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Gun Control

Statistics on gun violence, suggestions for gun control

On this page, the Prison Policy Initiative has curated all of the research about gun control that we know of. For research on other criminal justice topics, see our Research Library homepage.


  • Evaluating Firearm Violence After New Jersey's Cash Bail Reform Jaquelyn L. Jahn, Jessica T. Simes, & Jonathan Jay, May, 2024“Although New Jersey's pretrial detention population dramatically decreased under bail reform, the study did not find evidence of increases in overall firearm mortality or gun violence, or within racialized groups during the postpolicy period.”
  • Coordinating Safety: Building and Sustaining Offices of Violence Prevention and Neighborhood Safety Vera Institute of Justice, November, 2023“Most offices of violence prevention or neighborhood safety focus specifically on community and gun violence, with a smaller number also focusing on other forms of interpersonal violence.”
  • U.S. Youth Attitudes on Guns American University's Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL), July, 2023“59% of participants agreed that gun safety laws should be stricter. Yet about 40% of youth reported at least "somewhat easy" access to a gun, with 21% reporting "very easy" access to a gun.”
  • Analysis of "Stand Your Ground" Self-defense Laws and Statewide Rates of Homicides and Firearm Homicides Michelle Degli Esposti et al, February, 2022“[Stand-your-ground] laws were associated with an 8% to 11% national increase in monthly rates of homicide and firearm homicide. State-level increases in homicide and firearm homicide rates reached 10% or higher for many Southern states.”
  • Criminal Justice Solutions: Model State Legislation Brennan Center for Justice, December, 2018“This report offers state lawmakers model legislation based on smart, bold policy solutions that would keep crime low while reducing mass incarceration.”
  • What Do We Know About the Association Between Firearm Legislation and Firearm-Related Injuries? Epidemiologic Reviews, February, 2016“Evidence from 130 studies in 10 countries suggests that in certain nations the simultaneous implementation of laws targeting multiple firearms restrictions is associated with reductions in firearm deaths.”
  • State Firearm Legislation and Nonfatal Firearm Injuries American Journal of Public Health, August, 2015“There is significant variation in state-level hospital discharge rates for nonfatal firearm injuries, and stricter state firearm legislation is associated with lower discharge rates for such injuries.”
  • Contagion in Mass Killings and School Shootings PLoS ONE, July, 2015“We find significant evidence that mass killings involving firearms are incented by similar events in the immediate past. On average, this temporary increase in probability lasts 13 days.”
  • The Role of Gun Supply in 1980s and 1990s Youth Violence Alan Bartley & Geoffrey Fain Williams, June, 2015(This report documents that the positive supply shock increased the availability of guns to criminally active youth and led to higher rates of gun access for young black men.)
  • Firearm Violence Among High-Risk Emergency Department Youth After an Assault Injury Pediatrics, May, 2015“High-risk youth presenting to urban emergency departments for assault have elevated rates of subsequent firearm violence.”
  • Effects of Policies Designed to Keep Firearms from High-Risk Individuals Annual Review of Public Health, March, 2015“Some prohibitions for high-risk individuals (e.g., those under domestic violence restraining orders, violent misdemeanants) and procedures for checking for more types of prohibiting conditions are associated with lower rates of violence.”
  • National Gunfire Index SST, March, 2015(All but two of the 28 cities saw reductions in their rates of gunfire.)
  • Firearms and the incidence of arrest among respondents to domestic violence restraining orders Injury Epidemiology, 2015“Respondents linked to firearms were older than others and were more likely to have a history of prior arrest. The incidence of arrest was 20.6 % for respondents linked to firearms and 21.1 % for others.”
  • Background Checks For Firearm Transfers, 2012 - Statistical Tables Bureau of Justice Statistics, December, 2014“Since the inception of the Brady Act on March 1, 1994, through December 31, 2012, nearly 148 million applications for firearm transfers or permits were subject to background checks. More than 2.4 million applications (1.6%) were denied (table 1).”
  • Gun Possession among American Youth: A Discovery-Based Approach to Understand Gun Violence PLOS ONE, November, 2014“We identified more than 40 behavioral factors, including heroin use, using snuff on school property, having been injured in a fight, and having been a victim of sexual violence, that have and continue to be strongly associated with gun possession.”
  • The Impact of Right to Carry Laws and the NRC Report: The Latest Lessons for the Empirical Evaluation of Law and Policy Stanford Law School, September, 2014“The strongest evidence of a statistically significant effect would be for aggravated assault, with 11 of 28 estimates suggesting that RTC laws increase this crime at the .10 confidence level.”
  • State Variation in Hospital Use and Cost of Firearm Assault Injury, 2010 Urban Institute, August, 2014(Hospital use for firearm-assault injury is disproportionately concentrated among young males, particularly young black males, in all six study states.)
  • Strategies for Reducing Gun Violence in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts A Report to Speaker of the House of Representatives Robert DeLeo Committee to Reduce Firearm Violence, February, 2014“Massachusetts already has some of the strongest gun laws in the nation. For example, over the last few years the Brady Center ranked Massachusetts 3rd among US states in terms of strength of our gun laws.”
  • Reducing Gun Violence in America Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis Center for Gun Policy and Research, February, 2014“Unless we take action, during... four years some 48,000 Americans will be killed with guns - nearly twice as many people as were killed in combat during the entire Vietnam War.”
  • The Hospital Cost of Firearms Urban Institute, September, 2013“Young males (age 15–24) are the most common firearm assault victims, visiting the ED almost seven times more than the national average.”
  • The Relationship Between Gun Ownership and Firearm Homicide Rates in the US 1981-2010 American Journal of Public Health, September, 2013“..we found that states with higher levels of gun ownership had disproportionately large numbers of deaths from firearm-related homicides.”
  • Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence Institute of Medicine, June, 2013“The complexity and frequency of firearm violence, combined with its impact on the health and safety of Americans, suggest that a public health approach should be incorporated into the strategies used to prevent future harm and injuries.”
  • Firearm Violence, 1993-2011 Bureau of Justice Statistics, May, 2013“Nonfatal firearm crimes declined 69%, from 1.5 million victimizations in 1993 to 467,300 victimizations in 2011.”
  • Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak; Public Unaware: Pace of Decline Slows in Past Decade Pew Research Center, May, 2013“Compared with '93, the peak of U.S. gun homicides, the gun homicide rate was 49% lower in 2010, and there were fewer deaths, even though the nation's population grew. 56% of Americans believe gun crime is higher than in '93, only 12% think it is lower.”
  • The Cost of Firearm Violence Children's Safety Network, 2013“PIRE researcher Ted Miller estimates annual firearm injury costs average $645 per gun in America.”
  • Firearms Stolen during Household Burglaries and Other Property Crimes, 2005-2010 Bureau of Justice Statistics, November, 2012“On average, firearms were stolen in an annual average of about 4% of the 2.4 million burglaries occurring each year, in 2% of the 529,200 robberies, and in less than 1% of the 13.6 million other crimes involving theft from 2005 through 2010.”
  • Does Strengthening Self-Defense Law Deter Crime or Escalate Violence? Evidence from Castle Doctrine Texas A&M University, June, 2012“[R]esults indicate that castle doctrine laws increase total homicides by around 8 percent. Put differently, the laws induce an additional 600 homicides per year across the 21 states in our sample that enacted castle doctrine laws.”
  • Federal Firearms Cases, FY 2008 Ronald J. Frandsen, Michael N. Bowling, Ph.D., January, 2010“The mean prison sentence for defendants convicted in FY2008 and FY2007 pursuant to the Gun Control Act of 1968 was 90 months.”
  • Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 2005 Bureau of Justice Statistics, November, 2006“The Firearm Inquiry Statistics Program is an ongoing data collection effort focusing on the procedures and statistics related to background checks in selected States.”
  • Survey of State Procedures Related to Firearm Transfers, 2005 Bureau of Justice Statistics, November, 2006“The report summarizes issues about State procedures, including persons prohibited from purchasing firearms, restoration of rights of purchase to prohibited persons, permits, prohibited firearms, waiting periods, fees, and appeals.”
  • Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 2004 Bureau of Justice Statistics, October, 2005
  • Survey of State Procedures Related to Firearm Sales, Midyear 2004 Bureau of Justice Statistics, July, 2005
  • Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 2003: Trends for the Permanent Brady Period, 1999-2003 Bureau of Justice Statistics, September, 2004
  • Background Checks for Firearm Transfer, 2002 Bureau of Justice Statistics, September, 2003
  • Weapon Use and Violent Crime, 1993-2001 Bureau of Justice Statistics, September, 2003
  • Survey of State Procedures Related to Firearm Sales, Midyear 2002 Bureau of Justice Statistics, April, 2003
  • Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 2001 Bureau of Justice Statistics, September, 2002
  • Survey of State Procedures Related to Firearm Sales, Midyear 2001 Bureau of Justice Statistics, April, 2002
  • Firearm Use by Offenders Bureau of Justice Statistics, November, 2001“18% of state prisoners committed their crimes while armed”(Topics of this BJS Special Report include types of firearms used, characteristics of inmates using firearms, why and where inmates used their firearms, and where they obtained their firearms)
  • Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 2000 Bureau of Justice Statistics, July, 2001
  • Firearm Injury and Death from Crime, 1993-97, Bureau of Justice Statistics, October, 2000“Firearms assault injuries and murders fell between 1993 and 1997”
  • Federal Firearm Offenders, 1992-98: With Preliminary Data for 1999 Bureau of Justice Statistics, June, 2000
  • Presale Handgun Checks, the Brady Interim Period, 1994-98 Bureau of Justice Statistics, June, 1999
  • Presale Handgun Checks, 1996 Bureau of Justice Statistics, September, 1997“Overall, 2.7% of all handgun purchases had their application for purchase rejected during 1996. About 68% of the rejections were for a prior felony conviction or a current felony indictment.”
  • Firearm Injury from Crime: Firearms, Crime, and Criminal Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, April, 1996
  • Weapons Offenses and Offenders--Firearms, Crime, and Criminal Justice: Selected Findings Bureau of Justice Statistics, November, 1995
  • Federal Firearms-Related Offenses: Federal Offenses and Offenders Bureau of Justice Statistics, July, 1995(Notes the association between firearms involvement and an increased severity of sentence)
  • Guns Used in Crime: Firearms, Crime, and Criminal Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, July, 1995
  • Guns and Crime: Handgun Victimization, Firearm Self-Defense, and Firearm Theft Bureau of Justice Statistics, April, 1994
  • Firearms and Crimes of Violence Bureau of Justice Statistics, February, 1994“trends in firearm use in serious violent crime, based on FBI data on homicide, BJS data on victimization and inmate firearm use, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data on firearm ownership by high school students.”

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