In 2023, 13,529 recorded murders in the United States were committed by firearm. This is a decrease from the previous year, when 12,244 homicides were committed with a firearm in the country. However, figures may not accurately reflect the total number of homicides, as not all law enforcement agencies in the U.S. submitted homicide data.

The graph shows the number of gun deaths per year in the United States from 1999 to 2023. The x-axis represents the years, while the y-axis displays the annual count of gun-related fatalities. The data ranges from a low of 28,663 gun deaths in 2000 to a high of 48,830 in 2021. From 1999 to 2014, the numbers remained relatively stable with slight fluctuations. However, gun deaths began increasing significantly after 2015, peaking in 2021 before a slight decline in 2022 and 2023. The graph highlights long-term trends in gun-related fatalities, emphasizing a notable rise in recent years.

In recent years, gun violence in the United States has become an alarmingly common occurrence. From 2016, there has been over ****** 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 **** percent, followed by Louisiana, at **** percent. In comparison, Massachusetts had a gun violence rate of *** 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 ** percent of Democrats believing that it was more important to limit gun ownership while ** percent of Republicans felt that it was more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns.

In 2023, there were ****** fatalities caused by injuries related to firearms in the United States, a slight decrease from the previous year. In 2021, there were ****** 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 ****** 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 **** 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.

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 ***** gun homicides per 100,000 of the population. In comparison, there were only **** 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 ** 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 ****** homicides in 2022, almost **** 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.

The statistic shows the rate of firearm homicide deaths per 100,000 of population in the United States from 1990 to 2020. In 2020, about 5.9 of every 100,000 people were killed by a firearm in the United States.

THIS DATASET WAS LAST UPDATED AT 8:11 PM EASTERN ON JULY 30

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.

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.

The National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) provides states and communities with a clearer understanding of violent deaths to guide local decisions about efforts to prevent violence and helps them track progress over time. To stop violent deaths, we must first understand all the facts. Created in 2002, the NVDRS is a surveillance system that pulls together data on violent deaths in 18 states (see map below), including information about homicides, such as homicides perpetrated by a intimate partner (e.g., boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, husband), child maltreatment (or child abuse) fatalities, suicides, deaths where individuals are killed by law enforcement in the line of duty, unintentional firearm injury deaths, and deaths of undetermined intent. These data are supported by WISQARS, an interactive query system that provides data on injury deaths, violent deaths, and nonfatal injuries.

In 2023, 76.37 percent of homicides were committed by firearm in the United States, compared to 85.7 percent in 2021. This figure has been increasing since 2014, when 63.6 percent of homicides were committed by firearm. Firearms in the United States Firearms in the United States have become a large part of American culture. The Second Amendment of the Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms. This amendment has been cited as a reason why gun control laws should not become stricter. However, many Americans are in favor of stricter gun control laws due to the increase of shootings in the country. Handguns were the most frequently used weapon used on murder victims in 2020, and overall, the United States was the country with the highest rate of civilian-owned firearms. Who owns firearms? Firearms are more popular in certain parts of the United States than others. Texas was the state with the highest number of registered weapons in 2021, with Florida, Virginia, California, and Pennsylvania rounding out the top five. Firearm laws vary from state to state, which means it is easier to obtain a firearm in some states than in others. Gun owners in the United States are typically white, and men are more likely to personally own a gun than women.

Introduction: Firearm legality and ownership have been contentious topics in American culture, due to the well-documented, yet preventable, health and safety risks. States vary in the amount of firearm ownership, as well as firearm mortality and injury rates. Objectives: The primary aim of this project is to compare two states, New Jersey and Texas, on the likelihood of firearm violence occurring to each state's citizens. The variables of gun ownership, firearm mortalities, and firearm injuries are compared and visualized to understand if living in one state is safer than living in the other. Methods: Data analysis focused on connecting and comparing the two states with variables pointing to firearm safety/danger. Line graphs compare the two states and firearm injuries and mortalities over a sixteen-year period as well as number of firearms per state. Scatterplots show a correlation, if any, between number of firearms and injuries/mortalities in the two states. Results: Texas had a consistently higher mortality rate by firearms (excluding suicides) for each year of the seventeen years. Texas also led in firearm injuries from the years 2000-2010, 2012, and 2014-2016, but not in 2011 and 2013. New Jersey consistently has a lower mortality rate (3.5 and under per 100,000) and lower gun ownership (.11 and under per household). Texas’ data has both a higher mortality rate (between 3.8 and 4.8 per 100,000) and a higher gun ownership rate (.34 to .40 per household). With a few exceptions from the years 2011 and 2013, the state data points are clustered to show the relationship between gun ownership and firearm injuries to be high/high for Texas and low/low for New Jersey. Conclusions: From the years 2000-2016 it is, on average, 20% less likely that one will be injured by a firearm and 30% less likely that one will be killed by a firearm if one were to live in New Jersey instead of Texas, causing the conclusion that it is safer to live in New Jersey than in Texas.

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.

This is historical data. The update frequency has been set to "Static Data" and is here for historic value. Updated on 8/14/2024 Drug-Induced Death Rate - This indicator shows the drug-induced death rate per 100,000 population. Drug-induced deaths include all deaths for which illicit or prescription drugs are the underlying cause. In 2007, drug-induced deaths were more common than alcohol-induced or firearm-related deaths in the United States. Between 2012-2014, there were 2793 drug-induced deaths in Maryland. Link to Data Details

This dataset reflects reported incidents of crime that have occurred in the City of Chicago over the past year, minus the most recent seven days of data. Data is extracted from the Chicago Police Department's CLEAR (Citizen Law Enforcement Analysis and Reporting) system. In order to protect the privacy of crime victims, addresses are shown at the block level only and specific locations are not identified. Should you have questions about this dataset, you may contact the Research & Development Division of the Chicago Police Department at 312.745.6071 or RandD@chicagopolice.org. Disclaimer: These crimes may be based upon preliminary information supplied to the Police Department by the reporting parties that have not been verified. The preliminary crime classifications may be changed at a later date based upon additional investigation and there is always the possibility of mechanical or human error. Therefore, the Chicago Police Department does not guarantee (either expressed or implied) the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or correct sequencing of the information and the information should not be used for comparison purposes over time. The Chicago Police Department will not be responsible for any error or omission, or for the use of, or the results obtained from the use of this information. All data visualizations on maps should be considered approximate and attempts to derive specific addresses are strictly prohibited.

The Chicago Police Department is not responsible for the content of any off-site pages that are referenced by or that reference this web page other than an official City of Chicago or Chicago Police Department web page. The user specifically acknowledges that the Chicago Police Department is not responsible for any defamatory, offensive, misleading, or illegal conduct of other users, links, or third parties and that the risk of injury from the foregoing rests entirely with the user. Any use of the information for commercial purposes is strictly prohibited. The unauthorized use of the words "Chicago Police Department," "Chicago Police," or any colorable imitation of these words or the unauthorized use of the Chicago Police Department logo is unlawful. This web page does not, in any way, authorize such use. Data is updated daily.

As of September 4, there were two mass shootings in the United States in 2024. This is compared to one mass shooting in 1982, one in 2000, and 12 mass shootings in 2022 and 2023. School shootings The United States sees the most school shootings in the world. Some motivations for school shootings included depression, seeking revenge, and bullying. As a result of the large amount of school shootings, gun control has become a central topic in U.S. politics. This widespread problem happens across the United States; however California saw the highest number of K-12 school shootings in the United States since 1970. However, the deadliest school shooting (as of October 2023) was the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007. This tragedy left 33 dead and 23 injured. Mass shooting issues Mass shootings happen when there are several injuries or deaths from a firearm-related violence. Throughout the last century, mass shootings have become an epidemic in the United States. However, despite the increase in mass shootings and number of casualties, the U.S. government has done little to prevent future shootings from happening. As a result of the lack of cooperation in politics, mass shootings have become an important issue for Generation Z living in the United States. Furthermore, having the right to bear arms is a popular belief in the U.S. and the percentage of households in the United States owning at least one firearm has remained somewhat steady since 1972.

In recent years there has been an increase in the rate of firearm-related deaths in the United States. In 2021, there were **** such deaths per 100,000 population. This is the highest rate seen since the early *****. Firearm deaths Firearm-related deaths are much more common among males than females, with almost ****** firearm deaths among males in the United States in 2021, compared to just ****** 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 ** percent of male suicides and ** percent of female suicides are conducted by firearms. In 2020, there were a total of ****** suicide deaths from firearms. Suicide is currently the **** leading cause of death in the United States.

Number and rate (per 100,000 population) of homicide victims, Canada and Census Metropolitan Areas, 1981 to 2024.

As of March 19, ***** school shootings were recorded in the United States in 2025, impacting K-12 school grounds and college campuses nationwide. In comparison, there were ** school shooting incidents recorded in 2024. In addition to schools, gun-related violence occurs in many public places within the United States, including workplaces, churches, restaurants, and nightclubs. The source defines school shootings as incidents of gun violence which occurred on school property and at least one person was shot, not including the shooter. School property includes, but is not limited to, buildings, fields, parking lots, stadiums and buses. Accidental discharges of firearms are included, as long as at least one person is shot, but not if the sole shooter is law enforcement or school security.

In 2023, the District of Columbia had the highest reported violent crime rate in the United States, with 1,150.9 violent crimes per 100,000 of the population. Maine had the lowest reported violent crime rate, with 102.5 offenses per 100,000 of the population. Life in the District The District of Columbia has seen a fluctuating population over the past few decades. Its population decreased throughout the 1990s, when its crime rate was at its peak, but has been steadily recovering since then. While unemployment in the District has also been falling, it still has had a high poverty rate in recent years. The gentrification of certain areas within Washington, D.C. over the past few years has made the contrast between rich and poor even greater and is also pushing crime out into the Maryland and Virginia suburbs around the District. Law enforcement in the U.S. Crime in the U.S. is trending downwards compared to years past, despite Americans feeling that crime is a problem in their country. In addition, the number of full-time law enforcement officers in the U.S. has increased recently, who, in keeping with the lower rate of crime, have also made fewer arrests than in years past.

As of September 2024, California had the most mass shootings in the United States, with 26 total shootings since 1982. The source defines a mass shooting as a shooting where three or more people were killed. Recently, a mass shooting occurred in the state of Maine on October 26, 2023, during which one of the highest number of fatalities from a mass shooting was recorded after Robert Card opened fire in a bowling alley and a bar, killing 18 and injuring 13 others. Firearms in the U.S. Mass shootings in the United States are disturbingly common. In comparison with other Western countries, there are significantly more shootings in the U.S., which some theorize is due to the relatively lax gun control laws. Gun control laws in the U.S. are dependent on the state, and the right to own a firearm is enshrined in the United States Constitution. Mass shootings The worst mass shooting in the U.S. was the Las Vegas Strip massacre in 2017, which resulted in 58 deaths and 546 injuries. 13 of the worst mass shootings in the United States have occurred since 2015 and the vast majority of these incidents in the U.S. have been carried out by shooters who are White and male.