In recent years, gun violence in the United States has become an alarmingly common occurrence. From 2016, there has been over 10,000 homicides by firearm in the U.S. each year and firearms have been found to make up the majority of murder weapons in the country by far, demonstrating increasing rates of gun violence occurring throughout the nation. As of 2025, Mississippi was the state with the highest gun violence rate per 100,000 residents in the United States, at 29.4 percent, followed by Louisiana, at 28.1 percent. In comparison, Massachusetts had a gun violence rate of 3.7 percent, the lowest out of all the states. The importance of gun laws Gun laws in the United States vary from state to state, which has been found to affect the differing rates of gun violence throughout the country. Fewer people die by gun violence in states where gun safety laws have been passed, while gun violence rates remain high in states where gun usage is easily permitted and even encouraged. In addition, some states suffer from high rates of gun violence despite having strong gun safety laws due to gun trafficking, as traffickers can distribute firearms illegally past state lines. The right to bear arms Despite evidence from other countries demonstrating that strict gun control measures reduce rates of gun violence, the United States has remained reluctant to enact gun control laws. This can largely be attributed to the Second Amendment of the Constitution, which states that citizens have the right to bear arms. Consequently, gun control has become a highly partisan issue in the U.S., with 80 percent of Democrats believing that it was more important to limit gun ownership while 74 percent of Republicans felt that it was more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns.

The Balkan countries Montenegro and Albania have the highest murder rates with cases involving firearms in Europe. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Sweden came third. The Scandinavian country has seen increasing levels of gang-related violence in recent years.

In 2022, there were 48,204 fatalities caused by injuries related to firearms in the United States, a slight decrease from the previous year. In 2021, there were 48,830 firearm deaths, the highest number of gun deaths ever recorded in the country. However, this figure has remained relatively high over the past 25 years, with 37,155 firearm deaths in 1990, and a slight dip in fatalities between 1999 and 2002. Firearms in the United States The right to own firearms in the United States is enshrined in the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and while this right may be seen as quintessentially American, the relationship between Americans and their firearms has become fraught in the last few years. The proliferation of mass shootings in the U.S. has brought the topic of gun control into the national spotlight, with support for banning assault-style weapons a particularly divisive issue among Americans. Gun control With a little less than half of all Americans owning at least one firearm and the highest rate of civilian gun ownership in the world, it is easy to see how the idea of gun control is a political minefield in the U.S. However, public opinion has begun to shift over the past ten years, and a majority of Americans report that laws governing the sale of firearms should be stricter than they are now.

THIS DATASET WAS LAST UPDATED AT 8:10 PM EASTERN ON MARCH 24

OVERVIEW

2019 had the most mass killings since at least the 1970s, according to the Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University Mass Killings Database.

In all, there were 45 mass killings, defined as when four or more people are killed excluding the perpetrator. Of those, 33 were mass shootings . This summer was especially violent, with three high-profile public mass shootings occurring in the span of just four weeks, leaving 38 killed and 66 injured.

A total of 229 people died in mass killings in 2019.

The AP's analysis found that more than 50% of the incidents were family annihilations, which is similar to prior years. Although they are far less common, the 9 public mass shootings during the year were the most deadly type of mass murder, resulting in 73 people's deaths, not including the assailants.

One-third of the offenders died at the scene of the killing or soon after, half from suicides.

About this Dataset

The Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University Mass Killings database tracks all U.S. homicides since 2006 involving four or more people killed (not including the offender) over a short period of time (24 hours) regardless of weapon, location, victim-offender relationship or motive. The database includes information on these and other characteristics concerning the incidents, offenders, and victims.

The AP/USA TODAY/Northeastern database represents the most complete tracking of mass murders by the above definition currently available. Other efforts, such as the Gun Violence Archive or Everytown for Gun Safety may include events that do not meet our criteria, but a review of these sites and others indicates that this database contains every event that matches the definition, including some not tracked by other organizations.

This data will be updated periodically and can be used as an ongoing resource to help cover these events.

Using this Dataset

To get basic counts of incidents of mass killings and mass shootings by year nationwide, use these queries:

Mass killings by year

Mass shootings by year

To get these counts just for your state:

Filter killings by state

Definition of "mass murder"

Mass murder is defined as the intentional killing of four or more victims by any means within a 24-hour period, excluding the deaths of unborn children and the offender(s). The standard of four or more dead was initially set by the FBI.

This definition does not exclude cases based on method (e.g., shootings only), type or motivation (e.g., public only), victim-offender relationship (e.g., strangers only), or number of locations (e.g., one). The time frame of 24 hours was chosen to eliminate conflation with spree killers, who kill multiple victims in quick succession in different locations or incidents, and to satisfy the traditional requirement of occurring in a “single incident.”

Offenders who commit mass murder during a spree (before or after committing additional homicides) are included in the database, and all victims within seven days of the mass murder are included in the victim count. Negligent homicides related to driving under the influence or accidental fires are excluded due to the lack of offender intent. Only incidents occurring within the 50 states and Washington D.C. are considered.

Methodology

Project researchers first identified potential incidents using the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR). Homicide incidents in the SHR were flagged as potential mass murder cases if four or more victims were reported on the same record, and the type of death was murder or non-negligent manslaughter.

Cases were subsequently verified utilizing media accounts, court documents, academic journal articles, books, and local law enforcement records obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Each data point was corroborated by multiple sources, which were compiled into a single document to assess the quality of information.

In case(s) of contradiction among sources, official law enforcement or court records were used, when available, followed by the most recent media or academic source.

Case information was subsequently compared with every other known mass murder database to ensure reliability and validity. Incidents listed in the SHR that could not be independently verified were excluded from the database.

Project researchers also conducted extensive searches for incidents not reported in the SHR during the time period, utilizing internet search engines, Lexis-Nexis, and Newspapers.com. Search terms include: [number] dead, [number] killed, [number] slain, [number] murdered, [number] homicide, mass murder, mass shooting, massacre, rampage, family killing, familicide, and arson murder. Offender, victim, and location names were also directly searched when available.

This project started at USA TODAY in 2012.

Contacts

Contact AP Data Editor Justin Myers with questions, suggestions or comments about this dataset at jmyers@ap.org. The Northeastern University researcher working with AP and USA TODAY is Professor James Alan Fox, who can be reached at j.fox@northeastern.edu or 617-416-4400.

Saint Kitts and Nevis saw a murder rate of 65 per 100,000 inhabitants, making it the most dangerous country for this kind of crime worldwide as of 2023. Interestingly, El Salvador, which long had the highest global homicide rates, has dropped out of the top 20 after a high number of gang members have been incarcerated. Meanwhile, Celaya in Mexico was the most dangerous city for murders. Violent conflicts worldwide Notably, these figures do not include deaths that resulted from war or a violent conflict. While there is a persistent number of conflicts worldwide, resulting casualties are not considered murders. Partially due to this reason, homicide rates in Latin America are higher than those in Afghanistan or Syria. A different definition of murder in these circumstances could change the rate significantly in some countries. Causes of death Also noteworthy is that murders are usually not random events. In the United States, the circumstances of murders are most commonly arguments, followed by narcotics incidents and robberies. Additionally, murders are not a leading cause of death. Heart diseases, strokes and cancer pose a greater threat to life than violent crime.

From 2013 to 2019, the United States had a gun homicide rate of 4.38 per 100,000 residents, the most out of any other G7 country. In comparison, Canada had a gun homicide rate of 0.67 per 100,000 residents while France had a gun homicide rate of 0.4 per 100,000 residents.

In recent years there has been an increase in the rate of firearm-related deaths in the United States. In 2021, there were 14.7 such deaths per 100,000 population. This is the highest rate seen since the early 1990s. Firearm deaths Firearm-related deaths are much more common among males than females, with almost 81,000 firearm deaths among males in the United States in 2021, compared to just 13,200 among females. Those aged 25 to 34 years are the age group with the highest number of deaths from firearms, followed by those aged 15 to 24. The states with the highest mortality rates from firearms are Mississippi, Louisiana, and Wyoming. Firearm suicides The use of firearms is one of the most common methods for suicide in the United States. Around 60 percent of male suicides and 35 percent of female suicides are conducted by firearms. In 2020, there were a total of 24,292 suicide deaths from firearms. Suicide is currently the 11th leading cause of death in the United States.

As of 2022, the U.S. states with the highest death rates from suicide were Montana, Alaska, and Wyoming. In Wyoming and Montana, there were around 29 and 28 suicide deaths per 100,000 population, respectively. In comparison, in New Jersey, the state with the lowest suicide death rate, there were only around eight suicide deaths per 100,000 population. Differences in suicide rates by gender In the United States, there is a vast difference in suicide rates between men and women, with rates over 3.5 times higher among men. However, rates of suicide for both men and women have increased over the past couple of decades. Among men, those aged 75 years and older have the highest suicide rates, with around 42 deaths per 100,000 population in 2021. Among women, those aged 45 to 64 years have the highest rates of suicide death with 8.2 deaths per 100,000 population. What is the most common method of suicide? In the United States, the most common method of suicide is with firearms, followed by suffocation and then poisoning. In 2022, there were around 27,032 suicide deaths from firearms in the United States, compared to 12,247 deaths from suffocation and 4,894 from drug poisoning. In 2021, firearms accounted for around 60 percent of suicide deaths among men. In comparison, around 35 percent of deaths from suicide among women were due to firearms, while suffocation and poisoning each accounted for 28 percent of such deaths.

Handguns are by far the most common murder weapon used in the United States, accounting for 7,159 homicides in 2023. This is followed by firearms of an unstated type, with 5,295 cases in that year. Why do murders happen in the U.S.? While most of the time the circumstances of murders in the U.S. remain unknown, homicides due to narcotics come in as the second most common circumstance – making them more common than, for example, gang killings. Despite these gruesome facts, the violent crime rate has fallen significantly since 1990, and the United States is much safer than it was in the 1980s and 1990s. Knife crime vs disease: Leading causes of death The death rate in the U.S. had hovered around the same level since 1990 until there was a large increase due to the COVID-19 pandemic in recent years. Heart disease, cancer, and accidents were the three leading causes of death in the country in 2022. The rate of death from heart disease is significantly higher than the homicide rate in the United States, at 167.2 deaths per 100,000 population compared to a 5.7 homicides per 100,000. Given just 1,562 murders were caused by knife crime, it is fair to say that heart disease is a far bigger killer in the U.S.

Montana was the state with the highest rate of suicidal death among adolescents in the U.S. in 2022, with around 39 deaths per 100,000 adolescents. The overall suicide rate in the U.S. has increased over recent years. Suicide is more common among men than women with rates among men over three times higher than among women. Risk factors Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorder, and personality disorders, as well as substance abuse. In fact, suicidal thoughts, plans to commit suicide, and suicide attempts are all more common among those with drug or alcohol dependence or abuse. In terms of suicides due to a known mental disorder, depression accounts for around 72 percent of all such suicides. Methods Most suicides in the United States are carried out by firearms, however, the most common method of suicide differs from country to country. In 2022, over 27,000 suicides in the United States were conducted by firearms, or just over half of all suicides that year. Firearms are the most common means of suicide among both men and women in the United States, but suicide by poisoning is much more common among women than men.

In the United States, Black people have higher rates of gun homicide than White people across all age groups. As of 2022, gun homicide rates were highest among Black people aged between 15 and 24 years, at 63.78 gun homicides per 100,000 of the population. In comparison, there were only 2.58 gun homicides per 100,000 of the White population within this age range. However, the risk for gun homicide was greatest among all adolescents and adults between the ages of 15 to 44 in that year. The impact of guns on young Americans In the last few years, firearms have become the leading cause of death for American children and teenagers aged one to 19 years old, accounting for more deaths than car crashes and diseases. School shootings also remain on the rise recently, with the U.S. recording 57 times as many school shootings than other high-income nations from 2009 to 2018. Black students in particular experience a disproportionately high number of school shootings relative to their population, and K-12 teachers at schools made up mostly of students of color are more likely to report feeling afraid that they or their students would be a victim of attack or harm. The right to bear arms Despite increasingly high rates of gun-related violence, gun ownership remains a significant part of American culture, largely due to the fact that the right to bear arms is written into the U.S. Constitution. Although firearms are the most common murder weapon used in the U.S., accounting for approximately 15,000 homicides in 2022, almost half of American households have at least one firearm in their possession. Consequently, it is evident that firearms remain easily accessible nationwide, even though gun laws may vary from state to state. However, the topic of gun control still causes political controversy, as the majority of Republicans agree that it is more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns, while Democrats are more inclined to believe that it is more important to limit gun ownership.

In 2023, nine cases of incidents involving the discharge of firearms were reported in Japan. Although figures fluctuated from year to year, this continued a general downward trend after the decade-high number of 32 gun shooting incidents reported in 2014. Seven people died from gun shooting incidents that year. Gun control Gun possession for general citizens in Japan is strictly regulated under the Act for Controlling the Possession of Firearms or Swords and Other Such Weapons enacted in 1958. According to the act, gun possession is only allowed for hunting and shooting sports purposes. The only firearms permitted for ownership are hunting rifles, shotguns, other hunting guns, and air guns. It is required to undergo numerous procedures to obtain a gun permit, such as providing a resume and a medical certificate from a psychiatrist, attending classroom lectures and technical training, and passing exams. Applicants must repeat similar procedures every three years to renew the permit. As of 2022, about 183.5 thousand guns were owned with licenses among citizens across the country. The number of confiscated weapons in 2022 amounted to 321 pistols, 35 hunting guns, and 10 air guns. Killing of Shinzo Abe Ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history, was shot and killed in July 2022. The incident marked the first assassination of a former Japanese prime minister since 1936. The suspect used a homemade gun created with DIY store materials. Following the incident, experts suggest tightening the security system for politicians and regulations for handmade or modified guns.

Since the 1950s, the suicide rate in the United States has been significantly higher among men than women. In 2022, the suicide rate among men was almost four times higher than that of women. However, the rate of suicide for both men and women has increased gradually over the past couple of decades. Facts on suicide in the United States In 2022, the rate of suicide death in the United States was around 14 per 100,000 population. The suicide rate in the U.S. has generally increased since the year 2000, with the highest rates ever recorded in the years 2018 and 2022. In the United States, death rates from suicide are highest among those aged 45 to 64 years and lowest among younger adults aged 15 to 24. The states with the highest rates of suicide are Montana, Alaska, and Wyoming, while New Jersey and Massachusetts have the lowest rates. Suicide among men In 2023, around 4.5 percent of men in the United States reported having serious thoughts of suicide in the past year. Although this rate is lower than that of women, men still have a higher rate of suicide death than women. One reason for this may have to do with the method of suicide. Although firearms account for the largest share of suicide deaths among both men and women, firearms account for almost 60 percent of all suicides among men and just 35 percent among women. Suffocation and poisoning are the other most common methods of suicide among women, with the chances of surviving a suicide attempt from these methods being much higher than surviving an attempt by firearm. The age group with the highest rate of suicide death among men is by far those aged 75 years and over.

In 2019, there were six deaths by homicide per 100,000 of the population in the United States, compared to 5.9 deaths by homicide in the previous year. This is an increase from 1950, when there were 5.1 deaths by homicide per 100,000 resident population in the United States. However, within the provided time period, the death rate for homicide in the U.S. was highest in 1980, when there were 10.4 deaths by homicide per 100,000 of the population in the United States.

Homicides in the United States

The term homicide is used when a human being is killed by another human being. Criminal homicide takes several forms, for example murder; but homicide is not always a crime, it also includes affirmative defense, insanity, self-defense or the execution of convicted criminals. In the United States, youth homicide has especially been seen as a problem of urban areas, due to poverty, limited adult supervision, involvement in drug and gang activities, and school failure. Both homicide rates and suicide rates in the U.S. among people aged 20 to 24 and teenagers aged 15 to 19 have vastly increased since 2001.

Among men in the United States, those aged 75 years and older have the highest death rate from suicide among all age groups. In 2022, the suicide death rate among men aged 75 years and older was 43.9 per 100,000 population. In comparison, the death rate from suicide among men aged 25 to 44 years was 29.6 per 100,000. Suicide is a significant problem in the United States, with rates increasing over the past decade. Suicide among men In the United States, the suicide rate among men is almost four times higher than that of women. In 2022, the rate of suicide among U.S. men was 23 per 100,000 population, the highest rate recorded over the past 70 years. Firearms account for the vast majority of suicide deaths among men, accounting for around 60 percent of male suicides in 2021. The reasons why U.S. men have higher rates of suicide than women are complex and not fully understood, but may have to do with the more violent means by which men carry out suicide and the stigma around seeking help for mental health issues. Suicide among women Although the suicide rate among women in the U.S. is significantly lower than that of men, the rate of suicide among women has increased over the past couple of decades. Among women, those aged 45 to 64 years have the highest death rates due to suicide, followed by women 25 to 44 years old. Interestingly, the share of women reporting serious thoughts of suicide in the past year is higher than that of men, with around 5.5 percent of U.S. women reporting such thoughts in 2023. Similarly to men, firearms account for most suicide deaths among women, however suffocation and poisoning account for a significant share of suicides among women. In 2021, around 35 percent of suicides among women were carried out by firearms, while suffocation and poisoning each accounted for around 28 percent of suicide deaths.

The suicide rate among females in the United States is highest for those aged 45 to 64 years and lowest among girls aged 10 to 14 and elderly women 75 and over. Although the suicide rate among women remains over three times lower than that of men, rates of suicide among women have gradually increased over the past couple decades. Suicide among women in the United States In 2021, there were around six suicide deaths per 100,000 women in the United States. In comparison, the rate of suicide among women in the year 2000 was about four per 100,000. Suicide rates among women are by far the highest among American Indians or Alaska Natives and lowest among Hispanic and Black or African American women. Although firearms are involved in the highest share of suicide deaths among both men and women, they account for a much smaller share among women. In 2020, the firearm suicide rate among women was 1.8 per 100,000 population, while the rates of suicide for suffocation and poisoning were 1.7 and 1.5 per 100,000, respectively. Suicidal ideation among women Although not everyone who experiences suicidal ideation, or suicidal thoughts, will attempt suicide, suicidal thoughts are a risk factor for suicide. In 2022, just over five percent of women in the United States reported having serious thoughts of suicide in the past year. Suicidal thoughts are more common among women than men even though men have much higher rates of death from suicide than women. This is because men are more likely to use more lethal methods of suicide such as firearms. Women who suffer from substance use disorder are significantly more likely to have serious thoughts of suicide than women without substance use disorder.

Sadly, the trend of fatal police shootings in the United States seems to only be increasing, with a total 1,173 civilians having been shot, 248 of whom were Black, as of December 2024. In 2023, there were 1,164 fatal police shootings. Additionally, the rate of fatal police shootings among Black Americans was much higher than that for any other ethnicity, standing at 6.1 fatal shootings per million of the population per year between 2015 and 2024. Police brutality in the U.S. In recent years, particularly since the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, police brutality has become a hot button issue in the United States. The number of homicides committed by police in the United States is often compared to those in countries such as England, where the number is significantly lower. Black Lives Matter The Black Lives Matter Movement, formed in 2013, has been a vocal part of the movement against police brutality in the U.S. by organizing “die-ins”, marches, and demonstrations in response to the killings of black men and women by police. While Black Lives Matter has become a controversial movement within the U.S., it has brought more attention to the number and frequency of police shootings of civilians.

The number of homicides with firearms has been increasing in Brazil throughout the years up until 2017. In that year, approximately 47.51 thousand murders were committed with guns in the South American country, up from around 44.48 thousand homicides recorded a year earlier. However, by 2022 it had decreased to over 33,000

The rate of civilians killed by police in the United States is far higher than in comparable developed democratic countries, with 33.5 people killed by police per 10 million residents in 2019. This compares 9.8 deaths per 10 million residents in Canada, and 8.5 in Australia - perhaps the two most comparable countries to the United States in many respects.

Country with the most prisoners The United States is the country with the largest number of prisoners per capita. This suggests either that they have the most criminals, or that the police make more arrests and judges hand down jail as a more frequent punishment. Again, the evidence is mixed, but home invasions are less common there. New Zealand has the highest burglary rate, seeing over three times as many break-ins as in the United States, for example.

Does weapon ownership contribute to higher number of violent attacks? Other factors may also be at play. One such factor may be gun ownership. If police shootings are more likely to happen in states with a higher number of registered weapons, one could argue that the threat of violence against police makes officers more likely to utilize deadly force. However, countries like Canada also have a high number of individual firearms licenses, indicating that this factor likely does not explain the entire effect. Social factors may also influence this statistic, such as the use of the death penalty. Still, each fatal incident is complex, and the full situation surrounding each involves many factors, meaning that a simple solution is unlikely.

The homicide rate in Russia reached 3.2 homicides per 100,000 population in 2023. The indicator has declined steadily since 2002, when it was measured at 30.7 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. Over the years observed, the highest rate was recorded at 32.6 homicides per 100,000 persons in 1994. Homicide in Russia The significant decrease in intentional homicides characterizes the general reduction in crime in Russia since the 1990s. However, murder remains one of the major causes of death in the country. In total, over 7,600 homicides and attempted homicides were recorded in Russia in 2022. Victims of homicide The number of male victims of homicide per 100,000 inhabitants in Russia was approximately three times higher than the murder rate of women. A United Nations study showed that while most people who were killed around the globe were men, women were most likely to be murdered by their partners, ex-partners, and family members.