The rate of nonfatal gun violence for people age 12 and older dropped 72% from 1993 to 2023, and barely nudged higher during the post-pandemic surge of violence, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics reports in a new analysis of long-term gun violence trends. In other key findings, the report, Trends and Patterns in Firearm Violence, 1993–2023, found that more one-third of nonfatal firearm violence went unreported to police during 2018-22, and that an average of 80% of 2018-22 homicides were committed with a firearm. The report relied on several data sources, including BJS’s National Crime Victimization Survey and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Vital Statistics System, National Violent Death Reporting System, National Syndromic Surveillance Program and Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
Eighty percent of homicides from 2018 to 2022 were committed with a firearm, while 90% of both fatal and
nonfatal firearm violence involved the use of a handgun. Forty-two percent of nonfatal firearm violence occurred in or near the victim's home during 2018-22, while a greater percentage of nonfatal violence involving a firearm (27%) than nonfirearm violence (18%) occurred in an open area, on the street, or on
public transportation. The report defines nonfatal firearm violence to include rape or sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault victimizations in which the offender had, showed or used a firearm. Fatal firearm violence includes fatal firearm-involved injuries inflicted by another person with intent to injure or kill and excludes firearm homicides by law enforcement or in war.
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