Statistics
Please see below some statistics of firearm ownership, property crime, violent crime and gun violence. Our RACs can contribute to more gun safety in all areas:
- A June 2018 report from the Small Arms Survey estimates that American civilians own 393 million guns, both legally and otherwise.
- According to November 2020 data by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) 19.8 million AR-style weapons and 79.49 million long guns which were produced in the U.S. between 1991-2018. The RAC is an ideal, cost-effective, secure storage and security solution for these long guns which cannot be easily secured with small safes or in cars.
- The U.S. recorded 44,266 gun deaths and 648 mass shootings with four or more injuries in 2022, 690 in 2021, 610 in 2020 and 417 in 2019. (Source: Gun Violence Archive)
- U.S. gun deaths rose to 48,832 (on average more than 133 a day) in 2021, another all-time high (Source: CDC) after 43,681 in 2020 and 39,590 in 2019 (Source: Gun Violence Archive)
- U.S. gun deaths recorded a 5-year average of 37,603 between 2014 and 2018. (Source: CDC)
- Every year, app. 100,000 Americans survive a gunshot wound and many face a life-long process of healing based on average numbers for 2013-2019. (Source: CDC, NCIPC, WISQARS)
- According to the July 14th, 2021 National Firearms Survey, 31.9% or more than 81.4 million Americans aged 18 and over own firearms. 42.2% would be female and 57.8% male. The average gun owner has 5 firearms. The survey finds that 31.1% of gun owners have used a firearm to defend themselves or their property, often on more than one occasion, and it estimates that guns are used defensively by firearms owners in app. 1.67 million incidents per year.
- Since the FBI launched the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NCIS) in November 1998, 443.1 million U.S. NICS firearm background checks were initiated as of December 31st, 2022. The FBI ran a record-breaking 39.7 million background checks in 2020, 38.9 million in 2021 and 31.596 million in 2022, an average of 2.63 million per month and more than 86,500 a day. (Source: www.fbi.gov)
- “Americans bought 19.9 million guns in 2021”, the second-highest year on record after the record-breaking 22.8 million sales in 2020 (Source: Forbes, January 5th, 2022)
- In 2020, U.S. households experienced 12,085,170 property crimes, 4,558,150 violent crimes and 350,460 firearm victimizations. (Source: U.S. BJS October 2021)
- From 2019 to 2020, there were more than 820,000 serious violent crimes involving a weapon. (Source: americanprogress.org)
- 2.194 million U.S. property crimes occurred at a residence/home in 2020. Of the USD 971.3bn total value of goods stolen only 5.6% was recovered. (Source: ValuePenguin July 18th, 2022, based on FBI data)
- Firearms are the second most common item that burglars will take. (Source: Bankrate, Burglary Statistics 2022)
- On average app. 1 gun would be stolen every 90 seconds or around 380,000 every year, many of which are later used to commit violent crimes. (Source: TruckVault, Gun Theft in America)
- Gun homicide rate are 25.2 times higher in the U.S. than in other high-income countries. (Source: CNN)
- Since 1970, the U.S. has suffered more gun deaths (1.45 million, including gun murders, suicides and accidents) than occurred in all the wars in American history - 1.4 million. (Source: Nicolas Kristof, NYT, March 21st, 2019)
- Estimates show that "9.8% of U.S. adults, or nearly 25 million, have experienced nonfatal firearm abuse by an intimate partner". (Source: Adhia A, Lyons VH, Moe CA, Rowhani-Rahbar A, Rivara FP)
- “App. 4.5 million American women alive today have been threatened with a gun by an intimate partner.” and “Nearly one million women alive today have been shot or shot at by an intimate partner.” (Source: Sorenson SB, Schut RA)
- “Every month, an average of 70 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner.” (Source: Everytown, CDC, NVDRS 2019)
- “Access to a gun makes it 5x more likely that an abusive partner will kill his female victim.” (Source: Everytown, Campbell JC. et al.)
- More than 500 people die every day globally because of violence committed with firearms. (Source: armnesty.org)
- Firearms are the leading cause of death for American children and teens.
- Guns killed more children and teens than cancer, pneumonia, influenza, asthma, … and opiods combined.
- Guns became the leading cause of death among children and teens in the U.S. in 2020, killing more people aged 1 to 19 than cancer, pneumonia, influenza, asthma, car crashes, opioids etc.
- In 2020, 4,368 children and teens up to age 19 were killed from guns in the U.S.. (Source: Axios)
- Annually, more than 3,500 children and teens (ages 0 to 19) are shot and killed, and 15,000 are shot and wounded. An estimated 3 million children witness a shooting each year. (Source: Everytown)
- In 2021, in America, a child is shot every hour. (Source: The Washington Post). Other sources say that on average 12 children or teens are killed with a gun and 50 are injured with a gun every day in America. (Source: Everytown, CDC, Children's Defense Fund, Sandy Hook Promise)
- As of June 1st, 2022, about one third of all U.S. homes with children possess guns. An estimated 4.6 million kids live with unlocked, loaded guns.
- Between 2009 and 2020, 1 in 4 mass shooting victims were children and teens.
- For every child or teen fatally shot, another 5 suffered non-fatal gunshot wounds.
- “Fewer than 1 in 3 U.S. homes with youth and firearms follow American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations to store all household firearms locked and unloaded.” (Source: Azrael, J. Cohen, C. Salhi, M. Miller, “Firearm storage in gun-owning Households with Children: Results of a 2015 National Survey,” Journal of Urban Health).
- A child’s curiosity from handling guns that were left unsecured by friends or neighbors has too often led to serious injury or death.
- “The firearm used in suicides comes from the youth’s home in app. 9 of 10 deaths, and from the home of the victim or the victim’s relative or friend in 9 of 10 unintentional firearm deaths. … Moreover, when guns are present in a home with youth, storing all firearms locked as opposed to unlocked, unloaded as opposed to loaded, and storing all ammunition locked and separate from firearms have each been associated with a reduced risk of intentional self-inflicted and unintentional firearm injuries.” (Source: Grossman DC, Reay DT, Baker SA. Self-inflicted and unintentional firearm injuries among children and adolescents: the source of the firearm. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1999;153(8):875-878. doi: 1001/archpedi. 153.8.875)
- 70% of child shooting deaths could have been prevented by responsible firearms storage. (Source: Smart Tech Found)
- "An analysis of school lockdowns in 31 of the nation’s largest cities by The Washington Post found that in the 2017-2018 school year alone, more than 4.1 million American students, including more than 1 million elementary-age children, endured at least one lockdown. These lockdowns were reactions to various threats, such as bombs or police manhunts, but at least 61% of school lockdowns were a result of a shooting or the perceived danger of one. Stress related to gun violence affects student performance and wellbeing in schools." (Source: Everytown, Rich S, Cox JW. School lockdowns: How many American children have hidden from gun violence? The Washington Post. December 26, 2018. https://wapo.st/2F5Mw1T)
- “In Syracuse, NY, test scores were 50% lower in elementary schools located in areas with high concentrations of gunshots than elementary schools in areas with a low concentration of gunshots. When neighborhoods and schools are no longer safe from gun violence, entire generations of American children are impacted.” (Source: Everytown, Bergen-Cico D, Lane SD, Keefe RH. Community gun violence as a social determinant of elementary school achievement.2018)
- “Gun violence continues to financially burden survivors by diminishing wages and productivity. Estimates suggest that productivity loss – the sum of the value of wage and household work lost due to short or long-term disability in the recovery phase – totals an average of USD 28,478 for each survivor of an assault by firearm.” (Source: Everytown. Corso PS, Mercy JA, Simon TR, Finkelstein EA, Miller TR. Medical costs and productivity losses due to interpersonal and self-directed violence in the United States. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2007)
- “These productivity losses do not include additional productivity lost by family, friends, and professionals caring for the injured, as well as time spent investigating, prosecuting, and punishing violent perpetrators.
- One study put the overall societal cost for each gun-related assault at USD 1.2 million. (Source: Everytown. Cook PJ, Ludwig J. The benefits of reducing gun ownership. The Journal of Risk and Uncertainty. 2001)
- Across all suicide attempts not involving a firearm, less than 5% will result in death, but app. 85% of gun suicide attempts end in death. (Source: Everytown: Miller M., Azrael D., Barber C. Suicide mortality in the United States: The importance of attending to method in understanding population-level disparities in the burden of suicide. Annual Review of Public Health. 2012)
- “Access to a gun triples the risk of death by suicide.” (Source: Everytown. Anglemyer A., Horvath T., Rutherford G.. The accessibility of firearms and risk for suicide and homicide victimization among household members. 2014)
- “The U.S. gun suicide rate is 10 times than of other high-income countries.” (Source: Grinshteyn E., Hemenway D. Violent death rates in the U.S. compared to those of the other high-income countries, 2015. Preventive Medicine. 2019)