You’ve seen the headlines. Every time a major tragedy strikes, the news cycle goes into a frenzy, and for a few days, everyone becomes a walking encyclopedia of firearm statistics. But honestly, most of the conversations we have about this stuff are based on half-truths or data that’s five years out of date. If you really want to know how many people died in America from gun violence, you have to look past the breaking news banners and actually dig into the raw numbers.
The reality is complicated. It's not just one "epidemic"—it’s several different trends happening all at once. Some of the news is actually surprisingly good, while other parts are deeply concerning.
Breaking Down the 2024 and 2025 Totals
Let’s get straight to the hard data. According to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), the United States saw a significant shift in 2025. For the fourth year in a row, shooting deaths (not including suicides) actually dropped. We’re talking about a move from nearly 17,000 deaths in 2024 down to 14,651 in 2025.
That is the lowest number of shooting deaths the country has seen since 2015.
But wait. There is a massive "but" here. If you only look at those numbers, you’re missing more than half the story. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracks total firearm mortality, and their provisional data for 2024 showed about 44,400 total deaths. Why the huge difference? Because the GVA doesn't track suicides in its main real-time count, and suicide is actually the leading cause of gun deaths in the U.S.
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Basically, while homicides are plummeting, suicides are doing the exact opposite. In 2024, roughly 62% of all gun-related deaths were suicides. That’s a staggering percentage. It means when we talk about gun violence, we’re often talking about a mental health crisis just as much as a crime problem.
The Geography of Gun Violence
It’s easy to think of this as a "big city" problem, but the data says something else entirely. In 2024, the state with the highest gun-related death rate wasn't New York or California. It was Mississippi, with a rate of 28.1 per 100,000 people. On the flip side, Hawaii had the lowest at 3.8.
Look at Washington, D.C. for a second. It had a homicide rate of 18.7 per 100,000 in 2024. Meanwhile, Wyoming had the highest suicide rate involving firearms at 19.9. You’ve got two completely different versions of "gun violence" happening in different parts of the country, driven by totally different social factors.
What Most People Get Wrong About Mass Shootings
This is the part that usually gets the most clicks. When a mass shooting happens, it feels like the world is ending. And yet, criminologists like James Alan Fox from Northeastern University point out a massive gap between public perception and reality.
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In 2025, mass killings—which are different from mass shootings—hit a 20-year low.
Mass shootings (defined by the GVA as four or more people shot, excluding the shooter) actually fell to 408 incidents in 2025. That’s a 41% drop from the record set back in 2021. Despite how much space they take up in our brains, mass shootings accounted for only about 2.8% of shooting deaths in 2025.
The "daily drip" of violence—domestic disputes, street-level robberies, and isolated arguments—is what's actually claiming the most lives. It's just not as "newsworthy" to the national media as a single high-profile event.
Why the Numbers Are Dropping
So, why are things finally trending down? Honestly, nobody is 100% sure, but experts have a few theories.
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- Community Intervention: Programs that treat violence like a public health issue rather than just a police issue have seen massive success in cities like New Orleans, which saw an 85% drop in firearm homicides recently.
- Post-Pandemic Normalization: The 2020-2021 spike was a global anomaly. We're finally seeing a return to the "pre-pandemic" baseline.
- Gun Sales Dips: 2024 saw a decline in gun sales to about 13.6 million, down from nearly 16 million the year before.
It’s also worth noting that the demographics are shifting. Pew Research Center and Gallup found that while overall ownership is steady, a lot more women—specifically Republican women—are buying guns for protection. This changes the conversation about who is actually involved in "gun culture."
The Older American Crisis
There's one detail that almost everyone misses: the rise of gun suicides among people aged 70 and older. In 2025, this age group had some of the highest rates of firearm suicide in the country. It’s a "quiet crisis" that doesn't get a hashtag or a protest, but it’s a huge part of the 40,000+ people who die every year.
Practical Steps to Understand the Data
If you’re trying to navigate this topic without losing your mind, you need to be a better consumer of data. Statistics can be manipulated to say whatever someone wants them to say.
First, always ask if a number includes suicides. If it doesn't, you're only seeing 40% of the picture. Second, look at the rate (per 100,000 people) rather than the raw total. A city with 500 deaths might actually be safer than a small town with 50 if the population difference is big enough.
Finally, check the sources. The Gun Violence Archive is great for near-real-time news-based data, but the CDC’s WONDER database is the gold standard for official, verified death certificate data, even if it takes a year or two to be fully finalized.
To stay truly informed, you should regularly check the USAFacts gun violence hub. They do a great job of stripping away the political jargon and just showing the trends. If you’re concerned about safety in your own area, look up your state’s specific firearm mortality rate rather than relying on national averages, which are often skewed by a few high-violence pockets. Knowing the difference between the "homicide problem" in your city and the "suicide problem" in your rural county is the first step toward actually solving either one.