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.

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.

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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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Black Americans Gun Death Trends 1968-2023

Since 1968, black Americans have died at a rate of at least 20 people per one hundred thousand. Comparatively, white Americans have died at a rate of at least eight people per one hundred thousand during this same time period.

Black Americans died at higher rates in the 1980s and 1990s (30+ people per 100k), then slowed through the early 2000s and 2010s.

The lowest rate of firearm-related deaths among black Americans occurred in 2014, at 18.4 people per one hundred thousand. In 2020, the rate spiked to 34 per one hundred thousand and peaked in 2021 at 36 deaths per one hundred thousand.

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What Is the Number of Black Americans Killed by Guns Annually?

In 2023, firearm-related deaths among black Americans totaled 129 unintentional incidents, 2,385 suicides, 10,563 homicides, 139 related to legal intervention/operations of war, and 134 were undetermined.

Dating back to 1999, black Americans have died at higher rates than any other race. In the first two decades of the 21st century, black Americans died at twice the rate of any other race.

Firearm-related deaths spiked after 2020, but it was black Americans who suffered the most. In 2020, firearm-related deaths of black Americans increased by 37%, whereas white deaths increased by 4%.

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What Is the Impact of Gun Violence on Black Americans by Age Range?

Black Americans between the ages of 15 and 34 comprise the highest per capita rate of homicide victims at 53.5 per 100,000. Sadly, the demographic represents only three percent of the U.S. population but accounted for 35% of the nation’s homicide victims in 2023. ¹

Non-Hispanic white Americans in the same age group are murdered with a firearm at a rate of 2.6 per 100,000, Native Americans are murdered with a gun at a rate of 18 per 100,000, and Hispanic Americans are murdered at a rate of 10.4 per 100,000.

Black children are nearly nine times more likely to die in a firearm-related homicide than white children. In 2023, black children between the ages of five and fourteen died at a rate of 3.5 per 100,000, compared to white children at a rate of 0.4 per 100,000.

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Black-on-Black Gun Deaths and Murders Per Year

In 2019, 89% of black American homicides were perpetrated by another black American. Similarly, 79% of white victims were murdered by another white person. ⁴

In 2021, there were 2,510 black American homicide offenders, according to the FBI, compared to 1,903 white homicide offenders. When we compare the population sizes, we see that black Americans are arrested for homicides at a rate of 6.5 per 100,000, and the second highest homicide offenders, white Americans, are arrested at a rate of 0.8 per 100,000. ²

These rates correlated with homicide victims, as well. In 2023, black Americans were murdered by firearms at a rate of 23.3 per 100,000, and white non-Hispanic Americans were murdered at a rate of 1.8 per 100,000.

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How Does Gun Death Risk Differ Between Black and White Americans?

In 2023, black Americans were 1.6 times more likely to be the victims of a firearm-related homicide than white Americans.

Of the 46,728 gun-shot-related deaths in 2023, 29% were black Americans, and 61% were white Americans. However, 59% of firearm-related homicide victims were black, while 37% were white.

Black men are 6.9 times more likely to die than black women and 1.8 times more likely than white men. However, white women are 1.1 times more likely to die in a firearm-related homicide than black women.

How Prevalent is Gun-Related Suicide Among Black Americans?

Although black Americans are more likely to succumb to firearm-related homicides, white Americans are 10 times more likely to die of firearm-related suicide. In 2023, only 9% of all firearm suicides ended the life of a black American.

In 2023, 23,825 white Americans committed suicide with a firearm compared to 2,385 black Americans. For reference, when we compare population sizes, black Americans die from firearm-related suicide at a rate of 5.3 per 100,000, while white Americans die at a rate of 9.5 per 100,000.

Racial Disparities and Guns

Historically, black Americans have faced and overcome many plights. Sadly, in the 1970s, violence began plaguing this specific subset of Americans, and the deadly patterns continued nearly fifty years later.

Compared to every other demographic, Americans are disproportionately impacted by violence, including firearm-related violence. This article explores one of the more troubling aspects of American culture and the racial disparities in violence statistics.

Sources

1. CDC Wonder Provisional Reports
2. FBI Crime Data Explorer
3. CDC Wonder Underlying Cause of Death
4. 2019 FBI UCR
5. CDC Compressed Mortality