U.S. Gun Suicides Hit Record High, Even As Firearm Deaths Decline Overall

Key TakeawaysRates of deaths linked to firearms fell slightly in 2024 compared to the year before, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and PreventionA drop in gun-linked homicides drove the decline, but gun-related suicides jumped to a record highMen made up most firearm fatalities, but women — especially minority women — are experiencing troubling escalations.TUESDAY, July 14, 2026 (HealthDay News) — The latest federal data finds U.S. gun deaths dipping slightly overall, even as rates of firearm-related suicides reached a record high. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data for 2024 found that guns were involved in the deaths of 44,447 people that year — a rate of one death every 12 minutes. That's a 5% decline from 2023, with experts crediting the dip to a 15.8% drop in homicides, which in 2024 made up 15,364 of gun-related deaths.However, that was offset by 27,593 gun-linked suicides, an all-time high.“As this report highlights, deadly gun violence is happening at a large rate affecting all populations,” Rose Kim, assistant policy advisor at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions in Baltimore, said in a news release. She is lead author of the new report. The 2024 numbers mark a steady decline in gun-related homicide from the COVID-era peak of 48,830 in 2021, Kim's team noted. However, firearms-related deaths have still failed to fall to pre-COVID levels, and young people are especially vulnerable. The report also found gun-linked deaths to be the leading cause of death for people under the age of 18 for the past five years. In 2024, a gun was involved in the deaths of 2,214 people in that age group.Most (86%) of gun-related deaths among Americans involved males, the report found, but women were often victims as well. Black American women appear especially vulnerable: Their rate of death from gun-related homicide rose by 63% between 2015 and 2024, Kim's team noted.Other segments of the population have seen worrisome rates of increase in gun deaths, as well. For example, among Hispanic/Latino females, gun homicide deaths rose by 31% between 2015 and 2024, compared to a 2% rise among white women. During the same time, rates of gun-related suicide soared by 169% among Black females and 57% among Hispanic/Latino females, compared to a 4% rise among white females, the Hopkins report found.What can be done to help curb these tragedies? The authors called for spurring community-based prevention programs that target at-risk populations. The report also recommended tighter restrictions on gun purchasing and better support for domestic violence protection orders that could save the lives of individuals at risk.“We can save lives and address this crisis through a comprehensive public health approach pushing for equitable, evidence-based policies and programs that address multiple forms of gun injury and death,” said study senior author Cassandra Crifasi, who co-directs the Center for Gun Violence Solutions at Hopkins.More informationFind out how you can protect yourself and your family from gun violence at Brady United.SOURCE: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, news release, July 8, 2026 .What This Means For YouGuns continue to be involved in tens of thousands of U.S. fatalities each year, and more can be done to lower that death toll..Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

U.S. Gun Suicides Hit Record High, Even As Firearm Deaths Decline Overall

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