Report Highlights: Decades of national and state-level data on violent crime, homicide, and mass shooting show no consistent evidence that stricter gun laws reduce overall crime rates.
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U.S. violent crime increased 261% between 1966 and 1993, rising from 189 incidents per 100,000 residents to 682 per 100,000. It began declining in 1999.
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In 2024, states with strict gun laws had an average homicide rate of 5.93 per 100,000 residents, compared to 5.91 in mixed-law states and 6.95 in relaxed-law states.
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In 2024, states with strict gun laws had an average suicide rate of 13.03 per 100,000 residents, compared with 18.10 in mixed-law states and 19.00 in relaxed-law states.
Related Studies: Easiest States to Buy a Gun, States With the Highest Murder Rate, Gun Ownership by State
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Methodology
The states in this article are ranked according to the level of their gun laws: relaxed, strict, and mixed.
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Relaxed - State does not require background checks or waiting periods before private sales, or restrict firearms or ammunition.
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Strict - State requires background checks on private sales, bans certain types of firearms or ammunition, and has further legislated to restrict firearm ownership or possession.
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Mixed - State allows concealed carry, but also requires background checks on private sales and/or waiting periods before the purchase of firearms.
The CDC provides death data from all U.S. counties. Homicide data pulled from the WONDER Database includes negligent and justifiable homicides. Violent crime data from the FBI Crime Data Explorer relies on agency reporting, and may underrepresent actual crime rates.
State gun law rankings align with the policies at the time the data were reported. For example, states with less gun control are ranked according to the year of the homicide data.
Gun Laws and Crime in Numbers
There were 19,918 homicides in 2024. Of those, 15,403 (77%) were committed with firearms. 16
Federal Gun Laws vs. Crime Rates
Despite the enactment of many new federal gun control laws, U.S. violent crime rates increased 261% from 1966 to 1993. 13, 14
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Violent crime rates before the Gun Control Act of 1968 averaged 189 incidents per 100,000 people.
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From 1969 to 1985, violent crime rates increased to an average of 474 per 100,000.
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From 1986 to 1993, violent crime rates increased to an average of 682 per 100,000.
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Violent crime rates remained high between 1993 and 1998 when the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act’s five-day waiting period was in effect.
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Violent crime rates declined after 1999, with an average of 420 incidents per 100,000 in 2025.
National violent crime rates do not trend down in response to sweeping federal gun control legislation. This does not suggest that relaxed gun laws reduce crime, but does indicate that federal gun control has not produced measurable reductions in violent crime.
State Gun Laws and Crime Rates
On average, states with relaxed gun control laws have higher gun death and homicide rates than states that restrict certain firearm purchases and concealed or open carry. Suicide is the driving factor in higher gun death rates across all state rankings. 4, 8, 12, 13, 1 4
Outliers in homicide rates include relaxed gun control states such as New Hampshire, Idaho, Utah, Iowa, and South Dakota, with much lower homicide rates in 2024 than most other states. Conversely, Illinois, and Maryland are states with strict gun control laws and much higher homicide rates than most states.
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Strict gun control states had an average gun death rate of 11.00 per 100,000 people, and homicide rate of 5.96 per 100,000 in 2024.
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Mixed gun control states had an average gun death rate of 15.67 per 100,000 people, and homicide rate of 5.91 per 100,000 in 2024.
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Relaxed gun control states had an average gun death rate of 18.00 per 100,000 people, and homicide rate of 6.96 per 100,000 in 2024.
Homicide rates include all methods and justifiable homicides. Death rates include all intents (homicide, suicide, legal intervention, and unintentional).
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