The Firearm Mortality Epidemic: EXAMINING THE U.S. DATA FROM 2024

By Rose Kim, Elizabeth Wagner, Nandita Somayaji, Silvia Villarreal, Cassandra Crifasi


44,447 people died from gun violence in the United States in 2024. Each day, an average of 121 people died from gun violence—one death every 12 minutes. Gun suicides reached an all-time high in the total number of
deaths for the fourth consecutive year. For the past five years, guns remained the leading cause of death among young people (ages 1–17), with more deaths than any other single cause, including car crashes, overdoses, and cancers. While males have higher gun death rates and are at elevated risk for gun violence overall, females are uniquely impacted by the intersection between gun violence and domestic violence—nearly half of all females who are murdered are killed by a current or former intimate partner, and more than half of these intimate partner homicides are by gun. In this year’s report, we examined the overall rise of female gun deaths and their disproportionate impact across certain races and ethnicities from 2015 to 2024.

While the burden of gun violence in the U.S. remains high, there are evidence-based, equitable solutions to save lives. These solutions are supported by most people, including gun owners. Despite this broad support, policymakers hesitate to heed the evidence and enact policies that will save lives. Each year, it is our mission to provide policymakers and the public accurate and up-to-date data on gun fatalities and illustrate the
enormous toll gun violence has on our country. This report is an update to “Gun Violence in the United States 2023: Examining the Gun Suicide Epidemic.” It uses firearm mortality data listed on death certificates that are provided to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and made available through the CDC
WONDER Underlying Cause of Death database. The substantial lag in data availability makes it challenging to understand the burden of gun violence in real time; however, understanding the magnitude of this issue, even with the time lag, is essential to inform public health interventions to reduce violence.We recognize that each data point discussed in this report is a person who died by gun violence. This loss has an immeasurable
impact on families, friends, and communities; data can only partly illuminate the true burden of gun violence. In addition to analyzing the data, we must listen to and uplift the voices of those directly impacted by gun violence, their loved ones, and their communities