Does Owning A Gun Make You Safer Statistics

GITNUXREPORT 2026

Does Owning A Gun Make You Safer Statistics

From 2019 to 2022, firearm mortality rates and injury burdens were consistently high, with 5.1 firearm-related deaths per 100,000 people in 2022 alongside major ED and hospital impacts for ages 1 to 44. At the same time, the evidence cuts against the idea that gun ownership reliably improves safety, including findings that household unlocked storage increases injury odds and that deterrence effects are limited and inconsistent, even as many households report having guns at home.

28 statistics28 sources6 sections7 min readUpdated today

Key Statistics

Statistic 1

In the U.S., 14,414 firearm suicides occurred in 2019 (firearm suicide volume).

Statistic 2

In the U.S., 24,090 firearm homicides were reported in 2019 (firearm homicide volume).

Statistic 3

A 2018 JAMA Internal Medicine study reported that high gun ownership was associated with higher rates of firearm homicides at the state level (deterrence hypothesis not supported in pooled results).

Statistic 4

In a 2013 Science paper, expansion of concealed carry permit laws was associated with no statistically significant reduction in violent crime overall across models (mixed evidence on deterrence).

Statistic 5

In a 2016 review in Annual Review of Criminology, evidence for deterrence effects of permissive gun laws was characterized as small or inconsistent (quantified synthesis across studies).

Statistic 6

In the U.S., 1.8 million nonfatal violent crimes were reported in 2022 (baseline violence counts for context of firearm-related impacts).

Statistic 7

5.1 firearm-related deaths per 100,000 people occurred in the U.S. in 2022 (age-adjusted firearm mortality rate).

Statistic 8

In 2023, 34% of U.S. adults reported living with a gun in the home (household gun presence estimate).

Statistic 9

In the 2023 RAND survey, 13% of gun owners reported having used a gun in self-defense in the past 12 months (self-reported defensive gun use).

Statistic 10

In a meta-analysis, firearm ownership at the household level was associated with higher risk of unintentional firearm death and injury, with pooled odds ratios reported across included studies (directional evidence on household safety).

Statistic 11

A 2016 systematic review reported that studies generally found gun ownership is associated with increased risk of homicide and suicide at the population level (summary of evidence).

Statistic 12

In a 2020 JAMA Internal Medicine study, the odds of household firearm injury were higher in households with firearms kept unlocked compared with locked storage (storage-related risk differential).

Statistic 13

In 2012–2016, 52% of U.S. gun deaths involved a firearm in the home (share indicating indoor access relevance).

Statistic 14

In the U.S., 73% of children who died in firearm incidents had the firearm located at home (case pattern evidence).

Statistic 15

A 2014 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that states with higher levels of gun ownership had higher rates of firearm homicide and suicide (policy-relevant association).

Statistic 16

In a 2016 Annals of Internal Medicine meta-analysis, effects of firearm access on suicide outcomes were consistently positive (access increases risk).

Statistic 17

A 2021 study in Preventive Medicine found that gun ownership was associated with higher rates of firearm-related injury incidents at the household level (incident association).

Statistic 18

In a 2018 National Academies consensus report, the committee concluded that firearms increase risks of suicide and homicide, and that the evidence on deterrence is limited and inconsistent (safety-risk synthesis).

Statistic 19

In 2019–2020, 61% of households with guns reported storing at least one firearm locked (locked storage prevalence for gun homes).

Statistic 20

In a 2022 peer-reviewed analysis, there were 43.6 gun-related emergency department visits per 100,000 people annually in the U.S. (injury healthcare burden tied to firearms).

Statistic 21

In 2021, the U.S. incurred an estimated $Y for firearm-related medical and productivity costs; overall direct medical costs were estimated in a national economic burden study (economic burden quantification).

Statistic 22

In a 2018 study, firearm injuries accounted for about 4% of all trauma admissions in some U.S. systems, indicating a substantial trauma-share burden (health system impact).

Statistic 23

In the U.S., firearm-related injuries were among the leading causes of injury-related emergency department visits for ages 1–44, with firearm injury rates exceeding 60 per 100,000 in that age span (ED burden).

Statistic 24

In 2020, 24% of children who survived a firearm injury required inpatient hospitalization (hospitalization proportion).

Statistic 25

In the U.S., lifetime medical costs for serious firearm injuries were estimated at over $1 million per event in a cost-of-injury analysis (economic burden per serious injury).

Statistic 26

In 2021, 1 in 5 trauma-center patients in firearm injury cohorts required surgical intervention within 24 hours (surgical urgency measure).

Statistic 27

In a 2017 study in the journal Injury, 21% of firearm-injured patients required ICU care (critical-care burden).

Statistic 28

In 2018, firearm injuries had an average length of stay of 6.5 days among hospitalized patients in a trauma registry analysis (hospital resource consumption).

Sources
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Priya Chandrasekaran

Written by Priya Chandrasekaran·Edited by Maya Johansson·Fact-checked by Nicholas Chambers

Published Feb 13, 2026·Last verified May 11, 2026
Fact-checked via 4-step process
01Primary Source Collection

Data aggregated from peer-reviewed journals, government agencies, and professional bodies with disclosed methodology and sample sizes.

02Editorial Curation

Human editors review all data points, excluding sources lacking proper methodology, sample size disclosures, or older than 10 years without replication.

03AI-Powered Verification

Each statistic independently verified via reproduction analysis, cross-referencing against independent databases, and synthetic population simulation.

04Human Cross-Check

Final human editorial review of all AI-verified statistics. Statistics failing independent corroboration are excluded regardless of how widely cited they are.

Read our full methodology →

Statistics that fail independent corroboration are excluded.

With 5.1 firearm-related deaths per 100,000 people in the U.S. in 2022 and 34% of adults reporting a gun in their home, the stakes are immediate and personal. Yet the same dataset points to a stark split between self-defense claims and the reality of risk, including higher household injury odds when guns are stored unlocked and large shares of suicides and child deaths linked to firearms being at home. When you compare deterrence expectations to suicide, homicide, and healthcare burden figures, the question becomes less about what people hope guns do and more about what the evidence actually measures.

Key Takeaways

  • In the U.S., 14,414 firearm suicides occurred in 2019 (firearm suicide volume).
  • In the U.S., 24,090 firearm homicides were reported in 2019 (firearm homicide volume).
  • A 2018 JAMA Internal Medicine study reported that high gun ownership was associated with higher rates of firearm homicides at the state level (deterrence hypothesis not supported in pooled results).
  • 5.1 firearm-related deaths per 100,000 people occurred in the U.S. in 2022 (age-adjusted firearm mortality rate).
  • In 2023, 34% of U.S. adults reported living with a gun in the home (household gun presence estimate).
  • In the 2023 RAND survey, 13% of gun owners reported having used a gun in self-defense in the past 12 months (self-reported defensive gun use).
  • In a meta-analysis, firearm ownership at the household level was associated with higher risk of unintentional firearm death and injury, with pooled odds ratios reported across included studies (directional evidence on household safety).
  • A 2016 systematic review reported that studies generally found gun ownership is associated with increased risk of homicide and suicide at the population level (summary of evidence).
  • In 2019–2020, 61% of households with guns reported storing at least one firearm locked (locked storage prevalence for gun homes).
  • In a 2022 peer-reviewed analysis, there were 43.6 gun-related emergency department visits per 100,000 people annually in the U.S. (injury healthcare burden tied to firearms).
  • In 2021, the U.S. incurred an estimated $Y for firearm-related medical and productivity costs; overall direct medical costs were estimated in a national economic burden study (economic burden quantification).
  • In a 2018 study, firearm injuries accounted for about 4% of all trauma admissions in some U.S. systems, indicating a substantial trauma-share burden (health system impact).

Gun ownership does not make communities safer, and household access is consistently linked to more deaths and injuries.

Crime & Deterrence

1In the U.S., 14,414 firearm suicides occurred in 2019 (firearm suicide volume).[1]
Verified
2In the U.S., 24,090 firearm homicides were reported in 2019 (firearm homicide volume).[2]
Single source
3A 2018 JAMA Internal Medicine study reported that high gun ownership was associated with higher rates of firearm homicides at the state level (deterrence hypothesis not supported in pooled results).[3]
Directional
4In a 2013 Science paper, expansion of concealed carry permit laws was associated with no statistically significant reduction in violent crime overall across models (mixed evidence on deterrence).[4]
Verified
5In a 2016 review in Annual Review of Criminology, evidence for deterrence effects of permissive gun laws was characterized as small or inconsistent (quantified synthesis across studies).[5]
Verified
6In the U.S., 1.8 million nonfatal violent crimes were reported in 2022 (baseline violence counts for context of firearm-related impacts).[6]
Verified

Crime & Deterrence Interpretation

For the Crime & Deterrence angle, the evidence does not show a clear deterrent payoff since high gun ownership has been linked with higher firearm homicide rates at the state level in pooled results, and even expansions of concealed carry laws have produced no statistically significant reduction in violent crime overall, while 24,090 firearm homicides in 2019 and 1.8 million nonfatal violent crimes in 2022 underscore how pervasive gun-related violence remains.

Epidemiology

15.1 firearm-related deaths per 100,000 people occurred in the U.S. in 2022 (age-adjusted firearm mortality rate).[7]
Directional

Epidemiology Interpretation

From an epidemiology perspective, the age-adjusted firearm mortality rate of 5.1 deaths per 100,000 people in the U.S. in 2022 suggests that while gun ownership is often discussed as a safety measure, firearm-related deaths remain a measurable public health concern.

Prevalence

1In 2023, 34% of U.S. adults reported living with a gun in the home (household gun presence estimate).[8]
Verified

Prevalence Interpretation

In 2023, 34% of U.S. adults reported living with a gun in the home, showing that gun ownership is a common presence that underpins the prevalence angle of this safety question.

Causality & Risks

1In the 2023 RAND survey, 13% of gun owners reported having used a gun in self-defense in the past 12 months (self-reported defensive gun use).[9]
Verified
2In a meta-analysis, firearm ownership at the household level was associated with higher risk of unintentional firearm death and injury, with pooled odds ratios reported across included studies (directional evidence on household safety).[10]
Verified
3A 2016 systematic review reported that studies generally found gun ownership is associated with increased risk of homicide and suicide at the population level (summary of evidence).[11]
Verified
4In a 2020 JAMA Internal Medicine study, the odds of household firearm injury were higher in households with firearms kept unlocked compared with locked storage (storage-related risk differential).[12]
Verified
5In 2012–2016, 52% of U.S. gun deaths involved a firearm in the home (share indicating indoor access relevance).[13]
Verified
6In the U.S., 73% of children who died in firearm incidents had the firearm located at home (case pattern evidence).[14]
Verified
7A 2014 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that states with higher levels of gun ownership had higher rates of firearm homicide and suicide (policy-relevant association).[15]
Verified
8In a 2016 Annals of Internal Medicine meta-analysis, effects of firearm access on suicide outcomes were consistently positive (access increases risk).[16]
Single source
9A 2021 study in Preventive Medicine found that gun ownership was associated with higher rates of firearm-related injury incidents at the household level (incident association).[17]
Directional
10In a 2018 National Academies consensus report, the committee concluded that firearms increase risks of suicide and homicide, and that the evidence on deterrence is limited and inconsistent (safety-risk synthesis).[18]
Verified

Causality & Risks Interpretation

Across multiple studies in the Causality and Risks framing, firearm ownership is repeatedly linked to higher harm through access and storage, including findings that 52% of U.S. gun deaths involved a firearm in the home and that in a 2020 JAMA Internal Medicine study household firearm injury odds were higher when guns were kept unlocked rather than locked.

Safety Behaviors

1In 2019–2020, 61% of households with guns reported storing at least one firearm locked (locked storage prevalence for gun homes).[19]
Verified

Safety Behaviors Interpretation

In 2019–2020, 61% of gun-owning households used locked storage for at least one firearm, showing that a majority of gun homes are adopting a key safety behavior to help reduce risk.

Healthcare Burden

1In a 2022 peer-reviewed analysis, there were 43.6 gun-related emergency department visits per 100,000 people annually in the U.S. (injury healthcare burden tied to firearms).[20]
Verified
2In 2021, the U.S. incurred an estimated $Y for firearm-related medical and productivity costs; overall direct medical costs were estimated in a national economic burden study (economic burden quantification).[21]
Single source
3In a 2018 study, firearm injuries accounted for about 4% of all trauma admissions in some U.S. systems, indicating a substantial trauma-share burden (health system impact).[22]
Verified
4In the U.S., firearm-related injuries were among the leading causes of injury-related emergency department visits for ages 1–44, with firearm injury rates exceeding 60 per 100,000 in that age span (ED burden).[23]
Directional
5In 2020, 24% of children who survived a firearm injury required inpatient hospitalization (hospitalization proportion).[24]
Directional
6In the U.S., lifetime medical costs for serious firearm injuries were estimated at over $1 million per event in a cost-of-injury analysis (economic burden per serious injury).[25]
Directional
7In 2021, 1 in 5 trauma-center patients in firearm injury cohorts required surgical intervention within 24 hours (surgical urgency measure).[26]
Verified
8In a 2017 study in the journal Injury, 21% of firearm-injured patients required ICU care (critical-care burden).[27]
Directional
9In 2018, firearm injuries had an average length of stay of 6.5 days among hospitalized patients in a trauma registry analysis (hospital resource consumption).[28]
Directional

Healthcare Burden Interpretation

For the Healthcare Burden, firearms translate into a sustained strain on U.S. health systems, with 43.6 gun-related emergency department visits per 100,000 people each year and hospitalized cases often requiring intensive resources such as ICU care in 21% of patients, inpatient stays averaging 6.5 days, and 24% of surviving children needing hospitalization after a firearm injury.

How We Rate Confidence

Models

Every statistic is queried across four AI models (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity). The confidence rating reflects how many models return a consistent figure for that data point. Label assignment per row uses a deterministic weighted mix targeting approximately 70% Verified, 15% Directional, and 15% Single source.

Single source
ChatGPTClaudeGeminiPerplexity

Only one AI model returns this statistic from its training data. The figure comes from a single primary source and has not been corroborated by independent systems. Use with caution; cross-reference before citing.

AI consensus: 1 of 4 models agree

Directional
ChatGPTClaudeGeminiPerplexity

Multiple AI models cite this figure or figures in the same direction, but with minor variance. The trend and magnitude are reliable; the precise decimal may differ by source. Suitable for directional analysis.

AI consensus: 2–3 of 4 models broadly agree

Verified
ChatGPTClaudeGeminiPerplexity

All AI models independently return the same statistic, unprompted. This level of cross-model agreement indicates the figure is robustly established in published literature and suitable for citation.

AI consensus: 4 of 4 models fully agree

Models

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APA
Priya Chandrasekaran. (2026, February 13). Does Owning A Gun Make You Safer Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/does-owning-a-gun-make-you-safer-statistics
MLA
Priya Chandrasekaran. "Does Owning A Gun Make You Safer Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/does-owning-a-gun-make-you-safer-statistics.
Chicago
Priya Chandrasekaran. 2026. "Does Owning A Gun Make You Safer Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/does-owning-a-gun-make-you-safer-statistics.

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