In 2024, firearms killed 44,447 people in the United States: that’s 12.8 deaths per 100,000 residents. Yet suicide, not homicide, accounts for the majority of American firearm deaths, a fact that gets far less media attention than violent gun crime.

This campaign, from Illinois gun crime lawyer Hirsch Law Group, examines U.S. firearm deaths and mortality patterns across all states. We consider age and racial factors to emphasize some key disparities, take a close look at gun violence in Illinois, and consider the growing issue of privately made firearms to reveal a fuller picture of lethal gun violence in America. 

First, let’s clarify the share of firearm death causes in the United States.

The Main Causes Of America’s Firearm Deaths

It’s clear that death by firearm is a serious problem in the United States. Yet this breakdown of gun death causes reveals a pattern that contradicts how gun violence is generally perceived.

Of the 44,447 deaths by firearm in 2024, 27,593 were suicides, a rate of 7.6 per 100,000 and a 62% share of all firearm fatalities. Homicide accounted for 15,364 deaths: 4.7 per 100,000 and 35% of the total share. The remaining 1,490 deaths (around 0.4 per 100,000 and 3% of the total) represent shootings involving law enforcement, accidental discharges, and deaths where intent couldn’t be established.

In simple terms, that means for every American who dies by firearm homicide, almost two Americans die by firearm suicide. And it confirms that America’s gun-violence problem is chiefly a matter of mental health, self-harm, and access as opposed to violent interpersonal assault.

Although representing much smaller numbers, the third firearm deaths category is significant and involves severe loss of life. Of the 1,490 deaths in question, 636 involved law enforcement, 450 were recorded as an accident, with 404 due to undetermined circumstances.

The gap between suicide and homicide is a crucial factor. Homicide is a highly visible category, often featured on news channels, in public debates, and prominently discussed as crime statistics. It also tends to be referred to in terms of geographical hot spots, and vulnerable age and demographic groups. Suicide is far less visible, despite claiming nearly twice as many lives every year. And the gap between visibility and scale can determine the focus of public attention, policy discussion, and legal conversations.

The position of firearms in suicide statistics is largely a matter of lethality as opposed to attempt frequency. Compared to poisoning or overdose, guns are involved in a minority of suicide attempts, yet they account for the majority of suicide deaths because a firearm suicide attempt is far more likely to succeed.

Overall, the 44,447 U.S. deaths by firearm represent several distinct public-health stories: a homicide problem featuring key specific demographics and geographical areas; a larger and yet less visible suicide problem; and a small but significant category that resists clear classification.

Understanding which of these issues drives a state’s overall gun fatality numbers provides a clear basis for examining how the firearm fatality picture changes from state to state.

For a broader perspective, it’s worth looking at the proportional rate of firearm deaths in each state to determine which of the country’s jurisdictions features the biggest gun problem.

A State-by-State Comparison

At a state comparison level, there are some extreme differences (as opposed to gradual variation). According to 2024 data (the most recent full statistical year available), the difference between the firearm mortality rate of the highest-rated states and the lowest is stark, with a person’s odds of dying by firearm varying by over 7.5 times, depending on where they live. That gap is consistent for both raw and proportional figures and forms the basis of this campaign’s state-level analysis.

At the top of the rankings, Mississippi features the highest firearm death rate (28 per 100,000), followed by New Mexico (26.6) and Alaska (24.4). All of the states in the top 10 feature a firearm death rate more than twice the rate found in the safest states; several feature a rate many times higher than the lowest-ranked states. The high-ranking group is predominantly from the Deep South and Mountain West, two regions with very different population densities and demographics.

The group just outside the top 10, which includes South Carolina (19.5), Oklahoma (19.1), and Kentucky (18.5), uniformly features rates above the national average rate (12.8). In fact, the lowest firearm fatality rate among the top 20 is 15.9 per 100,000, which ultimately means that around two in every five states feature a firearm fatality rate more than 24% above the national average.

Texas, despite being the second most populous state in the country, sits around the middle of the overall rankings with a firearm fatality rate of 13.9, confirming that population size alone doesn’t necessarily determine a state’s overall rate. Similarly, Florida’s rate (12.7) is close to the national average rate.

The five safest states are Rhode Island (4.6), New York (4.4), New Jersey (4), Massachusetts (3.8), and Hawaii (3.7).

With the exception of California (in the bottom ten with a rate of 7), this safest group (with Vermont, New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Connecticut also in the bottom ten with rates from 10.6 to 5.8) is situated in the North and Northeast, emphasizing a regional trend almost as notable as the Deep South and Mountain West state dominance at the top of the ranking.

A Closer Look at Illinois

Illinois features a firearm death rate of 12.4, just below the national average rate. Across a population of 12,735,249 residents, while that rate might seem unremarkable, it conceals one of the most significant state disparities in the dataset.

In 2024, the firearm death rate for White Illinois residents was 8.6 per 100,000; for Black residents, it was 37.9 per 100,000. That’s an astonishing gap of nearly 30 points within the same state.

In fact, Illinois’ firearm death rate for Black residents is higher than the overall rate for all other states except Mississippi. In other words, even though the overall rate in Illinois is close to the national average, circumstances are very different for this one single demographic.

Across the United States, no single state or national figure captures the key demographic nuances of firearm fatality disparities. Illinois data clearly shows how a state can seem perfectly average on the surface while featuring wide differences among its population.

This distinction is key to understanding the underlying firearm mortality patterns we explore not just at the state level, but also from a national perspective.

Who Gun Deaths Affect Most

Firearm mortality in the United States is unevenly spread across age, race, and gender groups; these nuances can’t be discerned by looking at 2024’s national rate (12.8 firearm deaths per 100,000 people).

In 2024, for Americans aged between 13 and 17, the firearm death rate was 11.7 per 100,000. That’s a higher rate than recorded for several adult age groups and a clear indication that there’s significant risk of harm from a firearm well before adulthood.

The rate almost doubles in early adulthood. For those aged between 18 and 24, the death by firearm rate was 22.3 per 100,000 (the highest rate of any age group); for those aged between 25 and 34, the rate was 19.5.

The rate then continues to fall, from 17.7 per 100,000 among Americans aged between 35 and 44, to 15.5 for those aged between 45 and 54, to 14 for those aged between 55 and 64, and to 12.7 for those aged between 65 and 74. The rate then rises sharply (to 17.9) for those aged between 75 and 84. For Americans aged 85 and older, 233 firearm deaths were recorded in 2024, included here as a raw count as opposed to a per-capita rate.

Overall, data regarding age shows two distinct peaks: firearm mortality is highest of all among young adults; after a gradual decline through middle age, it rises again among older Americans, reflecting different risk points at opposite ends of the age spectrum.

Data regarding race reveals an equally stark story. Black Americans suffered the highest firearm death rate in 2024 (25.2 per 100,000), more than double the White firearm death rate (12.2). The American Indian and Alaska Native rate (14.5) was also above the national average.

Other racial group rates included Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Americans (8.2 per 100,000); Hispanic and Latino Americans (7.9); multiracial Americans (6.5); and Asian Americans (2.8 per 100,000).

Overall, the Black firearm death rate was roughly nine times higher than the Asian American rate, a disparity that represents the widest gap between any two groups in the dataset. These figures feature every firearm death irrespective of intent (homicide, suicide, and other causes), which further compounds the disparities between Black, White, and Asian American groups.

There’s also a significant disparity among gender groups. Men died by firearm at a rate of 22.1 per 100,000 in 2024, compared with a rate of 3.7 for women (that’s nearly six times the female rate). The gap remains consistent across nearly every state and age group, and aligns with the breakdown regarding intent. With suicide accounting for 62% of all U.S. firearm deaths in 2024, and men dying by suicide at substantially higher rates than women, the two factors partially explain the overall gender disparity.

A different pattern emerges where race and gender intersect. A July 2026 report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions found that Black women’s firearm homicide rate rose 63% between 2015 and 2024. The report also suggested that the rate reached 5.13 per 100,000 by the end of the period, which is well above the 3.7 rate for women overall across all firearm deaths.

Over the same period, the rate for White women rose by just 2%. For Asian and Pacific Islander women, the firearm homicide rate increased 39%, while the rate for Hispanic and Latino women rose 31%. Every group of women of color covered in the report were subject to substantially faster growth in firearm homicide than White women.

The sharp rise among Black women, in contrast to no significant rise for White women, suggests a distinct and developing disparity that national gender averages don’t illustrate and which demands further attention.

Gun Ownership Rates in America

Household gun ownership is one of the key indicators of a state’s firearm death rate in this dataset. The link is remarkably consistent when we compare the two measures.

Using RAND Corporation 2016 estimates (the most recent state-level ownership figures available), we can clearly see the relationship between household firearm ownership and firearm mortality. Across all 50 states, the correlation between ownership and the firearm death rate is 0.745.

And the pattern is clear at both ends of the spectrum. The 10 states that feature the highest household gun ownership average a 57.1% ownership rate, plus a firearm death rate of 20.6 per 100,000, which is almost double the national rate (12.8). The 10 states with the lowest ownership rates average just 15.9%, plus a rate of 7 per 100,000, almost a third lower than the highest-ownership group.

Montana ranks highest for ownership (65%) and features a firearm death rate of 20.2 per 100,000. New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Hawaii all tie for the lowest ownership rate (9% each); all three feature firearm death rates at or below 4 per 100,000, among the lowest in the country.

The regional pattern is equally notable. Ownership rates are highest among South and Mountain West states such as Wyoming (61% ownership, 23.4 per 100,000), Alaska (57%, 24.4), Mississippi (54%, 28, the nation’s highest death rate), and Alabama (53%, 23.7).

The lowest rates could be largely found in states in the Northeast and along the West Coast, such as New York (14% ownership, 4.4 per 100,000), Rhode Island (14%, 4.6), Connecticut (19%, 5.8), and California (16%, 7). Nearly every state with an ownership rate above 45% also exceeded the national firearm death rate, while nearly every state below a 20% ownership rate fell well below it.

There are anomalies in the dataset. New Mexico, despite having below-average firearm ownership (36%), also has the nation’s second-highest firearm death rate (26.6 per 100,000). Vermont, by contrast, has high ownership (50%) but a death rate (10.6) far below what ownership levels might indicate.

Exceptions to the general rule suggest that other factors (such as urban density and the balance between homicide and suicide) also influence the relationship between ownership and fatality rates.

Illinois features an ownership rate (23%) that puts it in the bottom third of all states. Despite this, its firearm death rate (12.4 per 100,000) is near the national average. That apparent anomaly reinforces a previously established pattern: Illinois’s firearm deaths are disproportionately due to homicide as opposed to suicide, contrary to the consistent trend seen in many high-ownership states, where suicide is the main factor.

The broader picture extends beyond firearm mortality statistics. According to the Violence Policy Center’s December 2025 analysis of 2023 CDC data, there were more firearm deaths than motor vehicle deaths in 34 states and the District of Columbia.

That’s a huge change from 2010, when just 13 states and D.C. featured more firearm deaths than motor vehicle deaths: a massive surge in less than 15 years. The states that have driven that evolution are largely those featuring high ownership rates, further reinforcing the connection between household firearm ownership and the number of firearm deaths in a jurisdiction.

The Privately Made Firearm Factor

Part of the issue is due to privately made firearms, with a growing proportion of guns recovered in criminal investigations not traceable to a licensed dealer. Privately made firearms (or ‘ghost guns’) are constructed from unfinished frame and receiver kits, or produced using 3D printers. Because they often lack a serial number, they can’t be traced through the traditional manufacturer, dealer, and purchaser chain.

According to the ATF’s National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment, Volume IV, released in January 2025, law enforcement recovered 92,702 suspected privately made firearms, untraceable “ghost guns” without serial numbers, between 2017 and 2023. Over that period, the number of privately made firearms recovered in crimes surged nearly 1,600%, from 1,629 to 27,490, and these guns were connected to nearly 1,700 homicides and more than 4,000 other violent crimes.

The increase is reflected by violent crime figures. Almost 1,700 recovered privately made firearms were linked to homicides in 2023, with over 4,000 additional recoveries linked to other violent crimes. (That’s more than double the roughly 700 homicides or attempted homicides involving ghost guns identified in an earlier federal assessment that covered 2021.) Because these figures only feature recovered and successfully traced weapons, the real number connected to deaths is potentially higher.

ATF data also shows how these firearms became active, with 62.5% recorded as being manufactured without a license, and 63.9% sold by unlicensed private dealers. 12.4% were sold online, with 11.7% using social media channels. Machine gun conversion kits (which can convert semi-automatic firearms to fully automatic fire) increased 784% between 2019 and 2023.

Most of the known buyers were relatively young: people aged between 18 and 24 accounted for 32.6% of known firearm owners, with those aged between 25 and 34 representing 28.2%. During the reporting period, the under-25 share increased from 33% to 39%. California recorded the highest number of recovered privately made firearms; Florida accounted for over 17% of recovered machine gun conversion devices.

The federal government has moved to modify gun regulations. In 2021, ATF expanded the legal definition of a firearm so it included weapon parts kits and unfinished frames or receivers that can be converted into guns. These changes were made so that more gun-related equipment could be subject to background checks, serial numbers, and recordkeeping. After manufacturers and buyers challenged the rule changes, the Supreme Court upheld the changes 7–2 on March 26, 2025, in Bondi v. VanDerStok, finding them consistent with the Gun Control Act.

The ghost-gun issue is part of a broader combination of state laws. Only 22 states (plus Washington, D.C.) require a background check and/or buyer’s permit for some or all firearm sales. Weapons manufactured or sold without checks in other, less-regulated states can move across state lines.

Illinois illustrates this challenge. Between 2022 and 2023, authorities recovered 3,159 ghost guns as part of criminal investigations, an 81% increase compared with the previous five years. They also recovered 1,198 machine gun conversion devices between 2019 and 2023.

Illinois also received over 23,000 crime-related guns bought from licensed dealers in places such as Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee between 2019 and 2023. Around 13% (roughly 2,990 firearms) were subsequently used in shootings in Illinois. Indiana alone supplied 16% of the guns used in crimes that were recovered in Illinois in 2023, second only to Illinois dealers (51%).

All of this gun-related activity occurred despite the fact that Illinois features some of the country’s strictest gun laws. They include an obligatory Firearm Owners Identification card, background checks on private sales, a 72-hour waiting period, and an assault weapons ban under the Protect Illinois Communities Act. The Seventh Circuit upheld the ban 2–1 on July 10, 2026, while the Supreme Court will hear a consolidated challenge, including a Cook County ordinance, during fall 2026.

Illinois data emphasizes the limits of state-level regulation when illegal firearms and weapons trafficked from other states persistently enter local criminal markets and are subsequently involved in shootings.

The Disparities That Define U.S. Gun Violence

In 2024, 44,447 Americans died by firearm: suicide accounted for 62% of deaths, and mortality varied significantly by state, age, gender, and race, with a notable racial disparity in Illinois. The data also confirms a strong relationship between household gun ownership and firearm deaths. Additionally, the rapid increase of privately made firearms and interstate gun trafficking highlights the extent to which different types of firearm access contribute to the country’s varied death toll.

Ultimately, firearm mortality in America isn’t a single-issue problem: suicide, homicide, demographic disparities, gun ownership, and the growing number of untraceable and trafficked firearms create distinct, often cumulative risks that national or state statistics often miss.

Understanding gun-related offenses in Illinois is critical, as these crimes carry severe penalties that can devastate someone’s life. Illinois’s gun laws are among the most complex in the United States: navigating them demands in-depth knowledge and experience in criminal law.

Illinois gun crime lawyers Hirsch Law Group have a depth of experience in helping first-time offenders. We provide legal guidance that covers the entire process, and we aim to reduce uncertainty and stress. Our goal is to address our clients’ concerns with a high level of professionalism and a transparent strategy to protect their rights and future.