For Release: Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Washington, DC — Gun deaths outpaced motor vehicle deaths in 34 states and the District of Columbia in 2023, the most recent year for which data are available, a new analysis from the Violence Policy Center (VPC) reveals.
That year, gun deaths (including gun suicide, homicide, and fatal unintentional shootings) outpaced motor vehicle deaths (both occupant and pedestrian) in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
The analysis calls the numbers “shocking,” recognizing the average American’s exposure to motor vehicles as opposed to firearms. Nine out of 10 American households have access to a motor vehicle while approximately four out of 10 American households contain a gun.
In just over a decade, the number of states plus the District of Columbia where gun deaths exceed motor vehicle deaths has nearly doubled: from just 18 in 2013 to 35 in 2023. Complete state-by-state tables showing firearm deaths and rates and motor vehicle deaths and rates for 2013 and 2023 are contained in the analysis. Data used for the analysis are from the WISQARS database from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
VPC Government Affairs Director Kristen Rand states, “While automakers must meet minimum safety standards designed to prevent death and injury, firearm manufacturers are free to innovate for lethality rather than safety. These statistics are the direct result of the firearm industry’s unique exemption from federal health and safety oversight.”
In its conclusion, the analysis states, “Gun death and injury is an accelerating public health crisis fueled by an unregulated industry…that works to develop increasingly lethal firearms and ammunition. The industry then touts this firepower in its marketing efforts. As with motor vehicles, until the gun industry is held accountable for the harm caused by its products only limited progress can be made to reduce firearms death and injury. Such measures would include comprehensive health and safety regulation of the firearms industry and repeal of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA).”
To view the full analysis, please visit https://vpc.org/studies/gunsvsmotorvehicles25.pdf.
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The Violence Policy Center is a national educational organization working to stop gun death and injury. Follow the VPC on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.
