=1144000 |title=Regulating Gun Markets |journal=The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology |volume=86 |issue=1 |pages=59–92 |year=1995 |last1=Cook |first1=Philip J |last2=Molliconi |first2=Stephanie |last3=Cole |first3=Thomas B |s2cid=107264015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Wright, James D., Peter H. Rossi |title=Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms |publisher=] |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-202-30543-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1001/jama.275.22.1754 |pmid=8637174 |title=Gun acquisition and use by juvenile offenders |journal=JAMA |volume=275 |issue=22 |pages=1754–1758 |year=1996 |last1=Ash |first1=Peter |last2=Kellermann |first2=Arthur L. |last3=Fuqua-Whitley |first3=Dawna |last4=Johnson |first4=Amri }}</ref> Access to secondary markets is generally less convenient to purchasers, and involves such risks as the possibility of the gun having been used previously in a crime.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000p119>{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Philip J. |last2=Ludwig |first2=Jens |year=2000 |title=Gun Violence: The Real Costs |url=https://archive.org/details/gunviolencerealc0000cook |url-access=registration |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-513793-4 |oclc=45580985 |page= }}</ref> Unlicensed private sellers were permitted by law to sell privately owned guns at gun shows or at private locations in 24 states as of 1998.<ref>{{cite book |author=Boston T. Party (Kenneth W. Royce) |title=Boston on Guns & Courage |publisher=] |year=1998 |pages=3:15 |isbn=978-1-888766-04-2}}</ref> Regulations that limit the number of handgun sales in the primary, regulated market to ] per customer have been shown to be effective at reducing illegal gun trafficking by reducing the supply into the secondary market.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1001/jama.1996.03530460063033 |pmid=8637175 |title=Effects of Limiting Handgun Purchases on Interstate Transfer of Firearms |journal=JAMA |volume=275 |issue=22 |pages=1759–1761 |year=1996 |last1=Weil |first1=Douglas S |last2=Knox |first2=Rebecca C. }}</ref> ]es on firearm purchases are another means for government to influence the primary market.<ref name="NAS-ch4">{{cite book |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review |year=2004 |publisher=] |author=Committee on Law and Justice |chapter=Interventions Aimed at Illegal Firearm Acquisition |chapter-url=https://www.nap.edu/read/10881/chapter/6 |isbn=978-0-309-09124-4|doi=10.17226/10881 }}</ref>


Criminals tend to obtain guns through multiple illegal pathways, including gun traffickers, who tend to provide criminals with relatively few guns.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Braga|first1=Anthony A.|last2=Wintemute|first2=Garen J.|last3=Pierce|first3=Glenn L.|last4=Cook|first4=Philip J.|last5=Ridgeway|first5=Greg|title=Interpreting the Empirical Evidence on Illegal Gun Market Dynamics|journal=]|date=6 June 2012|volume=89|issue=5|pages=779–793|doi=10.1007/s11524-012-9681-y}}</ref> Federally licensed firearm dealers in the primary (new and used gun) market are regulated by the ] (ATF). Firearm manufacturers are required to mark all firearms manufactured with ]s. This allows the ATF to trace guns involved in crimes back to their last ] (FFL) reported change of ownership transaction, although not past the first private sale involving any particular gun. A report by the ATF released in 1999 found that 0.4% of federally licensed dealers sold half of the guns used criminally in 1996 and 1997.<ref name="rushefsky">{{cite book|author=Rushefsky, Mark E.|year=2002|chapter=Chapter 7: Criminal Justice: To Ensure Domestic Tranquility|title=Public Policy in the United States: At the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century|publisher=]|isbn=0-7656-0647-X}}</ref><ref name="butterfield">{{cite news |author=Butterfield, Fox |title=Gun Flows to Criminals Laid to Tiny Fraction of Dealers |publisher=The New York Times |date=July 1, 1999}}</ref> This is sometimes done through "]s."<ref name="rushefsky"/> State laws, such as those in ], that restrict the number of gun purchases in a month may help stem such "straw purchases."<ref name="rushefsky"/> States with gun registration and licensing laws are generally less likely to have guns initially sold there used in crimes.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Webster|first1=D W|title=Relationship between licensing, registration, and other gun sales laws and the source state of crime guns|journal=Injury Prevention|date=1 September 2001|volume=7|issue=3|pages=184–189|doi=10.1136/ip.7.3.184}}</ref> Similarly, crime guns tend to travel from states with weak gun laws to states with strict gun laws.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Knight|first1=Brian|title=State Gun Policy and Cross-State Externalities: Evidence from Crime Gun Tracing|journal=]|date=November 2013|volume=5|issue=4|pages=200–229|doi=10.1257/pol.5.4.200}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kahane|first1=Leo H.|title=, Understanding the Interstate Export of Crime Guns: A Gravity Model Approach|journal=]|date=July 2013|volume=31|issue=3|pages=618–634|doi=10.1111/j.1465-7287.2012.00324.x}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Coates|first1=Michael|last2=Pearson-Merkowitzz|first2=Shanna|title=Policy Spillover and Gun Migration: The Interstate Dynamics of State Gun Control Policies|journal=]|date=June 2017|volume=98|issue=2|pages=500–512|doi=10.1111/ssqu.12422}}</ref> An estimated 500,000 guns are ] each year, becoming available to prohibited users.<ref name="cook-1995"/><ref name="NAS-ch4"/> During the ATF's ] (YCGII), which involved expanded tracing of firearms recovered by law enforcement agencies,<ref name="ycgii">{{cite web |url=http://www.atf.gov/firearms/ycgii/ |title=Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative (1998) |publisher=]}}</ref> only 18% of guns used criminally that were recovered in 1998 were in possession of the original owner.<ref name="cook-2001">{{cite journal |author=Cook, Philip J., Anthony A. Braga |title= Comprehensive firearms tracing: Strategic and investigative uses of new data on firearms markets |journal=] |volume=43 |pages=277–309 |year=2001}}</ref> Guns recovered by police during criminal investigations were often sold by legitimate retail sales outlets to legal owners, and then diverted to criminal use over relatively short times ranging from a few months to a few years,<ref name=YVB1996 /><ref name="cook-2001"/><ref name="Wachtel">{{cite journal |author=Wachtel, J. |year=1998 |title=Sources of crime guns in Los Angeles, California |journal=] |volume=21 |pages=220–239 |id={{NCJ|174254}} |doi=10.1108/13639519810220127 |issue=2}}</ref> which makes them relatively new compared with firearms in general circulation.<ref name="NAS-ch4"/><ref>{{cite book |author=Pierce, G.L., A.A. Braga, C. Koper, J. McDevitt, D. Carlson, J. Roth, A. Saiz |year=2001 |title=The Characteristics and Dynamics of Gun Markets: Implications for a Supply-Side Enforcement Strategy (Final Report) |publisher=], ] and the ] |url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/208079.pdf}}</ref> Criminals tend to obtain guns through multiple illegal pathways, including large-scale gun traffickers, who tend to provide criminals with relatively few guns.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Braga|first1=Anthony A.|last2=Wintemute|first2=Garen J.|last3=Pierce|first3=Glenn L.|last4=Cook|first4=Philip J.|last5=Ridgeway|first5=Greg|title=Interpreting the Empirical Evidence on Illegal Gun Market Dynamics|journal=]|date=June 6, 2012|volume=89|issue=5|pages=779–793|doi=10.1007/s11524-012-9681-y|pmid=22669643|pmc=3462834}}</ref> Federally licensed firearm dealers in the primary (new and used gun) market are regulated by the ] (ATF). Firearm manufacturers are required to mark all firearms manufactured with ]s. This allows the ATF to trace guns involved in crimes back to their last ] (FFL) reported change of ownership transaction, although not past the first private sale involving any particular gun. A report by the ATF released in 1999 found that 0.4% of federally licensed dealers sold half of the guns used criminally in 1996 and 1997.<ref name="rushefsky">{{cite book|author=Rushefsky, Mark E.|year=2002|chapter=Chapter 7: Criminal Justice: To Ensure Domestic Tranquility|title=Public Policy in the United States: At the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century|publisher=]|isbn=978-0-7656-0647-1}}</ref><ref name="butterfield">{{cite news |author=Butterfield, Fox |title=Gun Flows to Criminals Laid to Tiny Fraction of Dealers |work=The New York Times |date=July 1, 1999}}</ref> This is sometimes done through "]s."<ref name="rushefsky" /> State laws, such as those in ], that restrict the number of gun purchases in a month may help stem such "straw purchases."<ref name="rushefsky" /> States with gun registration and licensing laws are generally less likely to have guns initially sold there used in crimes.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Webster|first1=D W|title=Relationship between licensing, registration, and other gun sales laws and the source state of crime guns|journal=Injury Prevention|date=September 1, 2001|volume=7|issue=3|pages=184–189|doi=10.1136/ip.7.3.184|pmid=11565981|pmc=1730734}}</ref> Similarly, crime guns tend to travel from states with weak gun laws to states with strict gun laws.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Knight|first1=Brian|title=State Gun Policy and Cross-State Externalities: Evidence from Crime Gun Tracing|journal=]|date=November 2013|volume=5|issue=4|pages=200–229|doi=10.1257/pol.5.4.200|s2cid=14039149|url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w17469.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kahane|first1=Leo H.|title= Understanding the Interstate Export of Crime Guns: A Gravity Model Approach|journal=]|date=July 2013|volume=31|issue=3|pages=618–634|doi=10.1111/j.1465-7287.2012.00324.x|s2cid=58912779}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Coates|first1=Michael|last2=Pearson-Merkowitzz|first2=Shanna|title=Policy Spillover and Gun Migration: The Interstate Dynamics of State Gun Control Policies|journal=]|date=June 2017|volume=98|issue=2|pages=500–512|doi=10.1111/ssqu.12422|s2cid=3908903 |url=https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1016&context=psc_facpubs}}</ref> An estimated 500,000 guns are ] each year, becoming available to prohibited users.<ref name="cook-1995" /><ref name="NAS-ch4" /> During the ATF's ] (YCGII), which involved expanded tracing of firearms recovered by law enforcement agencies,<ref name="ycgii">{{cite web |url=http://www.atf.gov/firearms/ycgii/ |title=Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative (1998) |publisher=]}}</ref> only 18% of guns used criminally that were recovered in 1998 were in possession of the original owner.<ref name="cook-2001">{{cite journal |author=Cook, Philip J., Anthony A. Braga |title= Comprehensive firearms tracing: Strategic and investigative uses of new data on firearms markets |journal=] |volume=43 |pages=277–309 |year=2001}}</ref> Guns recovered by police during criminal investigations were often sold by legitimate retail sales outlets to legal owners, and then diverted to criminal use over relatively short times ranging from a few months to a few years,<ref name=YVB1996 /><ref name="cook-2001" /><ref name="Wachtel">{{cite journal |author=Wachtel, J. |year=1998 |title=Sources of crime guns in Los Angeles, California |journal=] |volume=21 |pages=220–239 |id={{NCJ|174254}} |doi=10.1108/13639519810220127 |issue=2|s2cid=145534879 }}</ref> which makes them relatively new compared with firearms in general circulation.<ref name="NAS-ch4" /><ref>{{cite book |author=Pierce, G.L., A.A. Braga, C. Koper, J. McDevitt, D. Carlson, J. Roth, A. Saiz |year=2001 |title=The Characteristics and Dynamics of Gun Markets: Implications for a Supply-Side Enforcement Strategy (Final Report) |publisher=], ] and the ] |url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/208079.pdf}}</ref>


A 2016 survey of prison inmates by the ] found that 43% of guns used in crimes were obtained from the ], 25% from an individual, 10% from a retail source (including 0.8% from a ]), and 6% from theft.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/suficspi16.pdf|title=Source and Use of Firearms Involved in Crimes: Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016}}</ref>
=== Federal legislation ===
{{main article|Gun law in the United States}}
The first Federal legislation related to firearms was the ] ratified in 1791. For 143 years, this was the only major Federal legislation regarding firearms. The next Federal firearm legislation was the ] of 1934, which created regulations for the sale of firearms, established ] on their sale, and required registration of some types of firearms such as ]s.<ref>{{cite book |author=Friedman, Lawrence M. |title=Crime and Punishment in American History |year=1993 |publisher=] |isbn=0-465-01461-5 |page=267}}</ref>


{{anchor|Federal legislation}}
In the aftermath of the Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. assassinations, the ] was enacted. This Act regulated gun commerce, restricting ] sales, and allowing shipments only to licensed firearm dealers. The Act also prohibited sale of firearms to ], those under ], ]s, ], ] users, those ] from the ], and those in ].<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000Ch3 /> The law also restricted importation of so-called ]s and other types of guns, and limited the sale of ]s and ] conversion kits.<ref name="rushefsky"/>


===Legislation===
The ], also known as the McClure-Volkmer Act, was passed in 1986. It changed some restrictions in the 1968 Act, allowing federally licensed gun dealers and individual unlicensed private sellers to sell at ]s, while continuing to require licensed gun dealers to require background checks.<ref name="rushefsky"/> The 1986 Act also restricted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms from conducting repetitive inspections, reduced the amount of record-keeping required of gun dealers, raised the burden of proof for convicting gun law violators, and changed restrictions on convicted ] from owning firearms.<ref name="rushefsky"/>
{{Main|Gun law in the United States}}
]
The first Federal legislation related to firearms was the ] ratified in 1791. For 143 years, this was the only major Federal legislation regarding firearms. The next Federal firearm legislation was the ] of 1934, which created regulations for the sale of firearms, established ] on their sale, and required registration of some types of firearms such as ]s.<ref>{{cite book |author=Friedman, Lawrence M. |title=Crime and Punishment in American History |year=1993 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-465-01461-3 |page= |url=https://archive.org/details/crimepunishmenti00frie/page/267 }}</ref>
]:<ref>. The only countries with permissive gun legislation are: Albania, Austria, Chad, Republic of Congo, Honduras, Micronesia, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Tanzania, the United States, Yemen and Zambia. Accessed on August 27, 2016.</ref>
{{legend|#00137F|Permissive}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Restrictive}}]]
Following the ] and ], the ] was enacted. This Act regulated gun commerce, restricting ] sales, and allowing shipments only to licensed firearm dealers. The Act also prohibited sale of firearms to ], those under ], ]s, ], ] users, those ] from the ], and those in ].<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000Ch3 /> The law also restricted importation of so-called ]s and other types of guns, and limited the sale of ]s and ] conversion kits.<ref name="rushefsky" />


The ], also known as the McClure-Volkmer Act, was passed in 1986. It changed some restrictions in the 1968 Act, allowing federally licensed gun dealers and individual unlicensed private sellers to sell at ]s, while continuing to require licensed gun dealers to require background checks.<ref name="rushefsky" /> The 1986 Act also restricted the ] from conducting punitively repetitive inspections, reduced the amount of record-keeping required of gun dealers, raised the burden of proof for convicting gun law violators, and changed restrictions on convicted ] from owning firearms.<ref name="rushefsky" /> In addition it also banned new machine guns for sale to the public, but grandfathered in any that were already registered.
In the years following the passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968, people buying guns were required to show ] and sign a statement affirming that they were not in any of the prohibited categories.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000Ch3 /> Many ] enacted ] laws that went beyond the federal requirements.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Cook, Philip J., James Blose |title=State Programs for Screening Handgun Buyers |journal=] |year=1981 |volume=May 1981 |pages=80–91 |id={{NCJ|79101}} |doi=10.1177/000271628145500108}}</ref> The ] passed by ] in 1993 imposed a waiting period before the purchase of a handgun, giving time for, but not requiring, a background check to be made.<ref>The background check provision has been challenged on grounds that it violates the ] of the Constitution. In the 1997 case, '']'', the Supreme Court voided that part of the Brady Act. (Rushefsky, 2002)</ref> The Brady Act also required the establishment of a national system to provide instant criminal background checks, with checks to be done by firearms dealers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=103_cong_bills&docid=f:h1025enr.txt.pdf |title=Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act |publisher=]/]}}</ref> The Brady Act only applied to people who bought guns from licensed dealers, whereas felons buy some percentage of their guns from ] sources.<ref name="Wachtel"/> Restrictions, such as waiting periods, impose costs and inconveniences on legitimate gun purchasers, such as hunters.<ref name="NAS-ch4"/>


In the years following the passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968, people buying guns were required to show ] and sign a statement affirming that they were not in any of the prohibited categories.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000Ch3 /> Many ] enacted ] laws that went beyond the federal requirements.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Cook, Philip J., James Blose |title=State Programs for Screening Handgun Buyers |journal=] |year=1981 |volume=May 1981 |pages=80–91 |id={{NCJ|79101}} |doi=10.1177/000271628145500108|s2cid=144294111 }}</ref> The ] passed by ] in 1993 imposed a waiting period before the purchase of a handgun, giving time for, but not requiring, a background check to be made.<ref>The background check provision has been challenged on grounds that it violates the ] of the Constitution. In the 1997 case, '']'', the Supreme Court voided that part of the Brady Act. (Rushefsky, 2002)</ref> The Brady Act also required the establishment of a national system to provide instant criminal background checks, with checks to be done by firearms dealers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=103_cong_bills&docid=f:h1025enr.txt.pdf |title=Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act |publisher=]/]}}</ref> The Brady Act only applied to people who bought guns from licensed dealers, whereas felons buy some percentage of their guns from ] sources.<ref name="Wachtel" /> Restrictions, such as waiting periods, impose costs and inconveniences on legitimate gun purchasers, such as hunters.<ref name="NAS-ch4" /> A 2000 study found that the implementation of the Brady Act was associated with "reductions in the firearm suicide rate for persons aged 55 years or older but not with reductions in homicide rates or overall suicide rates."<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Cook|first1=Philip J.|last2=Ludwig|first2=Jens|date=August 2, 2000|title=Homicide and Suicide Rates Associated With Implementation of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act|journal=JAMA|language=en|volume=284|issue=5|pages=585–591|doi=10.1001/jama.284.5.585|issn=0098-7484|pmid=10918704|doi-access=}}</ref>
] ] were affected under the 1994 ban]]
The ], enacted in 1994, included the ], and was a response to public concern over ].<ref name="roth">{{cite book |url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/173405.pdf |title=Impacts of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban: 1994–96 |author=Roth, Jeffrey A., Christopher S. Koper |year=1999 |publisher=]}}</ref> This provision prohibited the manufacture and importation of some semiautomatic firearms with certain features relevant to military use such as a folding stock, pistol grip, flash suppressor, and ] holding more than ten rounds.<ref name="roth"/> A ] was included that allowed firearms manufactured before 1994 to remain legal. A short-term evaluation by ] criminologists ] and ] did not find any clear impact of this legislation on gun violence.<ref name="koper">{{cite journal |author=Koper, Christopher S., Jeffrey A. Roth |year=2001 |title=The impact of the 1994 federal assault weapon ban on gun markets: An assessment of short-term primary and secondary market effects |journal=] |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=239–266 |id={{NCJ|196844}} |doi=10.1023/A:1016055919939}}</ref> Given the short study time period of the evaluation, the ] advised caution in drawing any conclusions.<ref name="NAS-ch4"/> In September 2004, the assault weapon ban expired, with its ].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-09-12-weapons-ban_x.htm |title=Federal ban on assault weapons expires |author=Lawrence, Jill |publisher=] |date=September 12, 2004}}</ref>


===Federal Assault Weapons Ban===
The ], the Lautenberg Amendment, prohibited anyone previously convicted of a misdemeanor or ] crime of ] from shipment, transport, ownership and use of guns or ammunition.<ref>This was ], in the opinion of Representative ]. House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Crime, Committee on the Judiciary, March 5, 1997</ref> This law also prohibited the sale or gift of a firearm or ammunition to such a person. It was passed in 1996, and became effective in 1997. The law does not exempt people who use firearms as part of their duties, such as police officers or military personnel with applicable criminal convictions; they may not carry firearms.<ref>{{cite web | title = Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban Fact Sheet | work = | publisher = National Center for Women & Policing | url = http://www.womenandpolicing.org/gunban.asp | format = ] | accessdate = 2007-02-05 }}</ref><!--we need a better source here-->
]
The ], enacted in 1994, included the ], and was a response to public fears over ]s.<ref name="roth">{{cite book |url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/173405.pdf |title=Impacts of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban: 1994–96 |author=Roth, Jeffrey A., Christopher S. Koper |year=1999 |publisher=]}}</ref> This provision prohibited the manufacture and importation of some firearms with certain features such as a folding stock, pistol grip, flash suppressor, and ] holding more than ten rounds.<ref name="roth" /> A ] was included that allowed firearms manufactured before 1994 to remain legal. A short-term evaluation by ] criminologists ] and ] did not find any clear impact of this legislation on gun violence.<ref name="koper">{{cite journal |author=Koper, Christopher S., Jeffrey A. Roth |year=2001 |title=The impact of the 1994 federal assault weapon ban on gun markets: An assessment of short-term primary and secondary market effects |journal=] |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=239–266 |id={{NCJ|196844}} |doi=10.1023/A:1016055919939|s2cid=140321420 }}</ref> Given the short study time period of the evaluation, the ] advised caution in drawing any conclusions.<ref name="NAS-ch4" /> In September 2004, the assault weapon ban expired, with its ].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-09-12-weapons-ban_x.htm |title=Federal ban on assault weapons expires |author=Lawrence, Jill |newspaper=USA Today |date=September 12, 2004}}</ref>


===Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban===
In the immediate aftermath of ], police and National Guard units in New Orleans confiscated firearms from private citizens in an attempt to prevent violence. In reaction, ] passed the ] in the form of an amendment to ] Appropriations Act, 2007. Section 706 of the Act prohibits federal employees and those receiving federal funds from confiscating legally possessed firearms during a disaster.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/R?cp109:FLD010:@1(hr699)|title=House Report 109-699 - Making Appropriations For The Department Of Homeland Security For The Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 2007, And For Other Purposes |publisher=] - THOMAS Home - Bills, Resolutions}}</ref>


The ], the Lautenberg Amendment, prohibited anyone previously convicted of a misdemeanor or ] crime of ] from shipment, transport, ownership and use of guns or ammunition. This was ], in the opinion of Representative ].<ref>http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju58106.000/hju58106_0f.htm House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Crime, Committee on the Judiciary, March 5, 1997</ref> This law also prohibited the sale or gift of a firearm or ammunition to such a person. It was passed in 1996, and became effective in 1997. The law does not exempt people who use firearms as part of their duties, such as police officers or military personnel with applicable criminal convictions; they may not carry firearms.
On Jan. 5, 2016, President Obama unveiled his new strategy to curb gun violence in America. His proposals focus on new background check requirements that are intended to enhance the effectiveness of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), and greater education and enforcement efforts of existing laws at the state level.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Obama on gun control: 'We need a change in attitude' - CNNPolitics.com|url = http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/19/politics/obama-gun-control-change-in-attitude/index.html|website = CNN|access-date = 2016-01-14}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = President Obama's 2015 Executive Actions on Gun Control|url = http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/summary-president-obama-gun-proposals.aspx|website = www.ncsl.org|access-date = 2016-01-19}}</ref> In an interview with ] of HBO, ] also confirmed that gun control will be the "dominant" issue on his agenda in his last year of presidency.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/nov/17/obama-says-gun-control-be-top-issue-final-year/|title = Obama says gun control to be top issue of final year|date = 17 November 2015|access-date = 18 January 2016|website = The Washington Times|publisher = |last = Boyer|first = David}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.gq.com/story/president-obama-bill-simmons-interview-gq-men-of-the-year|title = President Obama and Bill Simmons: The GQ Interview|date = 17 November 2015|access-date = 18 January 2016|website = GQ Magazine|publisher = |last = Simmons|first = Bill}}</ref>


===Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006===
=== State legislation ===
{{main article|Gun laws in the United States (by state)}}


In the immediate aftermath of ], police and National Guard units in New Orleans confiscated firearms from private citizens in an attempt to prevent violence. In reaction, ] passed the ] in the form of an amendment to ] Appropriations Act, 2007. Section 706 of the Act prohibits federal employees and those receiving federal funds from confiscating legally possessed firearms during a disaster.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/R?cp109:FLD010:@1(hr699)|title=House Report 109-699 – Making Appropriations For The Department Of Homeland Security For The Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 2007, And For Other Purposes|publisher=] – THOMAS Home – Bills, Resolutions|access-date=November 13, 2006|archive-date=July 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703102953/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/R?cp109:FLD010:@1(hr699)|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==== Right-to-carry ====

{{Main article |Concealed carry in the United States |Open carry in the United States}}
===2016 White House background check initiative===

On January 5, 2016, President Obama unveiled his new strategy to curb gun violence in America. His proposals focus on new background check requirements that are intended to enhance the effectiveness of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), and greater education and enforcement efforts of existing laws at the state level.<ref>{{cite news|title = Obama on gun control: 'We need a change in attitude' |url = http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/19/politics/obama-gun-control-change-in-attitude/index.html|website = CNN|access-date = January 14, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = President Obama's 2015 Executive Actions on Gun Control|url = http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/summary-president-obama-gun-proposals.aspx|website = www.ncsl.org|access-date = January 19, 2016}}</ref> In an interview with ] of HBO, President Obama also confirmed that gun control will be the "dominant" issue on his agenda in his last year of presidency.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/nov/17/obama-says-gun-control-be-top-issue-final-year/|title = Obama says gun control to be top issue of final year|date = November 17, 2015|access-date = January 18, 2016|website = The Washington Times|last = Boyer|first = David}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.gq.com/story/president-obama-bill-simmons-interview-gq-men-of-the-year|title = President Obama and Bill Simmons: The GQ Interview|date = November 17, 2015|access-date = January 18, 2016|website = GQ Magazine|last = Simmons|first = Bill}}</ref>

===State legislation===
{{Main|Gun laws in the United States (by state)}}

====Right-to-carry====
{{Main|Concealed carry in the United States|Open carry in the United States|Constitutional carry}}
] in Houston]] ] in Houston]]
All 50 U.S. states allow for the Right-to-carry firearms, with forty-two states generally requiring a state-issued permit in order to carry concealed weapons in public and the remaining eight states generally allowing individuals to carry concealed weapons in public without a permit. Right-to-carry laws expanded in the 1990s as homicide rates from gun violence in the U.S. increased, largely in response to incidents such as the ] of 1991 in Texas which directly resulted in the passage of a '']'', or ''CCW'', law in Texas in 1995.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/nation/guns/part2/gunside1.html |work=] |title=Guns in America, Part II |accessdate=2006-11-15 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615115151/http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/nation/guns/part2/gunside1.html |archivedate=June 15, 2006 }}</ref> As Rorie Sherman, staff reporter for the ''National Law Journal'' wrote in an article published on April 18, 1994, "It is a time of unparalleled desperation about crime. But the mood is decidedly 'I'll do it myself' and 'Don't get in my way.'"<ref>{{cite book |author= LaPierre, Wayne |title=Guns, Crime, and Freedom |publisher=] |year=1994 |page=98 |isbn= 0-89526-477-3}}</ref> All 50 U.S. states allow for the right to carry firearms. A majority of states either require a ] permit or allow carrying ] and a minority require a ] permit. Right-to-carry laws expanded in the 1990s as homicide rates from gun violence in the U.S. increased, largely in response to incidents such as the ] of 1991 in Texas which directly resulted in the passage of a '']'', or ''CCW'', law in Texas in 1995.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/nation/guns/part2/gunside1.html |website=] |title=Guns in America, Part II |access-date=November 15, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615115151/http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/nation/guns/part2/gunside1.html |archive-date=June 15, 2006 }}</ref> As Rorie Sherman, staff reporter for the ''National Law Journal'' wrote in an article published on April 18, 1994, "It is a time of unparalleled desperation about crime. But the mood is decidedly 'I'll do it myself' and 'Don't get in my way.{{'"}}<ref>{{cite book |author=LaPierre, Wayne |title=Guns, Crime, and Freedom |publisher=] |year=1994 |page= |isbn=978-0-89526-477-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/gunscrimefreedom00lapi_0/page/98 }}</ref>


The result was laws, or the lack thereof, that permitted persons to carry firearms openly, known as '']'', often without any permit required, in 22 states by 1998.<ref>{{cite book |title=Boston on Guns & Courage |year=1998 |publisher=] |author=Boston T. Party (Kenneth W. Royce) |chapter=Chapter 3 | pages=3:15 |isbn=1-888766-04-2}}</ref> Laws that permitted persons to carry concealed ]s, sometimes termed a ''concealed handgun license'', ''CHL'', or ''concealed pistol license'', ''CPL'' in some jurisdictions instead of ''CCW'', existed in 34 states in the U.S. by 2004.<ref name="NAS-exec"/> Since then, the number of states with CCW laws has increased; {{as of|2014|lc=y}}, all 50 states have some form of CCW laws on the books.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.kare11.com/news/article/944700/14/Conceal-and-carry-begins-in-Wisconsin |title='Conceal and carry' begins in Wisconsin |date=November 1, 2011 |publisher=] |agency=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ccl4illinois.com/ccw/Public/AboutTheAct.aspx|work=IL Firearm Concealed Carry Act|publisher=Illinois State Police}}</ref> The result was laws, or the lack thereof, that permitted persons to carry firearms openly, known as '']'', often without any permit required, in 22 states by 1998.<ref>{{cite book |title=Boston on Guns & Courage |year=1998 |publisher=] |author=Boston T. Party (Kenneth W. Royce) |chapter=Chapter 3 | page=3:15 |isbn=978-1-888766-04-2}}</ref> Laws that permitted persons to carry concealed ]s, sometimes termed a ''concealed handgun license'', ''CHL'', or ''concealed pistol license'', ''CPL'' in some jurisdictions instead of ''CCW'', existed in 34 states in the U.S. by 2004.<ref name="NAS-exec" /> Since then, the number of states with CCW laws has increased; {{as of|2014|lc=y}}, all 50 states have some form of CCW laws on the books.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/gun-laws-by-state/ |title=Here are the gun laws for all 50 states in the U.S.|date=April 5, 2018 |access-date=February 4, 2019|work=Daily Dot}}</ref>


Economist ] has argued that right-to-carry laws create a perception that more potential crime victims might be carrying firearms, and thus serve as a ] against crime.<ref name="lott-1997">{{cite journal |author=Lott, Jr., John R., David B. Mustard |title=Crime, Deterrence, and Right-to-Carry Concealed Handguns |journal=] |volume=26 |issue=1 |year=1997 |pages=1–68 |id={{NCJ|174718}} |doi=10.1086/467988}}</ref> Lott's study has been criticized for not adequately controlling for other factors, including other state laws also enacted, such as ]'s laws requiring background checks and waiting period for handgun buyers.<ref name="black">{{cite journal |author=Black, Dan, Daniel Nagin |title=Do 'Right to Carry' Laws Reduce Violent Crime? |journal=] |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=209–219 |year=1998 |id={{NCJ|177169}} |doi=10.1086/468019}}</ref> When Lott's data was re-analyzed by some researchers, the only statistically significant effect of concealed-carry laws found was an increase in ]s,<ref name="black"/> with similar findings by ].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Ludwig, Jens |title=Concealed-Gun-Carrying Laws and Violent Crime: Evidence from State Panel Data |journal=] |volume=18 |pages=239–254 |year=1998 |doi=10.1016/S0144-8188(98)00012-X |issue=3}}</ref> Lott and Mustard's 1997 study has also been criticized by ] and Hashem Dezhbakhsh for inappropriately using a ]; Rubin and Dezhbakhsh reported in a 2003 study that right-to-carry laws have much smaller and more inconsistent effects than those reported by Lott and Mustard, and that these effects are usually not crime-reducing.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rubin|first1=Paul H|last2=Dezhbakhsh|first2=Hashem|title=The effect of concealed handgun laws on crime: beyond the dummy variables|journal=International Review of Law and Economics|date=June 2003|volume=23|issue=2|pages=199–216|doi=10.1016/S0144-8188(03)00027-9}}</ref> Since concealed-carry permits are only given to adults, Philip J. Cook suggested that analysis should focus on the relationship with adult and not ] gun incident rates.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000Ch3 /> He found no ] effect.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000Ch3 /> A 2004 ] survey of existing literature found that the data available "are too weak to support unambiguous conclusions" about the impact of right-to-carry laws on rates of ].<ref name="NAS-exec"/> NAS suggested that new analytical approaches and datasets at the county or local level are needed to adequately evaluate the impact of right-to-carry laws.<ref name="NAS-ch6">{{cite book |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review |year=2004 |publisher=] |author=Committee on Law and Justice |chapter=Chapter 6 |url=http://www.nap.edu/books/0309091241/html/120.html |isbn=0-309-09124-1}}</ref> A 2014 study found that Arizona's SB 1108, which allowed adults in the state to concealed carry without a permit and without passing a training course, was associated with an increase in gun-related fatalities.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ginwalla|first1=Rashna|last2=Rhee|first2=Peter|last3=Friese|first3=Randall|last4=Green|first4=Donald J.|last5=Gries|first5=Lynn|last6=Joseph|first6=Bellal|last7=Kulvatunyou|first7=Narong|last8=Lubin|first8=Dafney|last9=O’Keeffe|first9=Terence|last10=Vercruysse|first10=Gary|last11=Wynne|first11=Julie|last12=Tang|first12=Andrew|title=Repeal of the concealed weapons law and its impact on gun-related injuries and deaths|journal=]|date=March 2014|volume=76|issue=3|pages=569–575|doi=10.1097/TA.0000000000000141}}</ref> A 2015 ] working paper found that the apparent effects of RTC laws on crime rates depend significantly on the assumptions made in the analysis.<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w21701 | title=How Do Right-To-Carry Laws Affect Crime Rates? Coping With Ambiguity Using Bounded-Variation Assumptions |author1=Manski, Charles |author2=Pepper, John | journal=] working paper | year=2015}}</ref> Economist ] has argued that right-to-carry laws create a perception that more potential crime victims might be carrying firearms, and thus serve as a ] against crime.<ref name="lott-1997">{{cite journal |author=Lott, Jr., John R., David B. Mustard |title=Crime, Deterrence, and Right-to-Carry Concealed Handguns |journal=] |volume=26 |issue=1 |year=1997 |pages=1–68 |id={{NCJ|174718}} |doi=10.1086/467988|s2cid=73688402 |url=https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/law_and_economics/151 }}</ref> Lott's study has been criticized for not adequately controlling for other factors, including other state laws also enacted, such as ]'s laws requiring background checks and waiting period for handgun buyers.<ref name="black">{{cite journal |author=Black, Dan, Daniel Nagin |title=Do 'Right to Carry' Laws Reduce Violent Crime? |journal=] |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=209–219 |year=1998 |id={{NCJ|177169}} |doi=10.1086/468019|s2cid=154626760 }}</ref> When Lott's data was re-analyzed by some researchers, the only statistically significant effect of concealed-carry laws found was an increase in ]s,<ref name="black" /> with similar findings by ].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Ludwig, Jens |title=Concealed-Gun-Carrying Laws and Violent Crime: Evidence from State Panel Data |journal=] |volume=18 |pages=239–254 |year=1998 |doi=10.1016/S0144-8188(98)00012-X |issue=3|citeseerx=10.1.1.487.5452 }}</ref> Lott and Mustard's 1997 study has also been criticized by ] and Hashem Dezhbakhsh for inappropriately using a ]; Rubin and Dezhbakhsh reported in a 2003 study that right-to-carry laws have much smaller and more inconsistent effects than those reported by Lott and Mustard, and that these effects are usually not crime-reducing.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rubin|first1=Paul H|last2=Dezhbakhsh|first2=Hashem|title=The effect of concealed handgun laws on crime: beyond the dummy variables|journal=International Review of Law and Economics|date=June 2003|volume=23|issue=2|pages=199–216|doi=10.1016/S0144-8188(03)00027-9}}</ref> Since concealed-carry permits are only given to adults, Philip J. Cook suggested that analysis should focus on the relationship with adult and not ] gun incident rates.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000Ch3 /> He found no ] effect.<ref name=GVRC-Cook2000Ch3 /> A 2004 ] survey of existing literature found that the data available "are too weak to support unambiguous conclusions" about the impact of right-to-carry laws on rates of ].<ref name="NAS-exec" /> NAS suggested that new analytical approaches and datasets at the county or local level are needed to adequately evaluate the impact of right-to-carry laws.<ref name="NAS-ch6">{{cite book |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review |year=2004 |publisher=] |author=Committee on Law and Justice |chapter=Chapter 6 |chapter-url=http://www.nap.edu/books/0309091241/html/120.html |isbn=978-0-309-09124-4 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> A 2014 study found that Arizona's SB 1108, which allowed adults in the state to concealed carry without a permit and without passing a training course, was associated with an increase in gun-related fatalities.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ginwalla|first1=Rashna|last2=Rhee|first2=Peter|last3=Friese|first3=Randall|last4=Green|first4=Donald J.|last5=Gries|first5=Lynn|last6=Joseph|first6=Bellal|last7=Kulvatunyou|first7=Narong|last8=Lubin|first8=Dafney|last9=O'Keeffe|first9=Terence|last10=Vercruysse|first10=Gary|last11=Wynne|first11=Julie|last12=Tang|first12=Andrew|title=Repeal of the concealed weapons law and its impact on gun-related injuries and deaths|journal=]|date=March 2014|volume=76|issue=3|pages=569–575|doi=10.1097/TA.0000000000000141|pmid=24553521|s2cid=206091119}}</ref> A 2018 study by ] and ] found that the apparent effects of RTC laws on crime rates depend significantly on the assumptions made in the analysis.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Charles F. |last1=Manski |first2=John V. |last2=Pepper |title=How Do Right-to-Carry Laws Affect Crime Rates? Coping with Ambiguity Using Bounded-Variation Assumptions |journal=] |volume=100 |issue= 2|pages= 232–244|year=2018 |doi=10.1162/REST_a_00689 |s2cid=43138806 |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w21701.pdf }}</ref> A 2019 study found no statistically significant association between the liberalization of state level firearm carry legislation over the last 30 years and the rates of homicides or other violent crime.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Schiller|first1=Henry J.|last2=Matos|first2=Miguel A.|last3=Zielinski|first3=Martin D.|last4=Bailey|first4=Kent R.|last5=Hernandez|first5=Matthew C.|last6=Hamill|first6=Mark E.|date=January 1, 2019|title=State Level Firearm Concealed-Carry Legislation and Rates of Homicide and Other Violent Crime|url=https://www.journalacs.org/article/S1072-7515(18)32074-X/abstract|journal=Journal of the American College of Surgeons|language=en|volume=228|issue=1|pages=1–8|doi=10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2018.08.694|issn=1072-7515|pmid=30359832|s2cid=53104255 |doi-access=}}</ref>


==== Child Access Prevention (CAP) ==== ====Child Access Prevention (CAP)====
{{Main article|Child access prevention law}} {{Main|Child access prevention law}}
Child Access Prevention (CAP) laws, enacted by many states, require parents to store firearms safely, to minimize access by children to guns, while maintaining ease of access by adults.<ref name="NBER">{{cite book |author=DeSimone, Jeff, Sara Markowitz |chapter=The Effect of Child Access Prevention Laws on Non-Fatal Gun Injuries |title=NBER Working Paper No. 11613 |date=September 2005 |publisher=] |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/W11613}}</ref> CAP laws hold gun owners ] should a child gain access to a loaded gun that is not properly stored.<ref name="NBER"/> The ] (CDC) claimed that, on average, one child died every three days in accidental incidents in the U.S. from 2000 to 2005.<ref>{{cite news|title=Boy finds forgotten gun, accidentally shoots self in head |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/04/21/forgotten.gun/index.html?eref=edition |work=] |date=April 21, 2009 |accessdate=2009-04-22 }}</ref> In most states, CAP law violations are considered ]s.<ref name="NBER"/> ]'s CAP law, enacted in 1989, permits ] prosecution of violators.<ref name="NBER"/> Research indicates that CAP laws are correlated with a reduction in unintentional gun deaths by 23%,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Cummings, Peter, David C. Grossman, Frederick P. Rivara, Thomas D. Koepsell |title=State Gun Safe Storage Laws and Child Mortality Due to Firearms |journal=] |year=1997 |volume=278 |issue=13 |pages=1084–1086 |pmid=9315767 |doi=10.1001/jama.1997.03550130058037}}</ref> and gun suicides among those aged 14 through 17 by 11%.<ref name=webster>{{cite journal |author=Webster, Daniel, John Vernick|title=Association between Youth-Focused Firearm Laws and Youth Suicides |journal=] |year=2004 |volume=292 |issue=5 |pages=594–601 |pmid=15292085 |doi=10.1001/jama.292.5.594|display-authors=etal}}</ref> A study by ] did not detect a relationship between CAP laws and accidental gun deaths or suicides among those age 19 and under between 1979 and 1996.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite journal |author=Lott, John, John E. Whitley |year=2001 |title=Safe-Storage Gun Laws: Accidental Deaths, Suicides, and Crime |url=http://johnrlott.tripod.com/whitney.pdf |journal=] |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=659–689 |doi=10.1086/338346 |quote=It is frequently assumed that safe-storage laws reduce accidental gun deaths and total suicides. We find no support that safe-storage laws reduce either juvenile accidental gun deaths or suicides.}}</ref> However, two studies disputed Lott's findings.<ref name=webster/><ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://www.researchgate.net/publication/258200791_Risky_Behavior_Juveniles_Guns_and_Unintentional_Firearms_Fatalities|title = Risky Behavior, Juveniles, Guns, and Unintentional Firearms Fatalities|last = Ruddel|first = Rick|date = October 2004|journal = Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice|doi = 10.1177/1541204004267782|pmid = |access-date = April 6, 2015|last2 = Mays|first2 = G. Larry|volume=2|pages=342–358}}</ref> A 2008 ] working paper found that CAP laws are correlated with a reduction of non-fatal gun injuries among both children and adults by 30-40%.<ref name="NBER"/> In 2016 the ] found that safe gun storage laws were associated with lower overall adolescent suicide rates.<ref>American Academy of Pediatrics (2016). State Advocacy Focus: Safe Storage of Firearms. Accessed at: https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/state-advocacy/Documents/Safe%20Storage.pdf</ref> Research also indicated that CAP laws were most highly correlated with reductions of non-fatal gun injuries in states where violations were considered felonies, whereas in states that considered violations as misdemeanors, the potential impact of CAP laws was not statistically significant.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Webster, D.W., M. Starnes |title=Reexamining the association between child access prevention gun laws and unintentional shooting deaths of children |journal=] |year=2000 |volume=106 |issue=6 |pages=1466–1469 |pmid=11099605 |doi=10.1542/peds.106.6.1466}}</ref> All of these studies were correlational, and do not account for other potential contributing factors. ] Child Access Prevention (CAP) laws, enacted by many states, require parents to store firearms safely, to minimize access by children to guns, while maintaining ease of access by adults.<ref name="DeSimone et al.">{{cite journal |first1=Jeffrey |last1=DeSimone |first2=Sara |last2=Markowitz |first3=Jing |last3=Xu |title=Child Access Prevention Laws and Nonfatal Gun Injuries |journal=] |volume= 80 |issue=1 |year=2013 |pages=5–25 |doi=10.4284/0038-4038-2011.333 }}</ref> CAP laws hold gun owners ] should a child gain access to a loaded gun that is not properly stored.<ref name="DeSimone et al." /> The ] (CDC) said that, on average, one child died every three days in accidental incidents in the U.S. from 2000 to 2005.<ref>{{cite news|title=Boy finds forgotten gun, accidentally shoots self in head |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/04/21/forgotten.gun/index.html |work=] |date=April 21, 2009 |access-date=April 22, 2009 }}</ref> In most states, CAP law violations are considered ]s.<ref name="DeSimone et al." /> Florida's CAP law, enacted in 1989, permits ] prosecution of violators.<ref name="DeSimone et al." /> Research indicates that CAP laws are correlated with a reduction in unintentional gun deaths by 23%,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Cummings, Peter, David C. Grossman, Frederick P. Rivara, Thomas D. Koepsell |title=State Gun Safe Storage Laws and Child Mortality Due to Firearms |journal=] |year=1997 |volume=278 |issue=13 |pages=1084–1086 |pmid=9315767 |doi=10.1001/jama.1997.03550130058037}}</ref> and gun suicides among those aged 14 through 17 by 11%.<ref name=webster>{{cite journal |doi=10.1001/jama.292.5.594 |pmid=15292085 |title=Association Between Youth-Focused Firearm Laws and Youth Suicides |journal=JAMA |volume=292 |issue=5 |pages=594–601 |year=2004 |last1=Webster |first1=Daniel W |last2=Vernick |first2=J. S |last3=Zeoli |first3=A. M |last4=Manganello |first4=J. A |doi-access=free }}</ref> A study by ] did not detect a relationship between CAP laws and accidental gun deaths or suicides among those age 19 and under between 1979 and 1996.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite journal |author=Lott, John, John E. Whitley |year=2001 |title=Safe-Storage Gun Laws: Accidental Deaths, Suicides, and Crime |url=http://johnrlott.tripod.com/whitney.pdf |journal=] |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=659–689 |doi=10.1086/338346 |quote=It is frequently assumed that safe-storage laws reduce accidental gun deaths and total suicides. We find no support that safe-storage laws reduce either juvenile accidental gun deaths or suicides.|citeseerx=10.1.1.180.3066 |s2cid=154446568 }}</ref> However, two studies disputed Lott's findings.<ref name=webster /><ref>{{Cite journal|url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258200791|title = Risky Behavior, Juveniles, Guns, and Unintentional Firearms Fatalities|last1 = Ruddel|first1 = Rick|date = October 2004|journal = Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice|doi = 10.1177/1541204004267782|access-date = April 6, 2015|last2 = Mays|first2 = G. Larry|volume=2|issue = 4|pages=342–358|s2cid = 73077923}}</ref> A 2013 study found that CAP laws are correlated with a reduction of non-fatal gun injuries among both children and adults by 30–40%.<ref name="DeSimone et al." /> In 2016 the ] found that safe gun storage laws were associated with lower overall adolescent suicide rates.<ref>American Academy of Pediatrics (2016). State Advocacy Focus: Safe Storage of Firearms. Accessed at: https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/state-advocacy/Documents/Safe%20Storage.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621151652/https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/state-advocacy/Documents/Safe%20Storage.pdf |date=June 21, 2017 }}</ref> Research also indicated that CAP laws were most highly correlated with reductions of non-fatal gun injuries in states where violations were considered felonies, whereas in states that considered violations as misdemeanors, the potential impact of CAP laws was not statistically significant.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Webster, D.W., M. Starnes |title=Reexamining the association between child access prevention gun laws and unintentional shooting deaths of children |journal=] |year=2000 |volume=106 |issue=6 |pages=1466–1469 |pmid=11099605 |doi=10.1542/peds.106.6.1466}}</ref>


=== Local restrictions === ===Local restrictions===
Some local jurisdictions in the U.S. have more restrictive laws, such as ]'s ], which banned residents from owning handguns, and required permitted firearms be disassembled and locked with a trigger lock. On March 9, 2007, a ] ruled the Washington, D.C. handgun ban unconstitutional.<ref> Bloomberg News, March 9, 2007</ref> The appeal of that case later led to the ]'s ruling in '']'' that D.C.'s ban was unconstitutional under the ]. Some local jurisdictions in the U.S. have more restrictive laws, such as Washington, D.C.'s ], which banned residents from owning handguns, and required permitted firearms be disassembled and locked with a trigger lock. On March 9, 2007, a ] ruled the Washington, D.C., handgun ban unconstitutional.<ref> Bloomberg News, March 9, 2007</ref> The appeal of that case later led to the ]'s ruling in '']'' that D.C.'s ban was unconstitutional under the ].


Despite ]'s strict gun control laws, guns are often trafficked in from other parts of the U.S., particularly the southern states.<ref name="butterfield"/><ref>{{cite book |author=Wintemute, Garen |chapter=Guns and Gun Violence |title=The Crime Drop in America |editor=Blumstein, Alfred |editor2=Joel Wallman |publisher=] |year=2000}}</ref> Results from the ATF's ] indicate that the percentage of imported guns involved in crimes is tied to the stringency of local firearm laws.<ref name="ycgii"/> Despite ]'s strict gun control laws, guns are often trafficked in from other parts of the U.S., particularly the southern states.<ref name="butterfield" /><ref>{{cite book |author=Wintemute, Garen |chapter=Guns and Gun Violence |title=The Crime Drop in America |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/crimedropinameri00alfr |chapter-url-access=registration |editor=Blumstein, Alfred |editor2=Joel Wallman |publisher=] |year=2000|isbn=978-0-521-79712-2 }}</ref> Results from the ATF's ] indicate that the percentage of imported guns involved in crimes is tied to the stringency of local firearm laws.<ref name="ycgii" />


== Prevention programs == ==Prevention programs==
Violence prevention and ]s have been established in many ]s and communities across the United States. These programs aim to change personal behavior of both ] and their ]s, encouraging children to stay away from guns, ensure parents store guns safely, and encourage children to ] without resorting to violence.<ref name="hardy">{{cite journal |author=Hardy, Marjorie S. |title=Behavior-Oriented Approaches to Reducing Gun Violence |journal=] |publisher=] / ] |year=2002 |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=101–118 |id={{NCJ|196785}} |doi=10.2307/1602741}}</ref> Programs aimed at altering ] range from passive (requiring no effort on the part of the individual) to active (supervising children, or placing a ] on a gun).<ref name="hardy"/> The more effort required of people, the more difficult it is to implement a ] strategy.<ref>{{cite book |author=Christophersen, E.R. |chapter=Improving compliance in childhood injury control |title=Developmental aspects of health compliance behavior |publisher=] |year=1993 |pages=219–231}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Williams, A.F. |title=Passive and active measures for controlling disease and injury |journal=] |year=1982 |volume=1 |pages=399–409 |doi=10.1037/h0090242 }}</ref> Prevention strategies focused on modifying the situational environment and the firearm itself may be more effective.<ref name="hardy"/> Empirical ] of gun violence prevention programs has been limited.<ref name="NAS-exec"/> Of the evaluations that have been done, results indicate such programs have minimal effectiveness.<ref name="hardy"/> Violence prevention and ]s have been established in many schools and communities across the United States. These programs aim to change personal behavior of both children and their parents, encouraging children to stay away from guns, ensure parents store guns safely, and encourage children to ] without resorting to violence.<ref name="hardy">{{cite journal |author=Hardy, Marjorie S. |title=Behavior-Oriented Approaches to Reducing Gun Violence |journal=] |year=2002 |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=101–118 |id={{NCJ|196785}} |doi=10.2307/1602741|jstor=1602741 |s2cid=15395476 }}</ref> Programs aimed at altering behavior range from passive (requiring no effort on the part of the individual) to active (supervising children, or placing a ] on a gun).<ref name="hardy" /> The more effort required of people, the more difficult it is to implement a ] strategy.<ref>{{cite book |author=Christophersen, E.R. |chapter=Improving compliance in childhood injury control |title=Developmental aspects of health compliance behavior |publisher=] |year=1993 |pages=219–231}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Williams, A.F. |title=Passive and active measures for controlling disease and injury |journal=] |year=1982 |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=399–409 |doi=10.1037/h0090242 }}</ref> Prevention strategies focused on modifying the situational environment and the firearm itself may be more effective.<ref name="hardy" /> Empirical evaluation of gun violence prevention programs has been limited.<ref name="NAS-exec" /> Of the evaluations that have been done, results indicate such programs have minimal effectiveness.<ref name="hardy" />


=== Hotline === ===Hotline===
] is a national youth violence prevention initiative created by ],<ref>{{cite web|title=The Center to Prevent Youth Violence|url=http://www.cpyv.org|accessdate=29 August 2011}}</ref> which provides young people with tools to improve the safety of their schools and communities. The SPEAK UP program is an anonymous, national hot-line for young people to report threats of violence in their communities or at school. The hot-line is operated in accordance with a protocol developed in collaboration with national education and law enforcement authorities, including the FBI. Trained counselors, with access to translators for 140 languages, collect information from callers and then report the threat to appropriate school and law enforcement officials.<ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105193911/http://www.paxusa.org/speakup/about.html |date=January 5, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cpyv.org/programs/what-is-speak-up/ |title=What is SPEAK UP? |accessdate=29 August 2011 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004052609/http://www.cpyv.org/programs/what-is-speak-up/ |archivedate=October 4, 2011 }}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=December 2012}} Speak Up is a national youth violence prevention initiative created by ],<ref>{{cite web|title=The Center to Prevent Youth Violence|url=http://www.cpyv.org|access-date=August 29, 2011}}</ref> which provides young people with tools to improve the safety of their schools and communities. The SPEAK UP program is an anonymous, national hot-line for young people to report threats of violence in their communities or at school. The hot-line is operated in accordance with a protocol developed in collaboration with national education and law enforcement authorities, including the FBI. Trained counselors, with access to translators for 140 languages, collect information from callers and then report the threat to appropriate school and law enforcement officials.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.paxusa.org/speakup/about.html |title= PAX / Real Solutions to Gun Violence|website=www.paxusa.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105193911/http://www.paxusa.org/speakup/about.html |archive-date=January 5, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cpyv.org/programs/what-is-speak-up/ |title=What is SPEAK UP? |access-date=August 29, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004052609/http://www.cpyv.org/programs/what-is-speak-up/ |archive-date=October 4, 2011 }}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=December 2012}}


=== Gun safety parent counseling === ===Gun safety parent counseling===
One of the most widely used parent counseling programs is Steps to Prevent Firearm Injury program (STOP), which was developed in 1994 by the ] and the ] (the latter of which was then known as the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence).<ref name="hardy"/><ref name=oatisetal>{{cite journal|last1=Oatis|first1=PJ|last2=Fenn Buderer|first2=NM|last3=Cummings|first3=P|last4=Fleitz|first4=R|title=Pediatric practice based evaluation of the Steps to Prevent Firearm Injury program.|journal=Injury Prevention|date=March 1999|volume=5|issue=1|pages=48–52|pmid=10323570}}</ref> STOP was superseded by STOP 2 in 1998, which has a broader focus including more communities and health care providers.<ref name="hardy"/> STOP has been evaluated and found not to have a significant effect on gun ownership or firearm storage practices by inner-city parents.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Oatis, Pamela J., Nancy M. Fenn Buderer, Peter Cummings, Rosemarie Fleitz |title=Pediatric practice based evaluation of the Steps to Prevent Firearm Injury program |journal=] |volume=5 |issue=1 |year=1999 |pages=48–52 |pmid=10323570 |doi=10.1136/ip.5.1.48 |pmc=1730460}}</ref> Marjorie S. Hardy suggests further evaluation of STOP is needed, as this evaluation had a limited sample size and lacked a control group.<ref name="hardy"/> A 1999 study found no statistically significant effect of STOP on rates of gun ownership or better gun storage.<ref name=oatisetal/> One of the most widely used parent counseling programs is Steps to Prevent Firearm Injury program (STOP), which was developed in 1994 by the ] and the ] (the latter of which was then known as the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence).<ref name="hardy" /><ref name=PMID10323570>{{cite journal |pmid=10323570 |pmc=1730460|doi=10.1136/ip.5.1.48|title=Pediatric practice based evaluation of the Steps to Prevent Firearm Injury program|journal=Injury Prevention|volume=5|issue=1|pages=48–52|year=1999|last1=Oatis|first1=P J |last2=Buderer|first2=N M F |last3=Cummings|first3=P |last4=Fleitz|first4=R }}</ref> STOP was superseded by STOP 2 in 1998, which has a broader focus including more communities and health care providers.<ref name="hardy" /> STOP has been evaluated and found not to have a significant effect on gun ownership or firearm storage practices by inner-city parents.<ref name=PMID10323570 /> Marjorie S. Hardy suggests further evaluation of STOP is needed, as this evaluation had a limited sample size and lacked a control group.<ref name="hardy" /> A 1999 study found no statistically significant effect of STOP on rates of gun ownership or better gun storage.<ref name=PMID10323570 />


=== Children === ===Children===
Prevention programs geared towards children have also not been greatly successful.<ref name="hardy"/> Many inherent challenges arise when working with children, including their tendency to perceive themselves as invulnerable to injury,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Benthin, A., P. Slovic, H. Severan |title=A psychometric study of adolescent risk perception |journal=] |year=1993 |volume=16 |pages=153–168 |doi=10.1006/jado.1993.1014 |pmid=8376640 |issue=2}}</ref> limited ability to apply lessons learned,<ref name="hyson">{{cite journal |author=Hyson, M.C., G.G. Bollin |title=Children's appraisal of home and neighborhood risks: Questions for the 1990s |journal=] |year=1990 |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=50–60}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Coppens, N.M. |title=Cognitive development and locus of control as predictors of preschoolers' understanding of safety and prevention |journal=] |year=1985 |volume=6 |pages=43–55 |doi=10.1016/0193-3973(85)90015-2}}</ref> their innate curiosity,<ref name="hyson"/> and ]. Prevention programs geared towards children have also not been greatly successful.<ref name="hardy" /> Many inherent challenges arise when working with children, including their tendency to perceive themselves as invulnerable to injury,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Benthin, A., P. Slovic, H. Severan |title=A psychometric study of adolescent risk perception |journal=] |year=1993 |volume=16 |pages=153–168 |doi=10.1006/jado.1993.1014 |pmid=8376640 |issue=2|hdl=1794/22410 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> limited ability to apply lessons learned,<ref name="hyson">{{cite journal |author=Hyson, M.C., G.G. Bollin |title=Children's appraisal of home and neighborhood risks: Questions for the 1990s |journal=] |year=1990 |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=50–60}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Coppens, N.M. |title=Cognitive development and locus of control as predictors of preschoolers' understanding of safety and prevention |journal=] |year=1985 |volume=6 |pages=43–55 |doi=10.1016/0193-3973(85)90015-2}}</ref> their innate curiosity,<ref name="hyson" /> and ].


The goal of gun safety programs, usually administered by local firearms dealers and shooting clubs, is to teach older children and adolescents how to handle firearms safely.<ref name="hardy"/> There has been no systematic evaluation of the effect of these programs on children.<ref name="hardy"/> For adults, no positive effect on gun storage practices has been found as a result of these programs.<ref name=Cook-Ludwig1997 /><ref>{{cite journal |author=Hemenway, D., S. Solnek, D.R. Azrael |title=Firearm training and storage |journal=] |year=1995 |volume=273 |issue=1 |pages=46–50 |pmid=7996649 |doi=10.1001/jama.273.1.46}}</ref> Also, researchers have found that gun safety programs for children may likely increase a child's interest in obtaining and using guns, which they cannot be expected to use safely all the time, even with training.<ref>{{cite book |author=Wilson, M.H., S.P. Baker, S.P. Teret|title=Saving children: A guide to injury prevention |publisher=] |year=1991|display-authors=etal}}</ref> The goal of gun safety programs, usually administered by local firearms dealers and shooting clubs, is to teach older children and adolescents how to handle firearms safely.<ref name="hardy" /> There has been no systematic evaluation of the effect of these programs on children.<ref name="hardy" /> For adults, no positive effect on gun storage practices has been found as a result of these programs.<ref name=Cook-Ludwig1997 /><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1001/jama.273.1.46 |title=Firearm training and storage |journal=JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association |volume=273 |pages=46–50 |year=1995 |last1=Hemenway |first1=D |issue=1 |pmid=7996649 }}</ref> Also, researchers have found that gun safety programs for children may likely increase a child's interest in obtaining and using guns, which they cannot be expected to use safely all the time, even with training.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Modena Hoover |last1=Wilson |first2=Susan P. |last2=Baker |first3=Stephen P. |last3=Teret |first4=Susan |last4=Shock |first5=James |last5=Garbarino |title=Saving children: A guide to injury prevention |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-19-506115-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/savingchildrengu00wils }}{{page needed|date=December 2017}}</ref>


One approach taken is gun avoidance, such as when encountering a firearm at a neighbor's home. The ] Gun Safety Program, administered by the ] (NRA), is geared towards younger children from pre-] to sixth grade, and teaches kids that real guns are not toys by emphasizing a "just say no" approach.<ref name="hardy"/> The Eddie Eagle program is based on training children in a four-step action to take when they see a firearm: (1) Stop! (2) Don't touch! (3) Leave the area. (4) Go tell an adult. Materials, such as coloring books and posters, back the lessons up and provide the repetition necessary in any child-education program. The ineffectiveness of the "just say no" approach promoted by the NRA's Eddie the Eagle program was highlighted in an investigative piece by ABC's Diane Sawyer in 1999.<ref name=sawyer>{{cite news |last=Sawyer |first=Diane |title=20/20 Classic: Kids and Guns |url=http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7282623 |accessdate=28 July 2012 |newspaper=ABC News |date=21 May 1999}}</ref> Sawyer's piece was based on academic studies conducted by Dr. Marjorie Hardy, assistant professor of psychology at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania.<ref name=holman>{{cite web |last=Holman |first=Virginia |title=Is There a Gun in the House? |url=http://www.parents.com/kids/teens/violence/is-there-a-gun-in-the-house/?page=3 |work=Parents Magazine |accessdate=28 July 2012}}</ref> Dr. Hardy's study tracked the behavior of elementary age schoolchildren who spent a day learning the Eddie the Eagle four-step action plan from a uniformed police officer. The children were then placed into a playroom which contained a hidden gun. When the children found the gun, they did not run away from the gun, but rather, they inevitably played with it, pulled the trigger while looking into the barrel, or aimed the gun at a playmate and pulled the trigger. The study concluded that children's natural curiosity was far more powerful than the parental admonition to "Just say no".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Patten|first=Peggy|title=Saying No to Guns: It's Not Enough. An Interview with Marjorie Hardy|journal=Parent News |year=2000|volume=6 | issue = 4|url=http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/pubs/ivpaguide/appendix/patten-sayingno.pdf}}</ref> One approach taken is gun avoidance, such as when encountering a firearm at a neighbor's home. The ] Gun Safety Program, administered by the ] (NRA), is geared towards younger children from pre-kindergarten to sixth grade, and teaches kids that real guns are not toys by emphasizing a "just say no" approach.<ref name="hardy" /> The Eddie Eagle program is based on training children in a four-step action to take when they see a firearm: (1) Stop! (2) Don't touch! (3) Leave the area. (4) Go tell an adult. Materials, such as coloring books and posters, back the lessons up and provide the repetition necessary in any child-education program. ABC News challenged the effectiveness of the "just say no" approach promoted by the NRA's Eddie the Eagle program in an investigative piece by Diane Sawyer in 1999.<ref name=sawyer>{{cite news |last=Sawyer |first=Diane |title=20/20 Classic: Kids and Guns |url=https://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7282623 |access-date=July 28, 2012 |newspaper=ABC News |date=May 21, 1999}}</ref> Sawyer's piece was based on an academic study conducted by Dr. Marjorie Hardy.<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=11943968 |year=2002 |last1=Hardy |first1=M. S |title=Teaching firearm safety to children: Failure of a program |journal=Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=71–6 |doi=10.1097/00004703-200204000-00002 |s2cid=31990185 }}</ref> Dr. Hardy's study tracked the behavior of elementary age schoolchildren who spent a day learning the Eddie the Eagle four-step action plan from a uniformed police officer. The children were then placed into a playroom which contained a hidden gun. When the children found the gun, they did not run away from the gun, but rather, they inevitably played with it, pulled the trigger while looking into the barrel, or aimed the gun at a playmate and pulled the trigger. The study concluded that children's natural curiosity was far more powerful than the parental admonition to "Just say no".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Patten|first=Peggy|title=Saying No to Guns: It's Not Enough. An Interview with Marjorie Hardy|journal=Parent News |year=2000|volume=6|issue=4|url=http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/pubs/ivpaguide/appendix/patten-sayingno.pdf|access-date=October 13, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060112065203/http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/pubs/ivpaguide/appendix/patten-sayingno.pdf|archive-date=January 12, 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref>


=== Community programs === ===Community programs===
Programs targeted at entire ], such as community revitalization, after-school programs, and ], may be more effective in reducing the general level of violence that children are exposed to.<ref>{{cite journal |author=], Committee on Preventative Psychiatry |title=Violent behavior in children and youth: Preventative intervention from a psychiatric perspective |journal=] |year=1999 |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=235–241 |doi=10.1097/00004583-199903000-00008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Arrendondo, S., T. Aultman-Bettride, T.P. Johnson|title=Preventing youth handgun violence: A national study with trends and patterns for the state of Colorado |publisher=] |year=1999|display-authors=etal}}</ref> Community-based programs that have specifically targeted gun violence include Safe Kids/Healthy Neighborhoods Injury Prevention Program in ],<ref>{{cite journal |author=Davidson, L.L., M S Durkin, L Kuhn, P O'Connor, B Barlow, M C Heagarty |title=The impact of the Safe Kids/Healthy Neighborhoods Injury Prevention Program in Harlem, 1988 through 1991 |journal=] |year=1994 |volume=84 |issue=4 |pages=580–586 |pmid=8154560 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.84.4.580 |pmc=1614780}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Klassen, T.P., I.M. MacKay, A.W. Moher, A. I. Jones |title=Community-based prevention interventions |journal=] |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=83–110 |year=2000 |doi=10.2307/1602826 |publisher=The Future of Children, Vol. 10, No. 1 |jstor=1602826}}</ref> and Safe Homes and Havens in ].<ref name="hardy"/> Evaluation of such community-based programs is difficult, due to many confounding factors and the multifaceted nature of such programs.<ref name="hardy"/> Programs targeted at entire ], such as community revitalization, after-school programs, and ], may be more effective in reducing the general level of violence that children are exposed to.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1097/00004583-199903000-00008 |pmid=10087683 |id={{NCJ|177518}} |title=Violent Behavior in Children and Youth: Preventive Intervention from a Psychiatric Perspective |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=235–241 |year=1999 |author1=Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry |author-link1=Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Sabrina |last1=Arredondo |first2=Tonya |last2=Aultman-Bettridge |first3=Tenah P. |last3=Johnson |first4=Kirk R. |last4=Williams |first5=Louise |last5=Ninneman |first6=Ken |last6=Torp |year=1999 |title=Preventing Youth Handgun Violence: A National Study with Trends and Patterns for the State of Colorado |publisher=] |oclc=133466451 |hdl=10176/co:5468_ucb61092p911999binternet.pdf }}{{page needed|date=December 2017}}</ref> Community-based programs that have specifically targeted gun violence include Safe Kids/Healthy Neighborhoods Injury Prevention Program in New York City,<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.2105/AJPH.84.4.580 |pmid=8154560 |pmc=1614780 |title=The impact of the Safe Kids/Healthy Neighborhoods Injury Prevention Program in Harlem, 1988 through 1991 |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=84 |issue=4 |pages=580–586 |year=1994 |last1=Davidson |first1=L L |last2=Durkin |first2=M S |last3=Kuhn |first3=L |last4=O'Connor |first4=P |last5=Barlow |first5=B |last6=Heagarty |first6=M C }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.2307/1602826 |pmid=10911689 |jstor=1602826 |title=Community-Based Injury Prevention Interventions |journal=The Future of Children |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=83–110 |year=2000 |last1=Klassen |first1=Terry P |last2=MacKay |first2=J. Morag |last3=Moher |first3=David |last4=Walker |first4=Annie |last5=Jones |first5=Alison L |s2cid=13327233 }}</ref> and Safe Homes and Havens in Chicago.<ref name="hardy" /> Evaluation of such community-based programs is difficult, due to many confounding factors and the multifaceted nature of such programs.<ref name="hardy" /> A Chicago-based program, "BAM" (Becoming a Man) has produced positive results, according to the ], and is expanding to Boston in 2017.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/09/21/chicago-violence-crime-psychology-cognitive-behavioral-therapy-215633|title=Group Therapy Is Saving Lives in Chicago|work=Politico|access-date=September 22, 2017}}</ref>


====March for Our Lives====
== Intervention programs ==
The ] was a ] ] in support of legislation to prevent gun violence in the United States. It took place in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2018, with over 880 sibling events throughout the U.S.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://event.marchforourlives.com/event/march-our-lives-events/search/|title=You Marched. Now we fight for our lives.|publisher=March For Our Lives|website=marchforourlives.com|access-date=March 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180325022850/https://event.marchforourlives.com/event/march-our-lives-events/search/|archive-date=March 25, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.salon.com/2018/02/18/florida-student-survivors-announce-march-for-our-lives-heres-a-time-to-talk-about-gun-control/|title=Florida student survivors announce 'March for Our Lives': Here's a time to talk about gun control| date= February 18, 2018|work=]| first= Charlie| last= May| access-date=February 18, 2018| url-status=live| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180218155533/https://www.salon.com/2018/02/18/florida-student-survivors-announce-march-for-our-lives-heres-a-time-to-talk-about-gun-control/|archive-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Carlsen">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/03/22/us/politics/march-for-lives-demonstrations.html | title=Across the United States | work=The New York Times | date=March 22, 2018 | last1=Carlsen | first1=Audrey | last2=Patel | first2=Jugal | access-date=March 24, 2018 }}</ref><ref name="ST">{{cite news | url= https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/take-assault-weapons-ban-to-the-people/ | title=Take assault-weapons ban to the people | work=] | date=March 21, 2018 | author=Editorial | access-date=March 24, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://time.com/5214706/march-for-our-lives-us-photos/ |title=These Photos Show How Big the March for Our Lives Crowds Were Across the Country |last=Langone |first=Alix |date=March 25, 2018 |magazine=Time |access-date=March 25, 2018}}</ref> It was planned by ] in collaboration with the ].<ref name="Demand">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43105699|title=American teens demand 'Never Again'|last=Cooper|first=Kelly-Leigh|date=February 18, 2018|work=BBC News| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180218214940/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43105699|archive-date=February 18, 2018| url-status=live| access-date=February 18, 2018}}</ref> The demonstration followed the ] in ] on February 14, 2018, which was described by several media outlets as a possible ] for gun control legislation.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/02/17/we-last-mass-shooting-florida-students-might-tipping-point-gun-debate/347992002/ |title='We will be the last mass shooting': Florida students want to be tipping point in gun debate |last=Miller |first=Sarah |date=February 17, 2018 |work=USA Today |access-date=March 26, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-march-for-our-lives-photographs-from-washington-dc |title=The Fearless, Outraged Young Protesters at the March for Our Lives in Washington, D. C. |last1=Petrusich |first1=Amanda |last2=Peterson |first2=Mark |date=March 24, 2018 |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=March 26, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://time.com/5167305/florida-shooting-teachers-gun-control-activism/|title=Teachers Are Fighting for Gun Control After Parkland |last=Reilly |first=Katie |date=February 21, 2018|magazine=] |access-date=March 26, 2018 }}</ref>
] James D. Wright suggests that to convince inner-city youths not to carry guns "requires convincing them that they can survive in their neighborhood without being armed, that they can come and go in peace, that being unarmed will not cause them to be victimized, intimidated, or slain."<ref name="wright"/> Intervention programs, such as ], ] in ] and ] in ] during the 1990s, have been shown to be effective.<ref name="NAS-exec"/><ref>{{cite journal |author=Braga, Anthony A., David M. Kennedy, Elin J. Waring, Anne M. Piehl |title=Problem-Oriented Policing, Deterrence, and Youth Violence: An Evaluation of Boston's Operation Ceasefire |journal=] |volume=38 |issue=3 |year=2001 |id={{NCJ|189562}}}}</ref> Other intervention strategies, such as gun "buy-back" programs have been demonstrated to be ineffective.<ref name=FandVpp95-96>{{cite book |author=National Research Council |year=2004 |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review |url=http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10881&page=95 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=National Academies Press |isbn=0-309-09124-1}}</ref>


=== Gun buyback programs === ==Intervention programs==
] James D. Wright suggests that to convince inner-city youths not to carry guns "requires convincing them that they can survive in their neighborhood without being armed, that they can come and go in peace, that being unarmed will not cause them to be victimized, intimidated, or slain."<ref name="wright" /> Intervention programs, such as ], ] in Boston and ] in ] during the 1990s, have been shown to be effective.<ref name="NAS-exec" /><ref>{{cite journal |author=Braga, Anthony A., David M. Kennedy, Elin J. Waring, Anne M. Piehl |title=Problem-Oriented Policing, Deterrence, and Youth Violence: An Evaluation of Boston's Operation Ceasefire |journal=] |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=195–225 |year=2001 |id={{NCJ|189562}}|doi=10.1177/0022427801038003001 |s2cid=1218757 }}</ref> Other intervention strategies, such as gun "buy-back" programs have been demonstrated to be ineffective.<ref name=FandVpp95-96>{{cite book |author=National Research Council |year=2004 |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review |url=http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10881&page=95 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=National Academies Press |isbn=978-0-309-09124-4}}</ref>
{{Main article|Gun buyback program}}
Gun "buyback" programs are a strategy aimed at influencing the firearms market by taking guns "off the streets".<ref name=FandVpp95-96/> Gun "buyback" programs have been shown to be effective to prevent suicides, but ineffective to prevent homicides<ref name=MfG1994>{{cite journal |last1=Callahan |first1=Charles M. |last2=Rivara |first2=Frederick P. |last3=Koepsell |first3=Thomas D. |year=1994 |title=Money for Guns: Evaluation of the Seattle Gun Buy-Back Program |url= |journal=] |publisher=National Center for Biotechnology Information |volume=109 |issue=4 |pages=472–477 |doi= |pmid=8041845 |pmc=1403522 |accessdate=}}</ref><ref name=Rosenfeld1996>{{cite book |last=Rosenfeld |first=Richard |year=1996 |chapter=Gun buy-backs: Crime control or community mobilization? |title=Under Fire: Gun Buy-Backs, Exchanges, and Amnesty Programs |editor-last=Plotkin |editor-first=Martha R. |publisher=] |id={{NCJ|161877}}}}</ref> with the ] citing theory underlying these programs as "badly flawed."<ref name=FandVpp95-96/> Guns surrendered tend to be those least likely to be involved in crime, such as old, ] guns with little resale value, muzzleloading or other black-powder guns, antiques chambered for obsolete cartridges that are no longer commercially manufactured or sold, or guns that individuals ] but have little value in possessing.<ref name=KPB1996>{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=David M. |last2=Piehl |first2=Anne M. |last3=Braga |first3=Anthony A. |year=1996 |chapter=Gun buy-backs: Where do we stand and where do we go? |title=Under Fire: Gun Buy-Backs, Exchanges, and Amnesty Programs |editor-last=Plotkin |editor-first=Martha R. |publisher=Police Executive Research Forum |id={{NCJ|161877}}}}</ref> Other limitations of gun buyback programs include the fact that it is relatively easy to obtain gun replacements, often of better guns than were relinquished in the buyback.<ref name=FandVpp95-96/> Also, the number of handguns used in crime (approximately 7,500 per year) is very small compared to the approximately 70 million handguns in the U.S.. (i.e., 0.011%).<ref name=FandVpp95-96/>


===Gun buyback programs===
"Gun bounty" programs launched in several Florida cities have shown more promise. These programs involve cash rewards for anonymous tips about illegal weapons that lead to an arrest and a weapons charge. Since its inception in May 2007, the Miami program has led to 264 arrests and the confiscation of 432 guns owned illegally and $2.2 million in drugs, and has solved several murder and burglary cases.<ref name=CBS4-100526>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=May 26, 2010 |title=Gun Bounty Program Makes Big Bust In South Miami-Dade |url=http://cbs4.com/local/gun.bounty.program.2.1718353.html |publisher=CBS Local Media |accessdate=June 1, 2010 }}</ref>
{{Main|Gun buyback program}}
Gun "buyback" programs are a strategy aimed at influencing the firearms market by taking guns "off the streets".<ref name=FandVpp95-96 /> Gun "buyback" programs have been shown to be effective to prevent suicides, but ineffective to prevent homicides<ref name=MfG1994>{{cite journal |last1=Callahan |first1=Charles M. |last2=Rivara |first2=Frederick P. |last3=Koepsell |first3=Thomas D. |year=1994 |title=Money for Guns: Evaluation of the Seattle Gun Buy-Back Program |journal=] |volume=109 |issue=4 |pages=472–477 |pmid=8041845 |pmc=1403522 }}</ref><ref name="Kennedy et al 1996">{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=David M. |last2=Piehl |first2=Anne M. |last3=Braga |first3=Anthony A. |year=1996 |chapter=Gun buy-backs: Crime control or community mobilization? |pages=141–74 |title=Under Fire: Gun Buy-Backs, Exchanges, and Amnesty Programs |editor1-last=Plotkin |editor1-first=Martha R. |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-878734-47-1 }}</ref> with the ] citing theory underlying these programs as "badly flawed."<ref name=FandVpp95-96 /> Guns surrendered tend to be those least likely to be involved in crime, such as old, ] guns with little resale value, muzzleloading or other black-powder guns, antiques chambered for obsolete cartridges that are no longer commercially manufactured or sold, or guns that individuals ] but have little value in possessing.<ref name="Kennedy et al 1996" /> Other limitations of gun buyback programs include the fact that it is relatively easy to obtain gun replacements, often of better guns than were relinquished in the buyback.<ref name=FandVpp95-96 /> Also, the number of handguns used in crime (about 7,500 per year) is very small compared to about 70 million handguns in the U.S.. (i.e., 0.011%).<ref name=FandVpp95-96 />


"Gun bounty" programs launched in several Florida cities have shown more promise. These programs involve cash rewards for anonymous tips about illegal weapons that lead to an arrest and a weapons charge. Since its inception in May 2007, the Miami program has led to 264 arrests and the confiscation of 432 guns owned illegally and $2.2 million in drugs, and has solved several murder and burglary cases.<ref name=CBS4-100526>{{cite news |date=May 26, 2010 |title=Gun Bounty Program Makes Big Bust In South Miami-Dade |url=http://cbs4.com/local/gun.bounty.program.2.1718353.html |publisher=CBS Local Media |access-date=June 1, 2010 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
=== Operation Ceasefire ===
In 1995, ] was established as a strategy for addressing youth gun violence in Boston. Violence was particularly concentrated in poor, inner-city neighborhoods including ], ], and ].<ref name="kennedy">{{cite book |author=Kennedy, David M., Anthony A. Braga, Anne M. Piehl |title=Reducing Gun Violence: The Boston Gun Project's Operation Ceasefire |year=2001 |url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/188741.pdf}}</ref> There were 22 youths (under the age of 24) killed in Boston in 1987, with that figure rising to 73 in 1990.<ref name="kennedy"/> Operation Ceasefire entailed a ] approach, and focused on specific places that were crime hot spots—two strategies that when combined have been shown to be quite effective.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Braga, Anthony A., David L. Weisburd|year=1999 |title=Problem-oriented policing in violent crime places: A randomized controlled experiment |journal=] |volume=7 |pages=541–580 |id={{NCJ|178770}} |doi=10.1111/j.1745-9125.1999.tb00496.x |issue=3|display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Weisburd, D., L. Green |year=1995 |title=Policing drug hot spots: The Jersey City drug market analysis experiment |journal=] |volume=12 |pages=711–735 |id={{NCJ|167667}} |doi=10.1080/07418829500096261 |issue=4}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Sherman, L.W., D. Rogan |year=1995 |title=Effects of gun seizures on gun violence: "Hot spots" patrol in Kansas City |journal=Justice Quarterly |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=673–694 |id={{NCJ|167665}} |doi=10.1080/07418829500096241}}</ref> Particular focus was placed on two elements of the gun violence problem, including illicit gun trafficking<ref>{{cite journal |author=Braga, Anthony A., Glenn L. Pierce |title=Disrupting Illegal Firearms Markets in Boston: The Effects of Operation Ceasefire on the Supply of New Handguns to Criminals |journal=] |volume=4 |issue=4 |year=2005 |id={{NCJ|212303}}}}</ref> and ].<ref name="kennedy"/> Within two years of implementing Operation Ceasefire in Boston, the number of youth homicides dropped to ten, with only one handgun-related youth homicide occurring in 1999 and 2000<ref name="rushefsky"/> The Operation Ceasefire strategy has since been replicated in other cities, including ].<ref>{{cite book |author=National Institute of Justice |title=Research Report: Reducing Gun Violence - Operation Ceasefire in Los Angeles |date=February 2005 |url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/192378.pdf}}</ref> Erica Bridgeford, speark-headed a "72-hour ceasefire" in August 2017, but the ceasefire was broken with a homicide. Councilman Brandon Scott, Mayor Catherine Pugh and others talked of community policing models that might work for Baltimore.<ref name="Ceasefire in Baltimore broken">{{cite news|title=Homicide in Baltimore breaks 'ceasefire' meant to reduce violence|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/us-baltimore-ceasefire-idUSKBN1AM01F|work=Reuters|issue=August 6, 2017}}</ref><ref name="2017 Baltimore" />


=== Project Exile === ===Operation Ceasefire===
{{Main|Operation Ceasefire}}
]
In 1995, ] was established as a strategy for addressing youth gun violence in Boston. Violence was particularly concentrated in poor, inner-city neighborhoods including ], ], and ].<ref name="kennedy">{{cite book |author=Kennedy, David M., Anthony A. Braga, Anne M. Piehl |title=Reducing Gun Violence: The Boston Gun Project's Operation Ceasefire |year=2001 |url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/188741.pdf}}</ref> There were 22 youths (under the age of 24) killed in Boston in 1987, with that figure rising to 73 in 1990.<ref name="kennedy" /> Operation Ceasefire entailed a ] approach, and focused on specific places that were crime hot spots—two strategies that when combined have been shown to be quite effective.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1745-9125.1999.tb00496.x |id={{NCJ|178770}} |title=Problem-Oriented Policing in Violent Crime Places: A Randomized Controlled Experiment |journal=Criminology |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=541–80 |year=1999 |last1=Braga |first1=Anthony A |last2=Weisburd |first2=David L |last3=Waring |first3=Elin J |last4=Mazerolle |first4=Lorraine Green |last5=Spelman |first5=William |last6=Gajewski |first6=Francis }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Weisburd, D., L. Green |year=1995 |title=Policing drug hot spots: The Jersey City drug market analysis experiment |journal=] |volume=12 |pages=711–735 |id={{NCJ|167667}} |doi=10.1080/07418829500096261 |issue=4}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Sherman, L.W., D. Rogan |year=1995 |title=Effects of gun seizures on gun violence: "Hot spots" patrol in Kansas City |journal=Justice Quarterly |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=673–694 |id={{NCJ|167665}} |doi=10.1080/07418829500096241}}</ref> Particular focus was placed on two elements of the gun violence problem, including illicit gun trafficking<ref>{{cite journal |author=Braga, Anthony A., Glenn L. Pierce |title=Disrupting Illegal Firearms Markets in Boston: The Effects of Operation Ceasefire on the Supply of New Handguns to Criminals |journal=] |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=717–748 |year=2005 |id={{NCJ|212303}}|doi=10.1111/j.1745-9133.2005.00353.x }}</ref> and ].<ref name="kennedy" /> Within two years of implementing Operation Ceasefire in Boston, the number of youth homicides dropped to ten, with only one handgun-related youth homicide occurring in 1999 and 2000.<ref name="rushefsky" /> The Operation Ceasefire strategy has since been replicated in other cities, including Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite book |author=National Institute of Justice |title=Research Report: Reducing Gun Violence – Operation Ceasefire in Los Angeles |date=February 2005 |url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/192378.pdf}}</ref> Erica Bridgeford, spearheaded a "72-hour ceasefire" in August 2017, but the ceasefire was broken with a homicide. Councilman Brandon Scott, Mayor Catherine Pugh and others talked of community policing models that might work for Baltimore.<ref name="Ceasefire in Baltimore broken">{{cite news|title=Homicide in Baltimore breaks 'ceasefire' meant to reduce violence|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-baltimore-ceasefire-idUSKBN1AM01F|work=Reuters|issue=August 6, 2017}}</ref><ref name="2017 Baltimore" />
], conducted in Richmond, Virginia during the 1990s, was a coordinated effort involving federal, state, and local officials that targeted gun violence. The strategy entailed ] of gun violations in Federal courts, where ] were tougher. Project Exile also involved outreach and education efforts through media campaigns, getting the message out about the crackdown.<ref name="raphael">{{cite book |author=Raphael, Stephen, Jens Ludwig |chapter=Prison Sentence Enhancements: The Case of Project Exile |title=Evaluating Gun Policy: Effects on Crime and Violence |editor=Ludwig, Jens |editor2=Philip I. Cook |publisher=] |year=2003 |id={{NCJ|203345}}}}</ref> Research analysts offered different opinions as to the program's success in reducing gun crime. Authors of a 2003 analysis of the program argued that the decline in gun homicide was part of a "general regression to the mean" across U.S. cities with high homicide rates.<ref> 251 (2003)</ref> Authors of a 2005 study disagreed, concluding that Richmond's gun homicide rate fell more rapidly than the rates in other large U.S. cities with other influences controlled.<ref name="raphael"/><ref> 4 Crimonology & Pub. Pol'y 419 (2005)</ref>


=== Project Safe Neighborhoods === ===Project Exile===
{{Main|Project Exile}}
] (PSN) is a national strategy for reducing gun violence that builds on the strategies implemented in Operation Ceasefire and ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/html/PSNFactS.pdf |title=Project Safe Neighborhoods - Fact Sheet |author=U.S. Department of Justice |date=May 13, 2003 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304014743/http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/html/PSNFactS.pdf |archivedate=March 4, 2012 |df= }}</ref> PSN was established in 2001, with support from the ], channelled through the ] in the ]. The ] has spent over ]1.5 billion since the program's inception on the hiring of ]s, and providing assistance to state and local jurisdictions in support of training and community outreach efforts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.psn.gov/about/faqs.html |title=Project Safe Neighborhoods: FAQs |publisher=]}}</ref><ref name="NAS-ch9">{{cite book |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review |year=2004 |publisher=] |author=Committee on Law and Justice |chapter=Chapter 9 |isbn=0-309-09124-1}}</ref>
]
], conducted in Richmond, Virginia during the 1990s, was a coordinated effort involving federal, state, and local officials that targeted gun violence. The strategy entailed ] of gun violations in Federal courts, where ] were tougher. Project Exile also involved outreach and education efforts through media campaigns, getting the message out about the crackdown.<ref name="raphael">{{cite book |author=Raphael, Stephen, Jens Ludwig |chapter=Prison Sentence Enhancements: The Case of Project Exile |title=Evaluating Gun Policy: Effects on Crime and Violence |editor=Ludwig, Jens |editor2=Philip I. Cook |publisher=] |year=2003 |id={{NCJ|203345}}}}</ref> Research analysts offered different opinions as to the program's success in reducing gun crime. Authors of a 2003 analysis of the program argued that the decline in gun homicide was part of a "general regression to the mean" across U.S. cities with high homicide rates.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083304/http://home.uchicago.edu/~ludwigj/papers/Exile_chapter_2003.pdf |date=March 4, 2016 }} 251 (2003)</ref> Authors of a 2005 study disagreed, concluding that Richmond's gun homicide rate fell more rapidly than the rates in other large U.S. cities with other influences controlled.<ref name="raphael" /><ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208052924/http://www2.gsu.edu/~crirxf/CPP%204-3%20Rosenfeld.pdf |date=December 8, 2015 }} 4 Crimonology & Pub. Pol'y 419 (2005)</ref>


===Project Safe Neighborhoods===
=== Americans for Responsible Solutions ===
{{Main|Project Safe Neighborhoods}}
{{Main article|Americans for Responsible Solutions}}
] (PSN) is a national strategy for reducing gun violence that builds on the strategies implemented in Operation Ceasefire and ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/html/PSNFactS.pdf |title=Project Safe Neighborhoods – Fact Sheet |author=U.S. Department of Justice |date=May 13, 2003 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304014743/http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/html/PSNFactS.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2012 }}</ref> PSN was established in 2001, with support from the ], channelled through the ]'s Offices in the ]. The ] has spent over ]1.5 billion since the program's inception on the hiring of ]s, and providing assistance to state and local jurisdictions in support of training and community outreach efforts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.psn.gov/about/faqs.html |title=Project Safe Neighborhoods: FAQs |publisher=] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060929130910/http://www.psn.gov/about/faqs.html |archive-date=September 29, 2006 }}</ref><ref name="NAS-ch9">{{cite book |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review |year=2004 |publisher=] |author=Committee on Law and Justice |chapter=Chapter 9 |isbn=978-0-309-09124-4}}</ref>
Americans for Responsible Solutions was started in January 2013 as a ] whose mission is to "encourage elected officials to stand up for solutions to prevent gun violence and protect responsible gun ownership by communicating directly with the constituents that elect them."<ref>{{cite web
|title='Enough,' Says Giffords As She Launches Campaign For New Gun Laws
|url=http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/01/08/168857355/enough-says-giffords-as-she-launches-campaign-for-new-gun-laws
|publisher=]
|accessdate=22 January 2013}}</ref> The organization was announced on January 8, 2013 by ], a former ] member of the ] for {{ushr|Arizona|8|}}, and ], a retired ] ].<ref>{{cite news
|title=Giffords and Kelly: Fighting Gun Violence
|url=http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/01/07/gabby-giffords-mark-kelly-tucson-shooting-gun-control/1816383/
|publisher='']''
|accessdate=9 January 2013
|date=8 January 2013}}</ref> In an ] published in ], Gifford and Kelly referred to the ] lobby and sought to counter it by creating a lobby dedicated to responsible ] measures.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Une ex-élue du congrès américain, rescapée d'une fusillade, face au lobby des armes à feu
|url=http://www.liberation.fr/monde/2013/01/08/une-ex-elue-du-congres-americain-rescapee-d-une-fusillade-face-au-lobby-des-armes-a-feu_872475
|publisher='']''
|date=8 January 2013
|accessdate=9 January 2013|language=fr}}</ref>


===READI Chicago===
== Research limitations ==
In 2016, ] saw a 58% increase in ]s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://urbanlabs.uchicago.edu/projects/gun-violence-in-chicago-2016|title=Gun Violence in Chicago, 2016 {{!}} UChicago Urban Labs|website=urbanlabs.uchicago.edu|access-date=November 28, 2019}}</ref> In response to the spike in ], a group of foundations and social service agencies created the Rapid Employment and Development Initiative (READI) Chicago.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/opinion/want-to-quit-the-gang-life-try-this-job-on.html|title=Opinion {{!}} Want to Quit the Gang Life? Try This Job On|last=Rosenberg|first=Tina|date=May 15, 2018|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 28, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> A ] program,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-met-chicago-violence-heartland-alliance-20180522-story.html|title=In hopes of stopping bloodshed, a multimillion-dollar effort is providing jobs, therapy to city's most violent|last=Sweeney|first=Annie|website=chicagotribune.com|date=June 8, 2018 |access-date=November 28, 2019}}</ref> READI Chicago targets those most at risk of being involved in gun violence – either as ] or a victim.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://blockclubchicago.org/2018/07/26/radical-new-program-finds-men-most-likely-to-be-shot-and-hires-them/|title=Radical New Program Finds Men Most Likely To Be Shot — And Hires Them|website=Block Club Chicago|date=July 26, 2018|language=en-US|access-date=November 28, 2019}}</ref> Individuals are provided with 18 months of transitional jobs, ] and legal and social services.<ref name=":1" /> Individuals are also provided with 6 months of support as they transition to full-time employment at the end of the 18 months.<ref name=":1" /> The ] is evaluating READI Chicago's impact on gun violence reduction.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wbez.org/shows/wbez-news/a-pricey-effort-to-employ-the-men-most-likely-to-shoot-or-be-shot-in-chicago/6cca6375-34eb-414e-8989-3367e5cbee54|title=A Pricey Effort To Employ Men Most Likely To Shoot Or Be Shot|last=Smith|first=Patrick|website=WBEZ|date=June 6, 2019|language=en|access-date=November 28, 2019}}</ref> The evaluation, expected to be completed in Spring 2021, is showing early signs of success.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wbez.org/shows/wbez-news/uchicago-touts-early-numbers-on-antiviolence-program/6338779d-261e-475d-839f-7d92b4513f2a|title=UChicago Touts Early Numbers On Anti-Violence Program|last=Smith|first=Patrick|website=WBEZ|date=November 22, 2019 |language=en|access-date=November 28, 2019}}</ref> Eddie Bocanegra, senior director of READI Chicago, hopes that the early success of READI Chicago will result in funding from the City of ].<ref name=":2" />
In the United States, ] into firearms and violent crime is fraught with difficulties, associated with limited ] on gun ownership and use,<ref name="azrael-2004"/> firearms markets, and aggregation of crime data.<ref name="NAS-exec"/> Research studies into gun violence have primarily taken one of two approaches: ] studies and ].<ref name="NAS-exec"/> Gun ownership is usually determined through ], ] variables, and sometimes with ] and ] figures. In statistical analysis of homicides and other types of crime which are rare events, these data tend to have ]s, which also presents methodological challenges to researchers. With data aggregation, it is difficult to make inferences about individual behavior.<ref name="NAS-ch1">{{cite book |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review |year=2004 |publisher=] |author=Committee on Law and Justice |chapter=Chapter 1 |url=http://www.nap.edu/books/0309091241/html/11.html |isbn=0-309-09124-1}}</ref> This problem, known as ], is not always handled properly by researchers; this leads some to jump to conclusions that their data do not necessarily support.<ref name="NAS-ch2">{{cite book |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review |year=2004 |publisher=] |author=Committee on Law and Justice |chapter=Chapter 2 |url=http://www.nap.edu/books/0309091241/html/19.html |isbn=0-309-09124-1}}</ref>


==Reporting of crime==
In 1996 the NRA lobbied Congressman ] (R-Ark.) to include budget provisions that prohibited the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from advocating or promoting gun control and that deleted $2.6 million from the CDC budget, the exact amount the CDC had spent on firearms research the previous year. The ban was later extended to all research funded by the ] (DHHS). According to an article in ], this made gun research more difficult, reduced the number of studies, and discouraged researchers from even talking about gun violence at medical and scientific conferences. In 2013, after the December 2012 ], President ] ordered the CDC to resume funding research on gun violence and prevention, and put $10 million in the 2014 budget request for it.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wadman |first=Meredith |date=April 24, 2013 |title=Firearms research: The gun fighter |url=http://www.nature.com/news/firearms-research-the-gun-fighter-1.12864 |journal=Nature |publisher=Nature Publishing Group |volume=496 |issue= |pages=412–415 |doi=10.1038/496412a |accessdate= |pmid=23619673}}</ref> Prior to this, U.S. public funding directed towards gun violence prevention was less than $2 million annually, a disproportionately low total compared to public funding totals for other leading public health burdens with respect to potential years of life lost.<ref>{{cite web|title=Access Denied: How the Gun Lobby is Depriving Police, Policy Makers, and the Public of the Data We Need to Prevent Gun Violence|url=https://www.hsdl.org/c/access-denied-how-the-gun-lobby-is-depriving-police-policy-makers-and-the-public-of-the-data-we-need-to-prevent-gun-violence/|publisher=Mayors Against Illegal Guns|date=January 2013|accessdate=1 December 2016}}</ref>
The ''']''' ('''NIBRS''') is used by law enforcement agencies in the United States for collecting and reporting data on crimes.<ref name="NIBRS">{{Cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/ucr/nibrs|title=NIBRS|website=Federal Bureau of Investigation|language=en-us|access-date=August 11, 2019}}</ref> The NIBRS is one of four subsets of the '''] (UCR) program.'''
* Traditional Summary Reporting System (SRS) and the ] (NIBRS) – Offense and arrest data
* Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) Program
* Hate Crime Statistics Program – ]s
* Cargo Theft Reporting Program – ]


The FBI states the UCR Program is retiring the SRS and will transition to a NIBRS-only data collection by January 1, 2021.<ref name="NIBRS" /> Additionally, the FBI states NIBRS will collect more detailed information, including incident date and time, whether reported offenses were attempted or completed, expanded victim types, relationships of victims to offenders and offenses, demographic details, location data, property descriptions, drug types and quantities, the offender's suspected use of drugs or alcohol, the involvement of gang activity, and whether a computer was used in the commission of the crime.<ref name="NIBRS" />
== See also ==

* ]
Though NIBRS will be collecting more data the reporting if the firearm used was legally or illegally obtained by the suspect will not be identified. Nor will the system have the capability to identify if a legally obtained firearm used in the crime was used by the owner or registered owner, if required to be registered. Additionally, the information of how an illegally obtained firearm was acquired will be left to speculation. The absence of collecting this information into NIBRS the reported "]" data will remain a gross misinterpretation lending anyone information that can be skewed to their liking/needs and not pinpoint where actual efforts need to be directed to curb the use of firearms in crime.

==Research limitations==
In the United States, ] into firearms and violent crime is fraught with difficulties, associated with limited ] on gun ownership and use,<ref name="azrael-2004" /> firearms markets, and aggregation of crime data.<ref name="NAS-exec" /> Research studies into gun violence have primarily taken one of two approaches: ] studies and ].<ref name="NAS-exec" /> Gun ownership is usually determined through ], ] variables, and sometimes with ] and ] figures. In statistical analysis of homicides and other types of crime which are rare events, these data tend to have ]s, which also presents methodological challenges to researchers. With data aggregation, it is difficult to make inferences about individual behavior.<ref name="NAS-ch1">{{cite book |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review |year=2004 |publisher=] |author=Committee on Law and Justice |chapter=Chapter 1 |chapter-url=http://www.nap.edu/books/0309091241/html/11.html |isbn=978-0-309-09124-4 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> This problem, known as ], is not always handled properly by researchers; this leads some to jump to conclusions that their data do not necessarily support.<ref name="NAS-ch2">{{cite book |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review |year=2004 |publisher=] |author=Committee on Law and Justice |chapter=Chapter 2 |chapter-url=http://www.nap.edu/books/0309091241/html/19.html |isbn=978-0-309-09124-4 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 1996 the NRA lobbied Congressman ] (R-Ark.) to include budget provisions that prohibited the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from advocating or promoting gun control and that deleted $2.6 million from the CDC budget, the exact amount the CDC had spent on firearms research the previous year. The ban was later extended to all research funded by the ] (DHHS). According to an article in ], this made gun research more difficult, reduced the number of studies, and discouraged researchers from even talking about gun violence at medical and scientific conferences. In 2013, after the December 2012 ], President Barack Obama ordered the CDC to resume funding research on gun violence and prevention, and put $10 million in the 2014 budget request for it.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wadman |first=Meredith |date=April 24, 2013 |title=Firearms research: The gun fighter |journal=Nature |volume=496 |issue= 7446|pages=412–415 |doi=10.1038/496412a |pmid=23619673|bibcode=2013Natur.496..412W |doi-access=free }}</ref> However, the order had no practical effect, as the CDC refused to act without a specific appropriation to cover the research, and Congress repeatedly declined to allocate any funds. As a result, the CDC has not performed any such studies since 1996.<ref name=Hiltzik-2016>{{cite news |last1=Hiltzik |first1=Michael |date=June 14, 2016 |title=The NRA has blocked gun violence research for 20 years. Let's end its stranglehold on science. |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-gun-research-funding-20160614-snap-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times|issn=2165-1736 |oclc=3638237 |location=Los Angeles |access-date=September 4, 2018 }}</ref>

==Controversies==
Holding a party in which an AR-15 style rifle was auctioned off as part of a fundraiser and hosting Kyle Rittenhouse as a celebrity guest, caused Republicans in Idaho to be accused of supporting "political violence". Kyle Rittenhouse is the American who shot and killed two people and injured another in self defence at a protest.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www-theguardian-com.translate.goog/us-news/2023/apr/24/republicans-embrace-extreme-gun-culture?_x_tr_sl=tr&_x_tr_tl=fa&_x_tr_hl=fa&_x_tr_pto=wapp|title=Republicans 'glorify political violence' by embracing extreme gun culture|last=|first=|newspaper=The Guardian |website=|date=April 24, 2023 |language=en|access-date=April 29, 2023 |last1=Gabbatt |first1=Adam }}</ref>

==Maps==

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==See also==
{{Portal|Law|Politics|Medicine|United States}}
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
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* ] of 1911, one of the broadest and oldest existing gun control laws in the United States.
* ]
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* "]"

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal|author=Collier, Charles W.|title=The Death of Gun Control: An American Tragedy|journal=]|volume=41|issue=1|date=Autumn 2014|pages=102–131|doi=10.1086/678159|jstor=10.1086/678159|s2cid=159757009}}


==External links==
== Notes and references ==
* – National Criminal Justice
{{reflist|25em}}
* – Data on US Violent Crime
* – Data on each verified gun related incident, with annual statistics
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215083559/http://www.report-us.org/ |date=February 15, 2019 }} Anti-gun violence activist art project, Eileen Boxer (2016)
* – Anglemyer, Horvath, and Rutherford (2014)
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1093/aje/kwh309 |pmid=15522849 |title=Guns in the Home and Risk of a Violent Death in the Home: Findings from a National Study |journal=American Journal of Epidemiology |volume=160 |issue=10 |pages=929–936 |year=2004 |last1=Dahlberg |first1=L. L |last2=Ikeda |first2=R. M |last3=Kresnow |first3=M. J |doi-access=free }}
* Find article https://trendingtom.com/shooting-violence-in-the-usa-understanding-the-problem-and-finding-solutions/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411081406/https://trendingtom.com/shooting-violence-in-the-usa-understanding-the-problem-and-finding-solutions/ |date=April 11, 2023 }}


{{Mass shootings in the United States}}
== External links ==
{{School shootings in the United States}}
* - National Criminal Justice
{{Firearms}}
* - Data on US Violent Crime
* - Data on each verified gun related incident, with annual statistics
* Anti-gun violence activist art project, Eileen Boxer (2016)
* - Anglemyer, Horvath, and Rutherford (2014)
* - Dahlberg, Ikeda, and Kresnow (2004)


{{DEFAULTSORT:Gun Violence In The United States}}
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Latest revision as of 05:04, 20 December 2024

Phenomenon of gun violence in the United States

Gun-related suicides and homicides in the United States
Gun deaths in U.S. in proportional relationship to total population (2012 analysis, based on 2008 data)

Gun violence is a term of political, economic and sociological interest referring to the tens of thousands of annual firearms-related deaths and injuries occurring in the United States.

In 2016, a U.S. male aged 15–24 was 70 times more likely to be killed with a gun than a French male or British male.

In 2022, up to 100 daily fatalities and hundreds of daily injuries were attributable to gun violence in the United States. In 2018, the most recent year for which data are available, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics reported 38,390 deaths by firearm, of which 24,432 were suicides. The national rate of firearm deaths rose from 10.3 people for every 100,000 in 1999 to 11.9 people per 100,000 in 2018, equating to over 109 daily deaths (or about 14,542 annual homicides). In 2010, there were 19,392 firearm-related suicides, and 11,078 firearm-related homicides in the U.S. In 2010, 358 murders were reported involving a rifle while 6,009 were reported involving a handgun; another 1,939 were reported with an unspecified type of firearm. In 2011, a total of 478,400 fatal and nonfatal violent crimes were committed with a firearm.

According to a Pew Research Center report, gun deaths among America's children rose 50% from 2019 to 2021.

Firearms are overwhelmingly used in more defensive scenarios (self-defense and home protection) than offensive scenarios in the United States. In 2021, The National Firearms Survey, currently the nation's largest and most comprehensive study into American firearm ownership, found that privately owned firearms are used in roughly 1.7 million defensive usage cases (self-defense from an attacker/attackers inside and outside the home) per year across the nation, compared to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (C.D.C.) report of 20,958 homicides in that same year.

Legislation at the federal, state, and local levels has attempted to address gun violence through methods including restricting firearms purchases by youths and other "at-risk" populations, setting waiting periods for firearm purchases, establishing gun buyback programs, law enforcement and policing strategies, stiff sentencing of gun law violators, education programs for parents and children, and community outreach programs.

Some medical professionals express concern regarding the prevalence and growth of gun violence in America, even comparing gun violence in the United States to a disease or epidemic. Relatedly, recent polling suggests up to 26% of Americans believe guns are the number one national public health threat.

Gun ownership

See also: Gun culture in the United States
Annual gun production in the U.S. has increased substantially in the 21st century, after having remained fairly level over preceding decades. By 2023, a majority of U.S. states allowed adults to carry concealed guns in public.
Estimated U.S. gun sales have risen in the 21st century, peaking in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. "NICS" is the FBI's National Instant Background Check System.
Estimated Household Firearm Ownership Rate by U.S. state in 2016

The Congressional Research Service in 2009 estimated that among US population of 306 million people, there were 310 million firearms in the U.S., not including military armaments. Of these, 114 million were handguns, 110 million were rifles, and 86 million were shotguns. Accurate figures for civilian gun ownership are difficult to determine. The percentage of Americans and American households who claim to own guns has been in long-term decline, according to the General Social Survey poll. It found that gun ownership by households may have declined from about half, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, down to 32% in 2015. The percentage of individual owners may have declined from 31% in 1985 to 22% in 2014.

Gun ownership figures are generally estimated via polling, by such organizations as the General Social Survey (GSS), Harris Interactive, and Gallup. There are significant disparities in the results across polls by different organizations, calling into question their reliability. In Gallup's 1972 survey, 43% reported having a gun in their home. GSS's 1973 survey resulted in 49% reporting a gun in the home. In 1993, Gallup's poll results were 51%. GSS's 1994 poll showed 43%. In 2012, Gallup's survey showed 47% of Americans reporting having a gun in their home, while the GSS in 2012 reports 34%. In 2018 it was estimated that U.S. civilians own 393 million firearms, and that 40% to 42% of the households in the country have at least one gun. However, record gun sales followed in the subsequent years.

In 1997, estimates were about 44 million gun owners in the United States. These owners possessed around 192 million firearms, of which an estimated 65 million were handguns. A National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms (NSPOF), conducted in 1994, estimated that Americans owned 192 million guns: 36% rifles, 34% handguns, 26% shotguns, and 4% other types of long guns. Most firearm owners owned multiple firearms, with the NSPOF survey indicating 25% of adults owned firearms. Throughout the 1970s and much of the 1980s, the estimated rate of gun ownership in the home ranged from 45 to 50%. After highly publicized mass murders, it is consistently observed that there are rapid increases in gun purchases and large crowds at gun vendors and gun shows, due to fears of increased gun control .

Gun ownership rates vary across geographic regions, ranging from 2004 estimates of 25% in the Northeastern United States to 60% in the East South Central States. A 2004 Gallup poll estimated that 49% of men reported gun ownership, compared to 33% of women, while 44% of whites owned a gun, compared to 24% of nonwhites. An estimated 56% of those living in rural areas owned a gun, compared to 40% of suburbanites and 29% of those in urban areas. Approximately 53% of Republicans owned guns, compared to 36% of political independents and 31% of Democrats.

One criticism of the GSS survey and other proxy measures of gun ownership, is that they do not provide adequate macro-level detail to allow conclusions on the relationship between overall firearm ownership and gun violence. Gary Kleck compared various survey and proxy measures and found no correlation between overall firearm ownership and gun violence. Studies by David Hemenway and his colleagues, which used GSS data and the fraction of suicides committed with a gun as a proxy for gun ownership rates, found a strong positive correlation between gun ownership and homicide in the United States. A 2006 study by Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig, also using the percentage of suicides committed with a gun as a proxy, found that gun prevalence correlated with increased homicide rates.

Defensive gun violence

Main article: Defensive gun use

The effectiveness and safety of guns used for personal defense is debated. Studies place the instances of guns used in personal defense as low as 65,000 times per year, and as high as 2.5 million times per year. Under President Bill Clinton, the Department of Justice conducted a survey in 1994 that placed the usage rate of guns used in personal defense at 1.5 million times per year, based on an extrapolation from 45 survey respondents reporting using a firearm for self-defense, but noted this was likely to be an overestimate due to the low sample size. A May 2014 Harvard Injury Control Research Center (HICRC) survey of 150 firearms researchers found that only 8% of them agreed that 'In the United States, guns are used in self-defense far more often than they are used in crime'.

HICRC random-respondent national surveys were conducted in 1996 and 1999 to investigate the use of guns in self-defense. Survey participants were asked open-ended questions about defensive gun use incidents and detailed questions about both gun victimization and self-defense gun use. Self-reported defensive gun use incidents were then examined by five criminal court judges, who were asked to determine whether these self-defense gun uses were likely to be legal. The surveys found that far more respondents reported having been threatened or intimidated with a gun, than having used a gun to protect themselves, even after having excluded many of these responses; and, a majority of the reported self-defense gun uses were rated by a majority of judges as probably illegal. This was true even when it was assumed that the respondent had a permit to own and carry the gun, and that the event was described honestly. The conclusion being from this report that most self-described 'defensive' gun uses, are gun uses in escalating arguments, and are both socially undesirable and illegal.

Further studies by HICRC found the following: firearms in the home are used more often to intimidate intimates than to thwart crime; gun use in self-defense is rare and not more effective at preventing injury than other protective actions; and a study of hospital gun-shot appearances does not back up the claim of millions of defensive gun use, as virtually all criminals with a gunshot wound go to hospital; with virtually all having been shot whilst the victim of crime and not shot whilst offending.

Between 1987 and 1990, David McDowall et al. found that guns were used in defense during a crime incident 64,615 times annually (258,460 times total over the whole period). This equated to two times out of 1,000 criminal incidents (0.2%) that occurred in this period, including criminal incidents where no guns were involved at all. For violent crimes, assault, robbery, and rape, guns were used 0.8% of the time in self-defense. Of the times that guns were used in self-defense, 71% of the crimes were committed by strangers, with the rest of the incidents evenly divided between offenders that were acquaintances or persons well known to the victim. In 28% of incidents where a gun was used for self-defense, victims fired the gun at the offender. In 20% of the self-defense incidents, the guns were used by police officers. During this same period, 1987 to 1990, there were 11,580 gun homicides per year (46,319 total), and the National Crime Victimization Survey estimated that 2,628,532 nonfatal crimes involving guns occurred.

McDowall's study for the American Journal of Public Health contrasted with a 1995 study by Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz, which found that 2.45 million crimes were thwarted each year in the U.S. using guns, and in most cases, the potential victim never fired a shot. The results of the Kleck studies have been cited many times in scholarly and popular media. The methodology of the Kleck and Gertz study has been criticized by some researchers but also defended by gun-control advocate Marvin Wolfgang.

Using cross-sectional time-series data for U.S. counties from 1977 to 1992, Lott and Mustard of the Law School at the University of Chicago found that allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons deters violent crimes and appears to produce no increase in accidental deaths. They claimed that if those states which did not have right-to-carry concealed gun provisions had adopted them in 1992, approximately 1,570 murders, 4,177 rapes, and over 60,000 aggravated assaults would have been avoided yearly.

On the other hand, regarding the efficacy of laws allowing use of firearms for self-defense like stand your ground laws, a 2018 RAND Corporation review of existing research concluded that "there is moderate evidence that stand-your-ground laws may increase homicide rates and limited evidence that the laws increase firearm homicides in particular." In 2019, RAND authors published an update, writing "Since publication of RAND's report, at least four additional studies meeting RAND's standards of rigor have reinforced the finding that "stand your ground" laws increase homicides. None of them found that "stand your ground" laws deter violent crime. No rigorous study has yet determined whether "stand your ground" laws promote legitimate acts of self-defense.

Suicides

Further information: Suicide in the United States and Suicide methods § Firearms In 2000, substance overdoses were the most common method of attempted suicide in the US. Guns were the most lethal method.The US has had the largest number of gun-related suicides in the world every year from 1990 to at least 2019.For both men and women, gun suicide death rates are correlated with household gun ownership rates.
In 2016, the U.S. was the only high-income OECD country in which gun suicide rates exceeded non-gun suicide rates.

In the U.S., most people who die of suicide use a gun, and most deaths by gun are suicides.

In 2010, there were 19,392 firearm-related suicides in the U.S. In 2017, over half of the nation's 47,173 suicides involved a firearm. In 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice reported that about 60% of all adult firearm deaths were by suicide, 61% more than deaths by homicide. One study found that military veterans used firearms in about 67% of suicides in 2014. Firearms are the most lethal method of suicide, with a lethality rate 2.6 times higher than suffocation, the second-most lethal method. From 1999-2020, youth firearm suicide death rates increased on average 1.0% per year. American Indian and Alaska Native adolescents had the highest absolute increase in firearm suicide (3.83 per 100 000 population), followed by White (0.69 per 100 000 population), Black (0.67 per 100 000 population), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.64 per 100 000 population), and Hispanic or Latino (0.18 per 100 000 population) individuals.

In the United States, access to firearms is associated with an increased risk of suicide. A 1992 case-control study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed an association between estimated household firearm ownership and suicide rates, finding that individuals living in a home where firearms are present are more likely to successfully commit suicide than those individuals who do not own firearms, by a factor of 3 or 4. A 2006 study by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found a significant association between changes in estimated household gun ownership rates and suicide rates in the United States among men, women, and children.

A 2007 study by the same research team found that in the United States, estimated household gun ownership rates were strongly associated with overall suicide rates and gun suicide rates, but not with non-gun suicide rates. A 2013 study reproduced this finding, even after controlling for different underlying rates of suicidal behavior by states. A 2015 study also found a strong association between estimated gun ownership rates in American cities and rates of both overall and gun suicide, but not with non-gun suicide. Correlation studies comparing different countries do not always find a statistically significant effect.

A 2016 cross-sectional study showed a strong association between estimated household gun ownership rates and gun-related suicide rates among men and women in the United States. The same study found a strong association between estimated gun ownership rates and overall suicide rates, but only in men. During the 1980s and early 1990s, there was a strong upward trend in adolescent suicides with guns as well as a sharp overall increase in suicides among those age 75 and over. A 2018 study found that temporary gun seizure laws were associated with a 13.7% reduction in firearm suicides in Connecticut and a 7.5% reduction in firearm suicides in Indiana.

David Hemenway, professor of health policy at Harvard University's School of Public Health, and director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center and the Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center, stated

Differences in overall suicide rates across cities, states and regions in the United States are best explained not by differences in mental health, suicide ideation, or even suicide attempts, but by availability of firearms. Many suicides are impulsive, and the urge to die fades away. Firearms are a swift, lethal method of suicide with a high case-fatality rate.

There are over twice as many gun-related suicides as gun-related homicides in the United States. Firearms are the most popular method of suicide due to the lethality of the weapon. 90% of all suicides attempted using a firearm result in a fatality, as opposed to less than 3% of suicide attempts involving cutting or drug-use. The risk of someone attempting suicide is 4.8 times greater if they are exposed to a firearm on a regular basis; for example, in the home.

Homicides

See also: List of U.S. states and territories by intentional homicide rate
Handguns are involved in most U.S. gun homicides.

Statistics

Unlike other high-income OECD countries, most homicides in the U.S. are gun homicides. In the U.S. in 2011, 67 percent of homicide victims were killed using a firearm: 66 percent of single-victim homicides and 79 percent of multiple-victim homicides. Between 1968 and 2011, about 1.4 million people died from firearms in the U.S. This number includes all deaths resulting from a firearm, including suicides, homicides, and accidents.

In 2017, compared to 22 other high-income nations, the U.S. gun-related homicide rate was 25 times higher. Although the US has half the population of the other 22 nations combined, among those 22 nations studied, the U.S. had 82 percent of gun deaths, 90 percent of all women killed with guns, 91 percent of children under 14 and 92 percent of young people between ages 15 and 24 killed with guns, with guns being the leading cause of death for children. The ownership and regulation of guns are among the most widely debated issues in the US.

In 1993, there were seven gun homicides for every 100,000 people. By 2013, that figure had fallen to 3.6, according to Pew Research.

The Centers for Disease Control reports that there were 11,078 gun homicides in the U.S. in 2010. This is higher than the FBI's count. The CDC stated there were 14,414 (or 4.4 per 100,000 population) homicides by firearm in 2018, and stated that there were a total of 19,141 homicides (5.8 per 100,000 population) in 2019. Gun-related deaths among children in the U.S. in 2021 was 4,752, surpassing the record total seen during the first year of the pandemic, a new analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data found.

The police chief of Washington, DC attributes the 203 homicides in 2022 to an influx of guns from out-of-town, marking the first time in nearly 20 years that the nation's capital exceeded the 200 homicide threshold in consecutive years. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Washington last experienced such violence in 2002 and 2003, when it recorded 262 and 246 homicides, respectively. Property crime has decreased by 3% and violent crime decreased by 7% overall since 2021.

2021

In 2021, a little above 80% of all murders (20,958 out of 26,031) in the US involved a firearm‍— the highest percentage since at least 1968, the earliest year for which the CDC has online records. A little under 55% of all suicides (26,328 out of 48,183) in 2021 involved a gun, the highest percentage since 2001.

History

In the 19th century, gun violence played a role in civil disorder such as the Haymarket riot. Homicide rates in cities such as Philadelphia were significantly lower in the 19th century than in modern times. During the 1980s and early 1990s, homicide rates surged in cities across the United States (see applicable graphs). Handgun homicides accounted for nearly all of the overall increase in the homicide rate, from 1985 to 1993, while homicide rates involving other weapons declined during that time frame.

The rising trend in homicide rates during the 1980s and early 1990s was most pronounced among lower income and especially unemployed males. Youths and Hispanic and African American males in the U.S. were the most represented, with the injury and death rates tripling for black males aged 13 to 17 and doubling for black males aged 18 to 24. The rise in crack cocaine use in cities across the U.S. has been cited as a factor for increased gun violence among youths during this time period. After 1993, gun violence in the United States began a period of dramatic decline.

Demographics of risk

Homicide rates per 100,000 people, by US state, 2021

Prevalence of homicide and violent crime is higher in statistical metropolitan areas of the U.S. than it is in non-metropolitan counties; the vast majority of the U.S. population lives in statistical metropolitan areas. In metropolitan areas, the 2013 homicide rate was 4.7 per 100,000 compared with 3.4 in non-metropolitan counties. More narrowly, the rates of murder and non-negligent manslaughter are identical in metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan counties. In 2005, in U.S. cities with populations greater than 250,000, the mean homicide rate was 12.1 per 100,000. According to 2005 FBI statistics, the highest per capita rates of gun-related homicides in 2005 were in Washington, D.C. (35.4/100,000), Puerto Rico (19.6/100,000), Louisiana (9.9/100,000), and Maryland (9.9/100,000). In 2017, according to the Associated Press, Baltimore broke a record for homicides.

In 2005, the 17-24 age group was significantly over-represented in violent crime statistics, particularly homicides involving firearms. In 2005, 17- to 19-year-olds were 4.3% of the overall population of the U.S. but 11.2% of those killed in firearm homicides. This age group accounted for 10.6% of all homicide offenses. The 20-24-year-old age group accounted for 7.1% of the population, but 22.5% of those killed in firearm homicides. The 20-24 age group accounted for 17.7% of all homicide offenses.

African American populations in the United States disproportionately represent the majority of firearms injury and homicide compared to other racial groupings. Although mass shootings are covered extensively in the media, mass shootings in the United States account for only a small fraction of gun-related deaths. Regardless, mass shootings occur on a larger scale and much more frequently than in other developed countries. School shootings are described as a "uniquely American crisis", according to The Washington Post in 2018. Children at U.S. schools have active shooter drills. According to USA Today in 2019, "About 95% of public schools now have students and teachers practice huddling in silence, hiding from an imaginary gunman." Those under 17 are not over-represented in homicide statistics. In 2005, 13-16-year-olds accounted for 6% of the overall population of the U.S., but only 3.6% of firearm homicide victims, and 2.7% of overall homicide offenses.

People with a criminal record are more likely to die as homicide victims. Between 1990 and 1994, 75% of all homicide victims age 21 and younger in the city of Boston had a prior criminal record. In Philadelphia, the percentage of those killed in gun homicides that had prior criminal records increased from 73% in 1985 to 93% in 1996. In Richmond, Virginia, the risk of gunshot injury is 22 times higher for those males involved with crime.

It is significantly more likely that a death will result when either the victim or the attacker has a firearm. The mortality rate for gunshot wounds to the heart is 84%, compared to 30% for people who suffer stab wounds to the heart.

In the United States, states with higher gun ownership rates have higher rates of gun homicides and homicides overall, but not higher rates of non-gun homicides. Higher gun availability is positively associated with homicide rates.

Some studies suggest that the concept of guns can prime aggressive thoughts and aggressive reactions. An experiment by Berkowitz and LePage in 1967 examined this "weapons effect." Ultimately, when study participants were provoked, their reaction was substantially more aggressive when a gun was visibly present in the room, in contrast with a more benign object like a tennis racket. Other similar experiments like those conducted by Carson, Marcus-Newhall and Miller yield similar results. Such results imply that the presence of a gun in an altercation could elicit an aggressive reaction, which may result in homicide.

Comparison to other countries

In 2019, the U.S. gun homicide rate was 18 times the average rate in other developed countries. Shown: homicide rate graphed versus gun ownership rate.
The U.S. leads other high-income countries in gun-related homicides and in gun-related suicides.U.S. gun homicide rates exceed total homicide rates in high-income OECD countries.

In 2023, the U.S. was ranked 4th out of 34 developed nations for the highest incidence rate of homicides committed with a firearm, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data. Mexico, Turkey, and Estonia are ranked ahead of the U.S. in incidence of homicides. However, according to comprehensive research by the University of Sydney, the firearm-related homicide rates in Estonia and Turkey are both below the US, at 0.78 in Turkey and 0 in Estonia, while being 5.9 in the US, with Estonia registering zero in 2015.

In 2016, a U.S. male aged 15–24 was 70 times more likely to be killed with a gun than their counterpart in the eight (G-8) largest industrialized nations in the world, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, Italy, Russia. In 2013, in a broader comparison of 218 countries, the U.S. was ranked 111. In 2010, the U.S.' homicide rate was 7 times higher than the average for populous developed countries in the OECD, and its firearm-related homicide rate was 25.2 times higher. In 2013, the United States' firearm-related death rate was 10.64 deaths for every 100,000 inhabitants, a figure very close to Mexico's 11.17, although in Mexico firearm deaths are predominantly homicides whereas in the United States they are predominantly suicides. Although Mexico has strict gun laws, the laws restricting carry are often unenforced, and the laws restricting manufacture and sale are often circumvented by trafficking from the United States and other countries.

Canada and Switzerland each have much looser gun control regulation than the majority of developed nations, although significantly more than in the United States, and have firearm death rates of 2.22 and 2.91 per 100,000 citizens, respectively. By comparison Australia, which imposed sweeping gun control laws in response to the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, has a firearm death rate of 0.86 per 100,000. In the United Kingdom the rate is 0.26.

In 2014, there were 8,124 gun homicides in the U.S. In 2015, there were 33,636 deaths due to firearms in the U.S, with homicides accounting for 13,286 of those, while guns were used to kill about 50 people in the U.K., a country with population one-fifth of the size of the U.S. population. More people are typically killed with guns in the U.S. in a day, about 85, than in the U.K. in a year, if suicides are included. With deaths by firearm reaching almost 40,000 in the U.S. in 2017, their highest level since 1968, almost 109 people died per day.

A study conducted by the Journal of the American Medical Association determined that worldwide yearly gun deaths had reached 250,000 by 2018 and that the United States was one of only six countries that collectively accounted for roughly half of those fatalities. According to the 2023 Small Arms Survey, there are about 120 guns for every 100 Americans. In other words, there are more civilian guns in the United States than there are people. The rate of deaths from gun violence in the United States is eight times greater than in Canada, which has the seventh-highest rate of gun ownership in the world.

Mass shootings

Main article: Mass shootings in the United States See also: List of mass shootings in the United States
Memorial at the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign following the 2017 Las Vegas shooting
The U.S. has substantially more mass shootings (in which four or more people are killed) than other developed countries.Outcomes of active shooter attacks vary with actions of the attacker, the police (42% of total incidents), and bystanders.

The definition of a mass shooting remains under debate. The precise inclusion criteria are disputed, and there no broadly accepted definition exists. Mother Jones, using their standard of a mass shooting where a lone gunman kills at least four people in a public place for motivations excluding gang violence or robbery, concluded that between 1982 and 2006 there were 40 mass shootings, an average of 1.6 per year. From 2007 to May 2018, there were 61 mass shootings, an average of 5.4 per year. More broadly, the frequency of mass shootings steadily declined throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, then increased dramatically.

Studies indicate that the rate at which public mass shootings occur has tripled since 2011. Between 1982 and 2011, a mass shooting occurred roughly once every 200 days. Between 2011 and 2014, that rate accelerated greatly with at least one mass shooting occurring every 64 days in the United States. In "Behind the Bloodshed", a report by USA Today, said that there were mass killings every two weeks and that public mass killings account for 1 in 6 of all mass killings (26 killings annually would thus be equivalent to 26/6, 4 to 5, public killings per year).

Mother Jones listed seven mass shootings in the U.S. for 2015. The average for the period 2011–2015 was about 5 a year. An analysis by Michael Bloomberg's gun violence prevention group, Everytown for Gun Safety, identified 110 mass shootings, defined as shootings in which at least four people were murdered with a firearm, between January 2009 and July 2014. At least 57% were related to domestic or family violence.

Other media outlets have reported that hundreds of mass shootings take place in the United States in a single calendar year, citing a crowd-funded website known as Shooting Tracker which defines a mass shooting as having four or more people injured. In December 2015, The Washington Post reported that there had been 355 mass shootings in the United States so far that year. In August 2015, The Washington Post reported that the United States was averaging one mass shooting per day. An earlier report had indicated that in 2015 alone, there had been 294 mass shootings that killed or injured 1,464 people. Shooting Tracker and Mass Shooting Tracker, the two sites that the media have been citing, have been criticized for using a criterion much more inclusive than that used by the government—they count four victims injured as a mass shooting—thus producing much higher figures.

Handguns figured in the Virginia Tech shooting, the Binghamton shooting, the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, the 2012 Oikos University shooting, and the 2011 Tucson shooting, but both a handgun and a rifle were used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The Aurora theater shooting and the Columbine High School massacre were committed by assailants armed with multiple weapons. AR-15 style rifles have been used in a number of the deadliest mass shooting incidents, and have come to be widely characterized as the weapon of choice for perpetrators of mass shootings, despite statistics which show that handguns are the most commonly used weapon type in mass shootings.

The number of public mass shootings has increased substantially over several decades, with a steady increase in gun-related deaths. Although mass shootings are covered extensively in the media, they account for a small fraction of gun-related deaths, only 1 percent of all gun deaths between 1980 and 2008. Between January 1 and May 18, 2018, 31 students and teachers were killed inside U.S. schools, exceeding the number of U.S. military service members who died in combat and noncombat roles during the same period.

Accidental and negligent injuries

The perpetrators and victims of accidental and negligent gun discharges may be of any age. Accidental injuries are most common in homes where guns are kept for self-defense. The injuries are self-inflicted in half of the cases. On January 16, 2013, President Barack Obama issued 23 Executive Orders on Gun Safety, one of which was for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to research causes and possible prevention of gun violence. The five main areas of focus were gun violence, risk factors, prevention/intervention, gun safety and how media and violent video games influence the public. They also researched the area of accidental firearm deaths. According to this study not only have the number of accidental firearm deaths been on the decline over the past century but they now account for less than 1% of all unintentional deaths, half of which are self-inflicted.

Violent crime

See also: Gun violence in the United States by state

In the United States, states with higher levels of gun ownership were associated with higher rates of gun assault and gun robbery. However it is unclear if higher crime rates are a result of increased gun ownership or if gun ownership rates increase as a result of increased crime.

Costs

Inpatient hospitalizations for firearms injury account for an estimated $2.8 billion in health-care spending annually and billions more in lost work and wages, with a 2017 study finding that the average gunshot patient incurred hospital costs of more than $95,000. Though gun-related injury rates are less closely tracked than gun-related death rates, state-by-state gun ownership rates were found not to be closely correlated with gun hospitalizations, but gun-related hospitalizations were found to be closely correlated with rates of violent crime overall and with poverty rates.

In 2000, the costs of gun violence in the United States were estimated to be on the order of $100 billion per year, plus the costs associated with the gun violence avoidance and prevention behaviors.

In 2010, gun violence cost U.S. taxpayers about $516 million in direct hospital costs.

U.S. presidential assassinations and attempts

Main article: List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots
Assassination of William McKinley in 1901; McKinley died eight days later from his wounds.

At least eleven assassination attempts with firearms have been made on U.S. presidents (over one-fifth of all presidents); four sitting presidents have been killed, three with handguns and one with a rifle.

Abraham Lincoln survived an earlier attack, but was killed using a .44-caliber Derringer pistol fired by John Wilkes Booth. James A. Garfield was shot two times and mortally wounded by Charles J. Guiteau using a .44-caliber revolver on July 2, 1881. He would die of pneumonia the same year on September 19. On September 6, 1901, William McKinley was fatally wounded by Leon Czolgosz when he fired twice at point-blank range using a .32-caliber revolver. Struck by one of the bullets and receiving immediate surgical treatment, McKinley died 8 days later of gangrene infection. John F. Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald with a bolt-action rifle on November 22, 1963.

Andrew Jackson, Harry S. Truman, and Gerald Ford (the latter twice) survived unharmed from assassination attempts involving firearms.

Ronald Reagan was critically wounded in the March 30, 1981 assassination attempt by John Hinckley, Jr. with a .22-caliber revolver. He is the only U.S. president to survive being shot while in office. Former president Theodore Roosevelt was shot and wounded right before delivering a speech during his 1912 presidential campaign. Despite bleeding from his chest, Roosevelt refused to go to a hospital until he delivered the speech. On February 15, 1933, Giuseppe Zangara attempted to assassinate president-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was giving a speech from his car in Miami, Florida, with a .32-caliber pistol. Roosevelt was unharmed, but Chicago mayor Anton Cermak died in the attempt, and several other bystanders received non-fatal injuries.

Response to these events has resulted in federal legislation to regulate the public possession of firearms. For example, the attempted assassination of Franklin Roosevelt contributed to passage of the National Firearms Act of 1934, and the Kennedy assassination (along with others) resulted in the Gun Control Act of 1968. The GCA is a federal law signed by President Lyndon Johnson that broadly regulates the firearms industry and firearms owners. It primarily focuses on regulating interstate commerce in firearms by largely prohibiting interstate firearms transfers except among licensed manufacturers, dealers, and importers.

Other violent crime

See also: Assault with a deadly weapon

A quarter of robberies of commercial premises in the U.S. are committed with guns. Fatalities are three times as likely in robberies committed with guns than where other, or no, weapons are used, with similar patterns in cases of family violence. Criminologist Philip J. Cook hypothesized that if guns were less available, criminals might commit the same crime, but with less-lethal weapons. He finds that the level of gun ownership in the 50 largest U.S. cities correlates with the rate of robberies committed with guns, but not with overall robbery rates. He also finds that robberies in which the assailant uses a gun are more likely to result in the death of the victim, but less likely to result in injury to the victim. Overall robbery and assault rates in the U.S. are comparable to those in other developed countries, such as Australia and Finland, with much lower levels of gun ownership. A 2000 study showed a strong association between the availability of illegal guns and violent crime rates, but not between legal gun availability and violent crime rates.

Victims

The U.S. accounts for 97% of gun-related late-teen deaths among similar countries, despite making up only 46% of this group's overall population.

Firearms are the leading cause of death for ages 16–19 in United States since 2020; with the US accounting for 97% of gun-related deaths of late-teens among similarly large and wealthy countries. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, from 1980 to 2008, 84% of white homicide victims were killed by white offenders and 93% of black homicide victims were killed by black offenders.

African-Americans, who were only 13% of the U.S. population in 2010, were 55% of the victims of gun homicide. In 2017 African-American males aged 15 to 34 years were the most frequent victims of firearm homicide in the United States with a 81 deaths per 100,000 population. Non-Hispanic whites were 65% of the U.S. population in 2010, but only 25% of the victims. Hispanics were 16% of the population in 2010 and 17% of victims.

According to a 2021 CDC study, the male gun homicide rate was over five times the female gun homicide rate. The highest gun homicide rate was among those age 25-44. Non-Hispanic blacks had the highest gun homicide rate in every age group, with a rate 13 times higher than whites in the 25-44 age group. According to ABC News, so far, more than 11,500 Americans killed by firearms in 2023.

Public opinion

With a rise in gun violence and mass shootings in the United States, many surveys have been conducted throughout the recent years to examine the public opinion on certain gun policies and prevention methods in an effort to gain an understanding on the major trends in public opinion. Americans have found to have a range of opinions regarding this issue.

Across different studies conducted, it has been found that US public opinion varies based on gender, age, gun ownership status, occupation, education, political affiliation among many other demographics. However, most Americans support some form of restrictions and limitations with firearms, whether they are gun owners or not.

A study conducted by Berry College's Department of Political Science utilized data from surveys that were administered from 1999–2001, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2018. They compared the attitude of the massacre generation which refers to people born after the Columbine high school shooting in 1999 to the older generation. An age effect was only seen in studies conducted after 2012. Results from these surveys indicated that the younger generation are more likely to believe that the government can effectively prevent future mass shootings with more gun prevention laws. The data also suggested that the younger generation are more likely to attribute mass shootings to lack of government regulation.

Another study was conducted in April 2015 which measured public opinion of carrying firearms in public places. Results from the study showed that overall, less than one third of the adults in the US supported carrying firearms in public spaces. Support was greater in gun owners compared to non- gun owners. Support for carrying firearms in public was lowest for schools, bars, and sport stadiums. According to the data, 18.2 percent of the respondents supported carrying guns in bars, 17.1 percent supported carrying guns in sport stadiums and 18.8 percent supported carrying guns in schools. Support for carrying firearms was greatest in restaurants and retail stores. 32.9 percent of the respondents support carrying guns in restaurants and 30.8 percent support carrying guns in retail stores. From this study it was concluded that most people in the United States, even most gun owners, are in support of limiting the places gun owners are allowed to carry their weapons.

Another study that was conducted in 2015 by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health revealed that the majority of Americans supported various gun laws and there was minimal difference between gun owners and non-gun owners for a majority of the policies. Support for "prohibiting a person subject to a temporary domestic violence restraining order from having a gun" was around 77.5 percent among gun owners and around 79.6 percent among non-gun owners. Overall, support for a policy that authorizes law enforcement to remove firearms from a person temporarily who may be a threat to themselves or others was 70.9 percent, non- gun owner support was 71.8 percent and gun owner support was 67 percent. The study examined a comparison between public opinion on gun policy immediately after the 2013 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newton, Connecticut and 2 years after the shooting. In most cases there was only a slight change in opinion. For example, overall support for prohibiting a person under the age of 21 from having a gun only decreased 4 percent.

A national study of gun policy was conducted in 2019 examining the trends in data from surveys that were administered by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research in 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2019. This study analyzed how the attitude towards certain gun policies changed overtime based on political party affiliation and gun ownership status. The study has found that the majority of the people supported a range of gun policies whether they were gun owners or not. From 2015 to 2019, there was an overall increase in support among American adults for 18- gun policies. For instance, support for requiring purchaser licensing and safe gun storage laws increased 5 percent. There was a 4 percent increase in support for universal background checks. Moreover, data showed that a majority of Republicans and Independents supported all except one of the 18 policies. The data reveal high support for safety training among gun owners and non-gun owners. The results of the study indicated that overall 81 percent of the respondents supported the requirement of a safety test for those who have applied for a license to carry firearms in public, in which the support was 73 percent from gun owners and 83 percent from non-gun owners. Additionally, 36 percent of the participants in the study supported permitting a person to carry a concealed gun on a college campus and only 31 percent supported permitting someone to carry guns in elementary school. Overall support for prohibiting a person convicted of a violent crime from carrying a gun in public for 10 years was around 78 percent, where gun owner support was around 71 percent and non-gun owner support was around 80%. Data from this study suggests that both gun owners and non- gunowners support a range of gun policies.

A study conducted in 2021 examines American public opinion on several gun violence prevention funding policies among different racial and ethnic groups. Support for funding community-based prevention programs that provide social support was 71 percent among blacks, 68 percent among whites and 69 percent among Hispanics. Moreover, support for funding hospital- based gun violence prevention programs that provide counseling to people to reduce an individual's risk of future violence was 57 percent among whites, 66 percent among blacks and 57 percent among Hispanics. Support for redirecting government funding from police to social programs was 35% among whites, 60% among blacks and 43% among Hispanics. Overall, data revealed that black support for most of the policies examined was greater than white support, however the differences were minimal. Public opinion polls show Americans are about evenly split on banning guns like the AR-15, with recent polls showing support for the ban has dipped slightly.

Poll (2023)

In the midst of a recent surge in mass shootings, including a record 46 school shootings in 2022, an April 2023 Fox News poll found registered voters overwhelmingly supported a wide variety of gun restrictions:

  • 87% said they support requiring criminal background checks for all gun buyers;
  • 81% support raising the age requirement to buy guns to 21;
  • 80% said police should be allowed take guns away from people considered a danger to themselves or others;
  • 80% support requiring mental health checks for all gun purchasers;
  • 61% supported banning assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons.

Public policy

Main article: Gun politics in the United States
U.S. opinion on gun control issues is deeply divided along political lines, as shown in this 2021 survey.

Public policy as related to preventing gun violence is an ongoing political and social debate regarding both the restriction and availability of firearms within the United States. Policy at the Federal level is/has been governed by the Second Amendment, National Firearms Act, Gun Control Act of 1968, Firearm Owners Protection Act, Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, and the Domestic Violence Offender Act. Gun policy in the U.S. has been revised many times with acts such as the Firearm Owners Protection Act, which loosened provisions for gun sales while banning civilian ownership of machine guns made after 1986.

At the federal, state and local level, gun laws such as handgun bans have been overturned by the Supreme Court in cases such as District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago. These cases hold that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm. D.C. v. Heller only addressed the issue on Federal enclaves, while McDonald v. Chicago addressed the issue as relating to the individual states.

March on Washington for Gun Control in January 2013

Gun control proponents often cite the relatively high number of homicides committed with firearms as reason to support stricter gun control laws. Policies and laws that reduce homicides committed with firearms prevent homicides overall; a decrease in firearm-related homicides is not balanced by an increase in non-firearm homicides. Firearm laws are a subject of debate in the U.S., with firearms used for recreational purposes as well as for personal protection. Gun rights advocates cite the use of firearms for self-protection, and to deter violent crime, as reasons why more guns can reduce crime. Gun rights advocates also say criminals are the least likely to obey firearms laws, and so limiting access to guns by law-abiding people makes them more vulnerable to armed criminals.

In a survey of 41 studies, half of the studies found a connection between gun ownership and homicide but these were usually the least rigorous studies. Only six studies controlled at least six statistically significant confounding variables, and none of them showed a significant positive effect. Eleven macro-level studies showed that crime rates increase gun levels (not vice versa). The reason that there is no opposite effect may be that most owners are noncriminals and that they may use guns to prevent violence.

Access to firearms

Gun-related death rates are positively correlated with household gun ownership rates.

The United States Constitution enshrines the right to gun ownership in the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights to ensure the security of a free state through a well regulated Militia. It 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 Constitution makes no distinction between the type of firearm in question or state of residency.

Age limits, background checks

States with most firearm background checks per 100,000 people (2019)

Gun dealers in the U.S. are prohibited from selling handguns to those under the age of 21, and long guns to those under the age of 18. In 2017, the National Safety Council released a state ranking on firearms access indicators such as background checks, waiting periods, safe storage, training, and sharing of mental health records with the NICS database to restrict firearm access.

Guns favored by criminals

The most common type of gun confiscated by police and traced by the ATF are .38 special revolvers, such as this Smith & Wesson Model 60 .38 Special revolver with a 3-inch barrel.

Assuming access to guns, the top ten guns involved in crime in the United States show a definite tendency to favor handguns over long guns. The top ten guns used in crime, as reported by the ATF in 1993, were the Smith & Wesson .38 Special and .357 revolvers; Raven Arms .25 caliber, Davis P-380 .380 caliber, Ruger .22 caliber, Lorcin L-380 .380 caliber, and Smith & Wesson semi-automatic handguns; Mossberg and Remington 12 gauge shotguns; and the Tec DC-9 9 mm handgun. An earlier 1985 study of 1,800 incarcerated felons showed that criminals preferred revolvers and other non-semi-automatic firearms over semi-automatic firearms. In Pittsburgh a change in preferences towards pistols occurred in the early 1990s, coinciding with the arrival of crack cocaine and the rise of violent youth gangs. Background checks in California from 1998 to 2000 resulted in 1% of sales being initially denied. The types of guns most often denied included semiautomatic pistols with short barrels and of medium caliber. A 2018 study determined that California's implementation of comprehensive background checks and misdemeanor violation policies was not associated with a net change in the firearm homicide rate over the ensuing 10 years. A 2018 study found no evidence of an association between the repeal of comprehensive background check policies and firearm homicide and suicide rates in Indiana and Tennessee.

Gun possession by juvenile offenders

Among juveniles (minors under the age of 16, 17, or 18, depending on legal jurisdiction) serving in correctional facilities, 86% had owned a gun, with 66% acquiring their first gun by age 14. There was also a tendency for juvenile offenders to have owned several firearms, with 65% owning three or more. Juveniles most often acquired guns illegally from family, friends, drug dealers, and street contacts. Inner city youths cited "self-protection from enemies" as the top reason for carrying a gun. In Rochester, New York, 22% of young males have carried a firearm illegally, most for only a short time. There is little overlap between legal gun ownership and illegal gun carrying among youths.

Effect of laws on mortality

A 2011 study indicated that in states where local background checks for gun purchases are completed, the suicide rate was lower than states without.

Firearms market

Source of firearms possessed by Federal inmates, 1997
ATF inspector at a federally licensed gun dealer

Gun rights advocates argue that policy aimed at the supply side of the firearms market is based on limited research. One consideration is that 60–70% of firearms sales in the U.S. are transacted through federally licensed firearm dealers, with the remainder taking place in the "secondary market", in which previously owned firearms are transferred by non-dealers. Access to secondary markets is generally less convenient to purchasers, and involves such risks as the possibility of the gun having been used previously in a crime. Unlicensed private sellers were permitted by law to sell privately owned guns at gun shows or at private locations in 24 states as of 1998. Regulations that limit the number of handgun sales in the primary, regulated market to one handgun a month per customer have been shown to be effective at reducing illegal gun trafficking by reducing the supply into the secondary market. Taxes on firearm purchases are another means for government to influence the primary market.

Criminals tend to obtain guns through multiple illegal pathways, including large-scale gun traffickers, who tend to provide criminals with relatively few guns. Federally licensed firearm dealers in the primary (new and used gun) market are regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Firearm manufacturers are required to mark all firearms manufactured with serial numbers. This allows the ATF to trace guns involved in crimes back to their last Federal Firearms License (FFL) reported change of ownership transaction, although not past the first private sale involving any particular gun. A report by the ATF released in 1999 found that 0.4% of federally licensed dealers sold half of the guns used criminally in 1996 and 1997. This is sometimes done through "straw purchases." State laws, such as those in California, that restrict the number of gun purchases in a month may help stem such "straw purchases." States with gun registration and licensing laws are generally less likely to have guns initially sold there used in crimes. Similarly, crime guns tend to travel from states with weak gun laws to states with strict gun laws. An estimated 500,000 guns are stolen each year, becoming available to prohibited users. During the ATF's Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative (YCGII), which involved expanded tracing of firearms recovered by law enforcement agencies, only 18% of guns used criminally that were recovered in 1998 were in possession of the original owner. Guns recovered by police during criminal investigations were often sold by legitimate retail sales outlets to legal owners, and then diverted to criminal use over relatively short times ranging from a few months to a few years, which makes them relatively new compared with firearms in general circulation.

A 2016 survey of prison inmates by the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that 43% of guns used in crimes were obtained from the black market, 25% from an individual, 10% from a retail source (including 0.8% from a gun show), and 6% from theft.

Legislation

Main article: Gun law in the United States
A 2023 study concluded that more restrictive state gun policies reduced homicide and suicide gun deaths. From 1991 to 2016—when most states implemented more restrictive gun laws—gun deaths fell sharply.

The first Federal legislation related to firearms was the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution ratified in 1791. For 143 years, this was the only major Federal legislation regarding firearms. The next Federal firearm legislation was the National Firearms Act of 1934, which created regulations for the sale of firearms, established taxes on their sale, and required registration of some types of firearms such as machine guns.

Firearm guiding policy by country according to the University of Sydney:   Permissive   Restrictive

Following the Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. assassinations, the Gun Control Act of 1968 was enacted. This Act regulated gun commerce, restricting mail order sales, and allowing shipments only to licensed firearm dealers. The Act also prohibited sale of firearms to felons, those under indictment, fugitives, illegal aliens, drug users, those dishonorably discharged from the military, and those in mental institutions. The law also restricted importation of so-called Saturday night specials and other types of guns, and limited the sale of automatic weapons and semi-automatic weapon conversion kits.

The Firearm Owners Protection Act, also known as the McClure-Volkmer Act, was passed in 1986. It changed some restrictions in the 1968 Act, allowing federally licensed gun dealers and individual unlicensed private sellers to sell at gun shows, while continuing to require licensed gun dealers to require background checks. The 1986 Act also restricted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms from conducting punitively repetitive inspections, reduced the amount of record-keeping required of gun dealers, raised the burden of proof for convicting gun law violators, and changed restrictions on convicted felons from owning firearms. In addition it also banned new machine guns for sale to the public, but grandfathered in any that were already registered.

In the years following the passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968, people buying guns were required to show identification and sign a statement affirming that they were not in any of the prohibited categories. Many states enacted background check laws that went beyond the federal requirements. The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act passed by Congress in 1993 imposed a waiting period before the purchase of a handgun, giving time for, but not requiring, a background check to be made. The Brady Act also required the establishment of a national system to provide instant criminal background checks, with checks to be done by firearms dealers. The Brady Act only applied to people who bought guns from licensed dealers, whereas felons buy some percentage of their guns from black market sources. Restrictions, such as waiting periods, impose costs and inconveniences on legitimate gun purchasers, such as hunters. A 2000 study found that the implementation of the Brady Act was associated with "reductions in the firearm suicide rate for persons aged 55 years or older but not with reductions in homicide rates or overall suicide rates."

Federal Assault Weapons Ban

Total deaths in U.S. mass shootings since 1982—defined as four or more people shot and killed in one incident, excluding the perpetrator, at a public place, excluding gang-related killings.

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, enacted in 1994, included the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, and was a response to public fears over mass shootings. This provision prohibited the manufacture and importation of some firearms with certain features such as a folding stock, pistol grip, flash suppressor, and magazines holding more than ten rounds. A grandfather clause was included that allowed firearms manufactured before 1994 to remain legal. A short-term evaluation by University of Pennsylvania criminologists Christopher S. Koper and Jeffrey A. Roth did not find any clear impact of this legislation on gun violence. Given the short study time period of the evaluation, the National Academy of Sciences advised caution in drawing any conclusions. In September 2004, the assault weapon ban expired, with its sunset clause.

Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban

The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, the Lautenberg Amendment, prohibited anyone previously convicted of a misdemeanor or felony crime of domestic violence from shipment, transport, ownership and use of guns or ammunition. This was ex post facto, in the opinion of Representative Bob Barr. This law also prohibited the sale or gift of a firearm or ammunition to such a person. It was passed in 1996, and became effective in 1997. The law does not exempt people who use firearms as part of their duties, such as police officers or military personnel with applicable criminal convictions; they may not carry firearms.

Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, police and National Guard units in New Orleans confiscated firearms from private citizens in an attempt to prevent violence. In reaction, Congress passed the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006 in the form of an amendment to Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007. Section 706 of the Act prohibits federal employees and those receiving federal funds from confiscating legally possessed firearms during a disaster.

2016 White House background check initiative

On January 5, 2016, President Obama unveiled his new strategy to curb gun violence in America. His proposals focus on new background check requirements that are intended to enhance the effectiveness of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), and greater education and enforcement efforts of existing laws at the state level. In an interview with Bill Simmons of HBO, President Obama also confirmed that gun control will be the "dominant" issue on his agenda in his last year of presidency.

State legislation

Main article: Gun laws in the United States (by state)

Right-to-carry

Main articles: Concealed carry in the United States, Open carry in the United States, and Constitutional carry
Visitors at a gun show in Houston

All 50 U.S. states allow for the right to carry firearms. A majority of states either require a shall-issue permit or allow carrying without a permit and a minority require a may-issue permit. Right-to-carry laws expanded in the 1990s as homicide rates from gun violence in the U.S. increased, largely in response to incidents such as the Luby's shooting of 1991 in Texas which directly resulted in the passage of a carrying concealed weapon, or CCW, law in Texas in 1995. As Rorie Sherman, staff reporter for the National Law Journal wrote in an article published on April 18, 1994, "It is a time of unparalleled desperation about crime. But the mood is decidedly 'I'll do it myself' and 'Don't get in my way.'"

The result was laws, or the lack thereof, that permitted persons to carry firearms openly, known as open carry, often without any permit required, in 22 states by 1998. Laws that permitted persons to carry concealed handguns, sometimes termed a concealed handgun license, CHL, or concealed pistol license, CPL in some jurisdictions instead of CCW, existed in 34 states in the U.S. by 2004. Since then, the number of states with CCW laws has increased; as of 2014, all 50 states have some form of CCW laws on the books.

Economist John Lott has argued that right-to-carry laws create a perception that more potential crime victims might be carrying firearms, and thus serve as a deterrent against crime. Lott's study has been criticized for not adequately controlling for other factors, including other state laws also enacted, such as Florida's laws requiring background checks and waiting period for handgun buyers. When Lott's data was re-analyzed by some researchers, the only statistically significant effect of concealed-carry laws found was an increase in assaults, with similar findings by Jens Ludwig. Lott and Mustard's 1997 study has also been criticized by Paul Rubin and Hashem Dezhbakhsh for inappropriately using a dummy variable; Rubin and Dezhbakhsh reported in a 2003 study that right-to-carry laws have much smaller and more inconsistent effects than those reported by Lott and Mustard, and that these effects are usually not crime-reducing. Since concealed-carry permits are only given to adults, Philip J. Cook suggested that analysis should focus on the relationship with adult and not juvenile gun incident rates. He found no statistically significant effect. A 2004 National Academy of Sciences survey of existing literature found that the data available "are too weak to support unambiguous conclusions" about the impact of right-to-carry laws on rates of violent crime. NAS suggested that new analytical approaches and datasets at the county or local level are needed to adequately evaluate the impact of right-to-carry laws. A 2014 study found that Arizona's SB 1108, which allowed adults in the state to concealed carry without a permit and without passing a training course, was associated with an increase in gun-related fatalities. A 2018 study by Charles Manski and John V. Pepper found that the apparent effects of RTC laws on crime rates depend significantly on the assumptions made in the analysis. A 2019 study found no statistically significant association between the liberalization of state level firearm carry legislation over the last 30 years and the rates of homicides or other violent crime.

Child Access Prevention (CAP)

Main article: Child access prevention law
Gun safety

Child Access Prevention (CAP) laws, enacted by many states, require parents to store firearms safely, to minimize access by children to guns, while maintaining ease of access by adults. CAP laws hold gun owners liable should a child gain access to a loaded gun that is not properly stored. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that, on average, one child died every three days in accidental incidents in the U.S. from 2000 to 2005. In most states, CAP law violations are considered misdemeanors. Florida's CAP law, enacted in 1989, permits felony prosecution of violators. Research indicates that CAP laws are correlated with a reduction in unintentional gun deaths by 23%, and gun suicides among those aged 14 through 17 by 11%. A study by Lott did not detect a relationship between CAP laws and accidental gun deaths or suicides among those age 19 and under between 1979 and 1996. However, two studies disputed Lott's findings. A 2013 study found that CAP laws are correlated with a reduction of non-fatal gun injuries among both children and adults by 30–40%. In 2016 the American Academy of Pediatrics found that safe gun storage laws were associated with lower overall adolescent suicide rates. Research also indicated that CAP laws were most highly correlated with reductions of non-fatal gun injuries in states where violations were considered felonies, whereas in states that considered violations as misdemeanors, the potential impact of CAP laws was not statistically significant.

Local restrictions

Some local jurisdictions in the U.S. have more restrictive laws, such as Washington, D.C.'s Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975, which banned residents from owning handguns, and required permitted firearms be disassembled and locked with a trigger lock. On March 9, 2007, a U.S. Appeals Court ruled the Washington, D.C., handgun ban unconstitutional. The appeal of that case later led to the Supreme Court's ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller that D.C.'s ban was unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.

Despite New York City's strict gun control laws, guns are often trafficked in from other parts of the U.S., particularly the southern states. Results from the ATF's Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative indicate that the percentage of imported guns involved in crimes is tied to the stringency of local firearm laws.

Prevention programs

Violence prevention and educational programs have been established in many schools and communities across the United States. These programs aim to change personal behavior of both children and their parents, encouraging children to stay away from guns, ensure parents store guns safely, and encourage children to solve disputes without resorting to violence. Programs aimed at altering behavior range from passive (requiring no effort on the part of the individual) to active (supervising children, or placing a trigger lock on a gun). The more effort required of people, the more difficult it is to implement a prevention strategy. Prevention strategies focused on modifying the situational environment and the firearm itself may be more effective. Empirical evaluation of gun violence prevention programs has been limited. Of the evaluations that have been done, results indicate such programs have minimal effectiveness.

Hotline

Speak Up is a national youth violence prevention initiative created by The Center to Prevent Youth Violence, which provides young people with tools to improve the safety of their schools and communities. The SPEAK UP program is an anonymous, national hot-line for young people to report threats of violence in their communities or at school. The hot-line is operated in accordance with a protocol developed in collaboration with national education and law enforcement authorities, including the FBI. Trained counselors, with access to translators for 140 languages, collect information from callers and then report the threat to appropriate school and law enforcement officials.

Gun safety parent counseling

One of the most widely used parent counseling programs is Steps to Prevent Firearm Injury program (STOP), which was developed in 1994 by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence (the latter of which was then known as the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence). STOP was superseded by STOP 2 in 1998, which has a broader focus including more communities and health care providers. STOP has been evaluated and found not to have a significant effect on gun ownership or firearm storage practices by inner-city parents. Marjorie S. Hardy suggests further evaluation of STOP is needed, as this evaluation had a limited sample size and lacked a control group. A 1999 study found no statistically significant effect of STOP on rates of gun ownership or better gun storage.

Children

Prevention programs geared towards children have also not been greatly successful. Many inherent challenges arise when working with children, including their tendency to perceive themselves as invulnerable to injury, limited ability to apply lessons learned, their innate curiosity, and peer pressure.

The goal of gun safety programs, usually administered by local firearms dealers and shooting clubs, is to teach older children and adolescents how to handle firearms safely. There has been no systematic evaluation of the effect of these programs on children. For adults, no positive effect on gun storage practices has been found as a result of these programs. Also, researchers have found that gun safety programs for children may likely increase a child's interest in obtaining and using guns, which they cannot be expected to use safely all the time, even with training.

One approach taken is gun avoidance, such as when encountering a firearm at a neighbor's home. The Eddie Eagle Gun Safety Program, administered by the National Rifle Association (NRA), is geared towards younger children from pre-kindergarten to sixth grade, and teaches kids that real guns are not toys by emphasizing a "just say no" approach. The Eddie Eagle program is based on training children in a four-step action to take when they see a firearm: (1) Stop! (2) Don't touch! (3) Leave the area. (4) Go tell an adult. Materials, such as coloring books and posters, back the lessons up and provide the repetition necessary in any child-education program. ABC News challenged the effectiveness of the "just say no" approach promoted by the NRA's Eddie the Eagle program in an investigative piece by Diane Sawyer in 1999. Sawyer's piece was based on an academic study conducted by Dr. Marjorie Hardy. Dr. Hardy's study tracked the behavior of elementary age schoolchildren who spent a day learning the Eddie the Eagle four-step action plan from a uniformed police officer. The children were then placed into a playroom which contained a hidden gun. When the children found the gun, they did not run away from the gun, but rather, they inevitably played with it, pulled the trigger while looking into the barrel, or aimed the gun at a playmate and pulled the trigger. The study concluded that children's natural curiosity was far more powerful than the parental admonition to "Just say no".

Community programs

Programs targeted at entire communities, such as community revitalization, after-school programs, and media campaigns, may be more effective in reducing the general level of violence that children are exposed to. Community-based programs that have specifically targeted gun violence include Safe Kids/Healthy Neighborhoods Injury Prevention Program in New York City, and Safe Homes and Havens in Chicago. Evaluation of such community-based programs is difficult, due to many confounding factors and the multifaceted nature of such programs. A Chicago-based program, "BAM" (Becoming a Man) has produced positive results, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab, and is expanding to Boston in 2017.

March for Our Lives

The March for Our Lives was a student-led demonstration in support of legislation to prevent gun violence in the United States. It took place in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2018, with over 880 sibling events throughout the U.S. It was planned by Never Again MSD in collaboration with the nonprofit organization. The demonstration followed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018, which was described by several media outlets as a possible tipping point for gun control legislation.

Intervention programs

Sociologist James D. Wright suggests that to convince inner-city youths not to carry guns "requires convincing them that they can survive in their neighborhood without being armed, that they can come and go in peace, that being unarmed will not cause them to be victimized, intimidated, or slain." Intervention programs, such as CeaseFire Chicago, Operation Ceasefire in Boston and Project Exile in Richmond, Virginia during the 1990s, have been shown to be effective. Other intervention strategies, such as gun "buy-back" programs have been demonstrated to be ineffective.

Gun buyback programs

Main article: Gun buyback program

Gun "buyback" programs are a strategy aimed at influencing the firearms market by taking guns "off the streets". Gun "buyback" programs have been shown to be effective to prevent suicides, but ineffective to prevent homicides with the National Academy of Sciences citing theory underlying these programs as "badly flawed." Guns surrendered tend to be those least likely to be involved in crime, such as old, malfunctioning guns with little resale value, muzzleloading or other black-powder guns, antiques chambered for obsolete cartridges that are no longer commercially manufactured or sold, or guns that individuals inherit but have little value in possessing. Other limitations of gun buyback programs include the fact that it is relatively easy to obtain gun replacements, often of better guns than were relinquished in the buyback. Also, the number of handguns used in crime (about 7,500 per year) is very small compared to about 70 million handguns in the U.S.. (i.e., 0.011%).

"Gun bounty" programs launched in several Florida cities have shown more promise. These programs involve cash rewards for anonymous tips about illegal weapons that lead to an arrest and a weapons charge. Since its inception in May 2007, the Miami program has led to 264 arrests and the confiscation of 432 guns owned illegally and $2.2 million in drugs, and has solved several murder and burglary cases.

Operation Ceasefire

Main article: Operation Ceasefire

In 1995, Operation Ceasefire was established as a strategy for addressing youth gun violence in Boston. Violence was particularly concentrated in poor, inner-city neighborhoods including Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan. There were 22 youths (under the age of 24) killed in Boston in 1987, with that figure rising to 73 in 1990. Operation Ceasefire entailed a problem-oriented policing approach, and focused on specific places that were crime hot spots—two strategies that when combined have been shown to be quite effective. Particular focus was placed on two elements of the gun violence problem, including illicit gun trafficking and gang violence. Within two years of implementing Operation Ceasefire in Boston, the number of youth homicides dropped to ten, with only one handgun-related youth homicide occurring in 1999 and 2000. The Operation Ceasefire strategy has since been replicated in other cities, including Los Angeles. Erica Bridgeford, spearheaded a "72-hour ceasefire" in August 2017, but the ceasefire was broken with a homicide. Councilman Brandon Scott, Mayor Catherine Pugh and others talked of community policing models that might work for Baltimore.

Project Exile

Main article: Project Exile
Federally supported gun violence intervention program

Project Exile, conducted in Richmond, Virginia during the 1990s, was a coordinated effort involving federal, state, and local officials that targeted gun violence. The strategy entailed prosecution of gun violations in Federal courts, where sentencing guidelines were tougher. Project Exile also involved outreach and education efforts through media campaigns, getting the message out about the crackdown. Research analysts offered different opinions as to the program's success in reducing gun crime. Authors of a 2003 analysis of the program argued that the decline in gun homicide was part of a "general regression to the mean" across U.S. cities with high homicide rates. Authors of a 2005 study disagreed, concluding that Richmond's gun homicide rate fell more rapidly than the rates in other large U.S. cities with other influences controlled.

Project Safe Neighborhoods

Main article: Project Safe Neighborhoods

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a national strategy for reducing gun violence that builds on the strategies implemented in Operation Ceasefire and Project Exile. PSN was established in 2001, with support from the Bush administration, channelled through the United States Attorney's Offices in the United States Department of Justice. The Federal government has spent over US$1.5 billion since the program's inception on the hiring of prosecutors, and providing assistance to state and local jurisdictions in support of training and community outreach efforts.

READI Chicago

In 2016, Chicago saw a 58% increase in homicides. In response to the spike in gun violence, a group of foundations and social service agencies created the Rapid Employment and Development Initiative (READI) Chicago. A Heartland Alliance program, READI Chicago targets those most at risk of being involved in gun violence – either as perpetrator or a victim. Individuals are provided with 18 months of transitional jobs, cognitive behavioral therapy and legal and social services. Individuals are also provided with 6 months of support as they transition to full-time employment at the end of the 18 months. The University of Chicago Crime Lab is evaluating READI Chicago's impact on gun violence reduction. The evaluation, expected to be completed in Spring 2021, is showing early signs of success. Eddie Bocanegra, senior director of READI Chicago, hopes that the early success of READI Chicago will result in funding from the City of Chicago.

Reporting of crime

The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) is used by law enforcement agencies in the United States for collecting and reporting data on crimes. The NIBRS is one of four subsets of the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program.

The FBI states the UCR Program is retiring the SRS and will transition to a NIBRS-only data collection by January 1, 2021. Additionally, the FBI states NIBRS will collect more detailed information, including incident date and time, whether reported offenses were attempted or completed, expanded victim types, relationships of victims to offenders and offenses, demographic details, location data, property descriptions, drug types and quantities, the offender's suspected use of drugs or alcohol, the involvement of gang activity, and whether a computer was used in the commission of the crime.

Though NIBRS will be collecting more data the reporting if the firearm used was legally or illegally obtained by the suspect will not be identified. Nor will the system have the capability to identify if a legally obtained firearm used in the crime was used by the owner or registered owner, if required to be registered. Additionally, the information of how an illegally obtained firearm was acquired will be left to speculation. The absence of collecting this information into NIBRS the reported "gun violence" data will remain a gross misinterpretation lending anyone information that can be skewed to their liking/needs and not pinpoint where actual efforts need to be directed to curb the use of firearms in crime.

Research limitations

In the United States, research into firearms and violent crime is fraught with difficulties, associated with limited data on gun ownership and use, firearms markets, and aggregation of crime data. Research studies into gun violence have primarily taken one of two approaches: case-control studies and social ecology. Gun ownership is usually determined through surveys, proxy variables, and sometimes with production and import figures. In statistical analysis of homicides and other types of crime which are rare events, these data tend to have poisson distributions, which also presents methodological challenges to researchers. With data aggregation, it is difficult to make inferences about individual behavior. This problem, known as ecological fallacy, is not always handled properly by researchers; this leads some to jump to conclusions that their data do not necessarily support.

In 1996 the NRA lobbied Congressman Jay Dickey (R-Ark.) to include budget provisions that prohibited the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from advocating or promoting gun control and that deleted $2.6 million from the CDC budget, the exact amount the CDC had spent on firearms research the previous year. The ban was later extended to all research funded by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). According to an article in Nature, this made gun research more difficult, reduced the number of studies, and discouraged researchers from even talking about gun violence at medical and scientific conferences. In 2013, after the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, President Barack Obama ordered the CDC to resume funding research on gun violence and prevention, and put $10 million in the 2014 budget request for it. However, the order had no practical effect, as the CDC refused to act without a specific appropriation to cover the research, and Congress repeatedly declined to allocate any funds. As a result, the CDC has not performed any such studies since 1996.

Controversies

Holding a party in which an AR-15 style rifle was auctioned off as part of a fundraiser and hosting Kyle Rittenhouse as a celebrity guest, caused Republicans in Idaho to be accused of supporting "political violence". Kyle Rittenhouse is the American who shot and killed two people and injured another in self defence at a protest.

Maps

A map of countries by civilian firearms per capita, 2022
Household firearm ownership rate by U.S. state, 2016

See also

References

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