Firearm violence is any conflict, injury or fatality involving a firearm. That includes a wide variety of instances that aren’t often associated with firearm violence: homicides, accidents, police shootings, domestic violence and suicide. Firearm violence is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. for adults, and in 2021 became the leading cause for kids and teens.
Homicides are when someone intentionally takes another person’s life by firing a gun. Accidental shootings include both fatal and nonfatal injuries that unintentionally happen. Police shootings are also their own complicated category, especially when police departments leave them out of a city’s gun violence totals. Domestic violence related to firearms not only includes fatal and nonfatal shootings, but also when a gun is used as a tool for abuse and control. Firearm suicides make up, on average, two-thirds of overall gun deaths, a fact that is not widely known or reported.