The largest number of gun deaths each year are suicides, not homicides. Every year in the United States, tens of thousands of people bring their lives to an end with a gun. In 2023, of the 46,728 total gun deaths that occurred that year, 27,300 were suicides.
The prevalence of suicide in the United States is directly linked to the easy availability of firearms. The completion of any suicide attempt depends primarily on the lethality of the means employed, and guns are the most lethal means available. Approximately 85 percent of suicide attempts with a firearm are fatal.
The Harvard School of Public Health notes that “virtually every other method is less lethal than a firearm so there’s greater chance the person won’t die in their attempt … With a firearm, once the trigger is pulled, there’s no turning back.”
We cannot ignore this ongoing epidemic. It is well past time for effective gun violence prevention policies that could drastically reduce the number of suicides in the United States.
Publications
States with Lower Gun Ownership and Stronger Gun Laws Have Lowest Suicide Rates (09/09/2025)
State Overall Suicide Rates, Ranked by Rate, 2023
Previous Editions
States with Lower Gun Ownership and Stronger Gun Laws Have Lowest Suicide Rates (09/12/2024)
State Overall Suicide Rates, Ranked by Rate, 2022
States with Lower Gun Ownership and Stronger Gun Laws Have Lowest Suicide Rates (09/13/2023)
State Overall Suicide Rates, Ranked by Rate, 2021
States with Lower Gun Ownership and Stronger Gun Laws Have Lowest Suicide Rates (09/27/2022)
State Overall Suicide Rates, Ranked by Rate, 2020
States with Lower Gun Ownership and Stronger Gun Laws Have Lowest Suicide Rates (09/08/2021)
State Overall Suicide Rates, Ranked by Rate, 2019
States with Lower Gun Ownership and Strong Gun Laws Have Lowest Suicide Rates (09/17/2020)
State Overall Suicide Rates, Ranked by Rate, 2018
States with Higher Gun Ownership and Weak Gun Laws Lead Nation in Suicide While States with Lower Gun Ownership and Strong Gun Laws Have Lowest Suicide Rates (09/11/2020)
State Overall Suicide Rates, Ranked by Rate, 2017
States with Weak Gun Laws and Higher Gun Ownership Lead Nation in Gun Suicides (05/30/2018)
State Firearm Suicide Rates, 2016
Additional VPC Materials
More than 10,000 California Latinos Have Died from Suicide Since 1999, VPC Study Reveals (09/30/2019)
Hispanic/Latino Suicide in California (09/30/2019)