Stop 2

Firearm Facts

Firearms are so pervasive in America that sometimes we forget the price we pay for all-too-easy access to guns. Consider some basic facts...

  • Currently, an estimated 39% of households have a gun, while 24% have a handgun.[1]

  • There are approximately 192 million privately owned firearms in the U.S. - 65 million of which are handguns. [2]

  • Approximately 29% of adults personally own a firearm, and 18% personally own a handgun. [3]

  • In 1998, 30,708 people in the United States died from firearm-related deaths - 12,102 (39%) of those were murdered; 17,424 (57%) were suicides; 866 (3%) were accidents; and in 316 (1%) the intent was unknown. [4]

  • In 1998, firearms were used in more than 2 out of 3 murders committed in the U.S. Handguns were used in 51% of all murders.[5]

  • In 1998, 8 out of 10 of those murdered with firearms were murdered with handguns.[6]

  • In 1999, there were only 134 justifiable handgun homicides[7] by private citizens in the United States.[8]

Thinking of buying a gun to protect your home? You may want to remember that...

  • Guns kept in the home for self-protection are 22 times more likely to kill a family member or friend than to kill in self-defense.[9]

  • The presence of a gun in the home triples the risk of homicide in the home.[10]

  • The presence of a gun in the home increases the risk of suicide fivefold.[11]

Guns are a blight upon our young people. For instance...

  • In 1998, firearm homicide was the leading cause of death for black males ages 15-34. [12]

  • In 1998, gunshot wounds were the second leading cause of injury death for men and women 10-24 years of age - second only to motor vehicle crashes.[13]

  • In 1997, the firearm injury death rate among males 15-24 years of age was 42% higher than the motor vehicle traffic injury death rate.[14]

  • In 1998, more than 10 children and teenagers, ages 19 and under, were killed with guns everyday. [15]

  • In 1998, 77% of murdered Juveniles age 13-19 were killed with a firearm.[16]

  • Each year during 1993 through 1997, an average of 1,621 murderers who had not reached their 18th birthdays took someone's life with a gun.[17]

  • From 1993 through 1997, an average of 1,409 children and teenagers took their own lives with guns each year. [18]

Surprised? You shouldn't be, because...

  • In 1998, 30,708 Americans were killed with firearms - in homicides, suicides and accidents. In comparison, 33,651 Americans were killed in the Korean War and 58,148 Americans were killed in the Vietnam War. [19]

  • In 1998 alone, licensed firearms dealers sold an estimated 4.4 million guns, 1.7 million of which were handguns.[20]

  • Sales of handguns per adult are now roughly twice the level of 40 years ago.[21]

  • Of all accidental fatalities involving firearms, 71% involve handguns.[22]

Finally, you may want to consider one more statistic...

  • In 1996, handguns were used to murder 2 people in New Zealand, 15 in Japan, 30 in Great Britain, 106 in Canada, 213 in Germany and 9,390 in the United States.[23]

Updated 1/16/01

Notes:

  1. National Opinion Research Center, The University of Chicago, 1997-1998 National Gun Policy Survey, September 1998.
  2. Police Foundation ©1996, Guns in America: Results of a comprehensive national survey on firearms ownership and use. p.13
  3. National Opinion Research Center, The University of Chicago, 1997-1998 National Gun Policy Survey, September 1998.
  4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Unpublished Data from the National Vital statistics System, 2000
  5. FBI Uniform Crime Report, 1999, table 2.13, p.21
  6. FBI Uniform Crime Report, 1999, calculated from table 2.13, p.21
  7. A justifiable homicide is defined as and limited to the killing of a felon by a law enforcement officer in the line of duty, or the killing of a felon by a private citizen during the commission of a felony.
  8. FBI Uniform Crime Report, 1999, table 2.17, p.23
  9. Kellermann AL. "Injuries and Deaths Due to Firearms in the Home." J, Trauma 1998; 45(2):263-67.
  10. Kellermann, AL, Rivara, FP, Rushforth NB, et al. Gun ownership as a risk factor for homicide in the home. N Engl J Med. 1993; 329: 1084-1091
  11. Kellermann, AL Rivara FP, Somes G, et al. Suicide in the home in relation to gun ownership. N Engl J Med. 1992; 327: 467-472
  12. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Reports. Vol. 48, No. 11, July 24, 2000.
  13. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Reports. Vol. 48, No. 11, July 24, 2000.
  14. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Reports. Vol. 47, No. 19, June 30, 1999.
  15. Calculated by the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence using Unpublished Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, national Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System 2000
  16. Snyder H. "Juvenile Arrests 1998." Juvenile Justice Bulletin. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The Department of Justice, December 1999.
  17. Supplemental Homicide Data from the FBI.
  18. Derived from NCHS data.
  19. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Unpublished Data from the National Vital statistics System, 2000/Combat Area Casualty Figures, Center for Electronic Records, National Archives.
  20. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Commerce in Firearms in the United States, February 2000.
  21. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Commerce in Firearms in the United States, February 2000.
  22. GAO Report, Accidental Shootings: Many Deaths and Injuries Caused by Firearms Could be Prevented, 1991; p.23.
  23. Embassies and foreign crime reporting agencies/FBI Uniform Crime Report, 1996. The number for Germany represents total murders by firearms.