• One in three people in the U.S. know someone who has been shot.1
  • On average, 32 Americans are murdered with guns every day and 140 are treated for a gun assault in an emergency room.2
  • Every day on average, 51 people kill themselves with a firearm, and 45 people are shot or killed in an accident with a gun.3
  • The U.S. firearm homicide rate is 20 times higher than the combined rates of 22 countries that are our peers in wealth and population.4
  • A gun in the home is 22 times more likely to be used to kill or injure in a domestic homicide, suicide, or unintentional shooting than to be used in self-defense 

Gun Violence Takes a Massive Toll on American Children

  • More than one in five U.S. teenagers (ages 14 to 17) report having witnessed a shooting.6
  • An average of eight children and teens under the age of 20 are killed by guns every day.7
  • American children die by guns 11 times as often as children in other high-income countries.8
  • Youth (ages 0 to 19) in the most rural U.S. counties are as likely to die from a gunshot as those living in the most urban counties. Rural children die of more gun suicides and unintentional shooting deaths. Urban children die more often of gun homicides.9
  • Firearm homicide is the second-leading cause of death (after motor vehicle crashes) for young people ages 1-19 in the U.S.10
  • In 2007, more pre-school-aged children (85) were killed by guns than police officers were killed in the line of duty.11

Gun Violence is a Drain on U.S. Taxpayers

  • Medical treatment, criminal justice proceedings, new security precautions, and reductions in quality of life are estimated to cost U.S. citizens $100 billion annually.12
  • The lifetime medical cost for all gun violence victims in the United States is estimated at $2.3 billion, with almost half the costs borne by taxpayers.13
  • Americans Support Universal Background Checks
  • Nine out of 10 Americans agree that we should have universal background checks, including three out of four NRA members.
  • Since the Brady Law was initially passed, about 2 million attempts to purchase firearms have been blocked due to a background check. About half of these blocked attempts were by felons.14
  • Unfortunately, our current background check system only applies to about 60% of gun sales, leaving 40% (online sales, purchases at gun shows, etc.) without a background check.15