Gun Violence Among Black Americans: A Pandemic of Violence

Key Points: Black Americans are twice as likely to be murdered with bullets than any other race. Furthermore, 88% of black American gun deaths are attributed to another black American.

Report Highlights:

  • Black Americans make up 14% of the U.S. population and account for 29% of the nation’s firearm-related deaths.
  • Black Americans have been two times more likely to perish in firearm-related incidents than any other race for the past two decades.
  • 89% of all black firearm-related homicides are perpetrated by a black offender, while 79% of white firearm-related homicides are perpetrated by a white offender.
  • Black children are nearly 9 times more likely to die from firearm-related violence than any other race.
  • 5.3 black Americans commit suicide with a firearm out of 100,000, while 9.5 white Americans commit suicide with a firearm out of every 100,000.

This report was compiled using reputable sources to ensure the most accurate information. All sources are listed HERE.

How Many Gun Violence Incidents Affect Black Americans Each Year?

In 2023, 22,828 people were murdered. Of those, 54% were black Americans. What’s more troubling is that black Americans comprise only 14% of the U.S. population. (Source 1) Furthermore, in 2023, there were 17,926 firearm-related homicides. Of those, black American victims accounted for 59% (10,563).

Homicides aren’t the only form of violence plaguing America. However, black Americans tend to commit suicide less often than other races. In 2023, there were 49,315 suicides—just over half of those involved a firearm. Black Americans died by firearm-related suicide at a rate of 5.3 per 100,000. Comparatively, white Americans died of suicide at a rate of 9.5 per 100,000.

Black Americans also succumb to firearm-related accidents more than other races at a rate of 0.3 per 100,000 compared to white Americans at 0.1 per 100,000.

How Many Black Americans Die From Guns Each Year?

In 2023, 46,727 Americans died from gunshot wounds (including suicide, unintentional injuries, etc.). Black Americans accounted for 13,350 of these deaths, whereas white Americans accounted for 31,385.

However, black Americans are overrepresented in this data due to the smaller population size. For example, 29.4 black Americans died from gunshots for every 100,000. Only 12.5 white Americans per every 100,000 succumbed to firearm-related injuries. 1

This unfortunate pattern has been consistent over the years. Between 2018 and 2023, black Americans died from gunshot wounds at a rate of 29 per 100,000, compared to 12 white/Hispanic Americans. 3

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