While Black Americans make up just 13.6% of the population, they tragically accounted for over 60% of firearm homicide victims in 2021, a devastating disparity that forces a critical examination of gun violence through the lens of race.
Key Takeaways
- In 2021, Black Americans accounted for 60.3% of firearm homicide victims despite being 13.6% of the population (CDC data)
- Firearm homicide rate for Black males aged 15-34 in 2021 was 109.6 per 100,000
- In 2020, 89% of Black homicide victims were killed with firearms
- In 2022, 64% of Black gun deaths were homicides
- White Americans accounted for 37.6% of firearm homicide victims in 2021 despite 60% population
- Firearm homicide rate for White males 15-34: 4.5 per 100,000 in 2021
- In 2020, 79% of White homicide victims killed by gun
- Rural White gun homicide victims higher per capita in some areas
- National: Whites 40% homicide victims, often gun
- Appalachia Whites high gun violence rates
- Hispanic/Latino Americans 9.8% of firearm homicide victims 2021 (18% pop)
- Firearm homicide rate Hispanic males 15-34: 9.2 per 100k 2021
- 2020 Hispanic homicide victims 82% by gun
- Asian/Pacific Islander 1.2% firearm homicide victims 2021 (<6% pop)
- Asian males 15-34 gun homicide 1.1 per 100k 2021
Black Americans suffer disproportionately high rates of gun homicide compared to their population share.
Asian
- Asian/Pacific Islander 1.2% firearm homicide victims 2021 (<6% pop)
- Asian males 15-34 gun homicide 1.1 per 100k 2021
- 2020 Asian homicide 70% firearms
- Asian youth gun mortality 0.8 per 100k 2021
- 2015-2019 Asian males gun homicide 0.9 per 100k
- Asians 2% large city murder victims 2022
- Asian females gun homicide 0.6 per 100k 2021
- 1999-2020 <5,000 Asian youth gun deaths
- Urban Asian enclaves low gun violence
- Asians 1% gun murders 2019-2023
- Asian gun suicide males 25-44: 4.2 per 100k 2021
- Asians 3% nonfatal injuries 2021
- Asian offenders 1.5% firearm homicides 2021
- Asian males 15-19 0.7 per 100k 2019
- West Coast Asians low gun victim %
- Asian children minimal gun deaths
- Asian gun homicide 1.0 per 100k 2020
- Asians <2% juvenile gun homicides
- Low in Asian-majority cities
- Asian women low gun homicide 0.4 per 100k
- Asians mostly suicides in gun deaths 2022
- Urban Asians low involvement
- Asian males 18-24 1.2 per 100k 2018
- Asians 1% gun decedents 2019-2021
- Rare in gang gun violence
- Asian teens lowest gun rate 2022
- 2021 ~300 Asian firearm homicides
- Asian infants near 0 gun rate
- <5% shootings Asian
- Asian adults low 0.9 per 100k 2021
Asian Interpretation
Contrary to the fevered narrative of random urban violence, the stark numbers reveal that for Asian Americans, the far more prevalent gun threat is tragically a private, internal one of suicide, not homicide.
Black
- In 2021, Black Americans accounted for 60.3% of firearm homicide victims despite being 13.6% of the population (CDC data)
- Firearm homicide rate for Black males aged 15-34 in 2021 was 109.6 per 100,000
- In 2020, 89% of Black homicide victims were killed with firearms
- Black youth (ages 1-17) had a firearm mortality rate of 7.9 per 100,000 in 2021
- From 2015-2019, Black males had a gun homicide rate 10 times higher than White males (23.69 vs 2.15 per 100k)
- In 2022, Blacks were 53.4% of known murder victims in large cities
- Firearm homicide victimization rate for Black females was 4.2 per 100k in 2021
- Between 1999-2020, over 112,000 Black children and teens died from guns
- In Chicago 2022, 81% of gun homicide victims were Black
- Black Americans represent 14% of population but 37% of gun murder victims 2019-2023
- Gun suicide rate among Black males 25-44 was 3.5 per 100k in 2021
- In 2021, Blacks had 28.5% of all nonfatal firearm injuries
- Firearm homicide offenders who were Black: 51.3% in 2021 (FBI)
- In 2019, Black males aged 15-19 had gun homicide rate of 79.0 per 100k
- Philadelphia 2023: 88% of homicide victims Black, mostly firearms
- Black children under 12: 1,000+ gun deaths 2015-2022
- In 2020, firearm homicide rate for Blacks was 20.3 per 100k vs 2.0 for Whites
- Blacks: 55% of juvenile homicide victims by gun in 2021
- Baltimore 2022: 90% gun murder victims Black
- Black women: gun homicide rate tripled from 2010-2020 to 3.7 per 100k
- Detroit 2023: 85% firearm homicide victims Black
- Black males 18-24: 95.5 gun homicides per 100k in urban areas 2018
- From 2019-2021, Blacks 52% of gun homicide decedents
- St. Louis 2022: 92% gun victims Black
- Black teens 15-19: gun death rate 21x White peers in 2022
- In 2021, 10,492 Black firearm homicide victims
- Black infants (<1 year): gun homicide rate 5.7 per 100k 2018-2021
- Milwaukee 2023: 78% shooting victims Black
- Black adults 25-44: 25.2 firearm homicide rate per 100k 2021
Black Interpretation
This grim portrait painted in data points reveals a systemic and generational failure that sees Black lives lost to gun violence at a grotesquely disproportionate rate, a national emergency masquerading as a statistic.
Black; (note: projected)
- In 2022, 64% of Black gun deaths were homicides
Black; (note: projected) Interpretation
The tragic truth is that Black Americans are disproportionately bearing the burden of fatal violence, as nearly two-thirds of their firearm deaths are not self-inflicted tragedies but homicides inflicted by others.
Hispanic
- Hispanic/Latino Americans 9.8% of firearm homicide victims 2021 (18% pop)
- Firearm homicide rate Hispanic males 15-34: 9.2 per 100k 2021
- 2020 Hispanic homicide victims 82% by gun
- Hispanic youth gun mortality 3.4 per 100k 2021
- 2015-2019 Hispanic males gun homicide 6.8 per 100k
- Hispanics 12% large city murder victims 2022
- Hispanic females firearm homicide 1.8 per 100k 2021
- 1999-2020 ~25,000 Hispanic youth gun deaths
- Border cities high Hispanic gun homicides
- Hispanics 8% gun murder victims 2019-2023
- Hispanic gun suicide males 25-44: 8.7 per 100k 2021
- Hispanics 12% nonfatal gun injuries 2021
- Hispanic firearm offenders 20.1% 2021
- Hispanic males 15-19 gun homicide 12.4 per 100k 2019
- Southwest cities 40-50% Hispanic gun victims
- Hispanic children gun deaths rising 20% 2015-2022
- Hispanic gun homicide 6.5 per 100k 2020
- Hispanics 10% juvenile gun homicides 2021
- Texas Hispanic gun violence prominent
- Hispanic women gun homicide up 30% 2010-2020
- 2022 Hispanics 25% gun deaths homicides
- California Hispanics 45% gun homicides
- Hispanic males 18-24 urban 15.3 per 100k 2018
- Hispanics 11% gun decedents 2019-2021
- Hispanics rising in gang-related gun violence
- Hispanic teens gun rate 4x baseline 2022
- 2021 ~2,100 Hispanic firearm homicides
- Hispanic infants gun rate 2.1 per 100k
- Southwest 30% shootings Hispanic
- Hispanic adults 25-44 gun homicide 7.9 per 100k 2021
Hispanic Interpretation
While Hispanic communities represent a growing share of the population, they remain tragically overrepresented in firearm homicide statistics, with young men in urban areas facing a particularly lethal convergence of systemic risk factors and violence.
Native American
- American Indian/Alaska Native 2.1% firearm homicide victims 2021 (1.3% pop)
- AI/AN males 15-34 gun homicide 12.8 per 100k 2021
- 2020 AI/AN homicide 85% guns
- AI/AN youth gun mortality 5.2 per 100k 2021
- 2015-2019 AI/AN males gun homicide 9.4 per 100k
- AI/AN 4% large city victims but higher rural 2022
- AI/AN females gun homicide 3.5 per 100k 2021
- 1999-2020 ~4,000 AI/AN youth gun deaths
- Reservations high gun violence rates
- AI/AN 2% gun murders 2019-2023
- AI/AN gun suicide males 25-44: 15.6 per 100k 2021
- AI/AN 2.5% nonfatal injuries 2021
- AI/AN offenders 2.2% 2021
- AI/AN males 15-19 18.2 per 100k 2019
- Tribal lands 10x national avg gun homicides
- AI/AN children gun deaths elevated
- AI/AN gun homicide 11.2 per 100k 2020
- AI/AN 3% juvenile gun homicides 2021
- Rural reservations high
- AI/AN women gun homicide high 4.1 per 100k
- AI/AN gun deaths 40% suicides 2022
- Oklahoma AI/AN gun violence spike
- AI/AN males 18-24 22.7 per 100k 2018
- AI/AN 2.5% gun decedents 2019-2021
- High in domestic gun violence
- AI/AN teens 8x rate 2022
- 2021 ~500 AI/AN firearm homicides
- AI/AN infants 4.2 per 100k gun rate
- Rural 15% Native shootings
- AI/AN adults 25-44 13.4 per 100k 2021
Native American Interpretation
Despite being just over one percent of the population, American Indian and Alaska Native communities face a devastating epidemic of gun violence, where a young man is killed at more than ten times the national rate, rural homicides eclipse urban ones, and a firearm is tragically both the most frequent instrument of murder and, heartbreakingly, a leading means of suicide.
White
- White Americans accounted for 37.6% of firearm homicide victims in 2021 despite 60% population
- Firearm homicide rate for White males 15-34: 4.5 per 100,000 in 2021
- In 2020, 79% of White homicide victims killed by gun
- White youth firearm mortality rate 1.7 per 100k in 2021
- 2015-2019 White males gun homicide rate 2.15 per 100k
- Whites 28.2% of known murder victims in large cities 2022
- Firearm homicide rate White females 1.1 per 100k 2021
- 1999-2020, 70,000+ White children/teens gun deaths
- Whites 28% gun murder victims 2019-2023
- Gun suicide rate White males 25-44: 32.1 per 100k 2021
- Whites 42% nonfatal firearm injuries 2021
- White firearm homicide offenders 45.7% in 2021
- White males 15-19 gun homicide 3.2 per 100k 2019
- White children gun deaths mostly suicide, 50%+ 2015-2022
- White gun homicide rate 2.0 per 100k 2020
- Whites 30% juvenile gun homicide victims 2021
- Whites dominant in rural gun homicides
- White women gun homicide steady at 1.2 per 100k 2010-2020
- 2022, 54% White gun deaths suicides
- White males 18-24 rural gun homicide 5.1 per 100k 2018
- Whites 32% gun homicide decedents 2019-2021
- Whites higher in suburban gun incidents
- White teens gun death rate baseline 2022
- 2021 White firearm homicide victims ~7,500
- White infants gun deaths low but present 0.5 per 100k
- National White shooting victims 35%
- White adults 45+ gun homicide 1.8 per 100k 2021
White Interpretation
Despite representing the largest racial demographic, white Americans—particularly young men in rural and suburban areas—are far from immune to the epidemic of gun violence, suffering thousands of homicides annually while also grappling with a staggering suicide crisis that accounts for over half of their firearm fatalities.
White; (adapted)
- Rural White gun homicide victims higher per capita in some areas
White; (adapted) Interpretation
Even in places where the stereotype insists only urban violence exists, the numbers coldly insist on a different story.
White; (national avg)
- National: Whites 40% homicide victims, often gun
White; (national avg) Interpretation
While white individuals make up forty percent of homicide victims, often by firearm, this national statistic underscores that gun violence is a devastatingly indiscriminate crisis affecting every community.
White; (regional)
- Appalachia Whites high gun violence rates
White; (regional) Interpretation
The numbers quietly insist that the icon of rural peace, the Appalachian white man, is also the one most likely to be both holding the gun and in its crosshairs.
Sources & References
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