Report Highlights:
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In 2024, 1% (438) of all firearm-related deaths (41,656) were due to accidental shootings.
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30% (438) of the 1,457 unintentional firearm-related injuries in 2024 were fatal.
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There is an average of 114 accidental gun deaths among children and adolescents annually.
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Accidental shootings account for 0.004% of all injuries leading to hospital visits.
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How Many Accidental Shootings Per Year?
According to the CDC’s provisional data, the rate of accidental shootings has declined over recent years. Data show there were 284 accidental shooting deaths in the United States from January through July in 2025. This aligns with prior trends showing an increase in accidental shooting deaths in 2020 and 2021, then a consistent decline in 2022.
On average, there were 485 accidental shooting deaths each year between 2018 and 2024. This average was driven up by the 535 deaths in 2020 and 549 deaths in 2021. Accidental shooting deaths decreased to 444 in 2024, which aligns with pre-COVID trends.
Similar to accidental shooting deaths, accidental shootings spiked in 2020 (2,312 incidents) and 2021 (2,015), followed by a decline to pre-pandemic levels. Accidental shootings decreased in 2025, when there were 1,327 reported incidents.
How Many Accidental Gun Deaths Per Year?
According to the CDC, there were 824 accidental shooting deaths in 1999. The number of deaths declined by 47% to 438 in 2024.
Between 1999 and 2014, the U.S. averaged 653 accidental gun deaths annually. Between 2014 and 2024, the average decreased to 485 gun-related accidental deaths per year. 1, 3
What Percentage of Gun Deaths Are Accidental?
Between 2018 and 2025, 1% of gun deaths were attributed to accidental shootings. Despite there being thousands of gun deaths annually, accidental shootings constitute a small percentage of the nation’s total gun deaths.
In 2018, there were 39,740 gun deaths in the U.S. Of those, 458 were unintentional. In 2020 and 2021, gun deaths increased to 45,222 and 48,830, respectively. During those years, accidental gun deaths increased to 535 and 549.
Accidental gun deaths trend with all other deaths. Although the percentage remained at 1% of all gun deaths, totals increased and decreased along with all other deaths (homicide, suicide, etc.).
How Many People Accidentally Shoot Themselves?
Studies show that about half of those who die from an accidental shooting shot themselves.
Data is sparse regarding accidental self-inflicted gunshot injuries. Most studies and CDC WONDER Database reports do not classify who fired fatal shots. However, a study conducted during 2003 to 2006 suggests that younger people (0-14) were most likely to be shot by someone else (78% of incidents), while older victims were more likely to shoot themselves. 7
How Many Kids Accidentally Shoot Themselves?
Children made up one-quarter of the nation’s accidental shooting deaths (862 of 3,398) between 2018 and 2025. 1 Between January 2015 and December 2021, 1,195 children (i.e. individuals aged 17 and younger) accidentally shot themselves. 4 Additionally, 1,156 children accidentally shot another person during those same years.
Handguns were most commonly used during these incidents (1,298). Boys were more likely than girls to pull the trigger (1,925 vs. 476).
Children between the ages of 14 and 17 were involved in more incidents (794) than other age groups, followed closely by ages <1 to 5 (786).
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