Gun Violence Facts

Gun violence kills about 30,000 Americans each year and injures more than twice as many.

Examine the numbers for yourself at the Center for Disease Control’s website. The WISQARS (Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System) is an easy-to-use, interactive database system that provides customized reports of injury-related data. You can research data by year(s), manner of injury, cause of injury, state or region, race, sex, and age.

The database provides the following information:

YearGun deathsNon-fatal gunshot injuriesAge-Adjusted Death Rate
200028,66375,685NA
200129,57363,01210.31
200230,24258,84110.43
200330,13665,83410.29
200429,56964,3899.99
200530,69469,82510.27
200630,89671,41710.22
200731,22469,86310.24
200831,59378,62210.23
200931,34766,76910.05
201031,67273,50510.07
201132,35178,88310.17
201233,56381,39610.45
201333,63684,25810.38
201433,59981,03410.27
201536,25211.04
201638,65811.73
201739,77311.98
201839,74011.87
201939,70711.83

These numbers show that gun violence is an enormous public health problem in this country.

Data from the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) show that gun violence is also a serious problem in Oregon.

YearOregonian gun deaths
2000378 (80% were suicides)
2001360 (80% were suicides)
2002376 (77% were suicides)
2003393 (84% were suicides)
2004383 (78% were suicides)
2005402 (79% were suicides)
2006384 (80% were suicides)
2007387 (84% were suicides)
2008385 (83% were suicides)
2009417 (83% were suicides)
2010458 (82% were suicides)
2011420 (82% were suicides)
2012443 (83% were suicides)
2013462 (84% were suicides)
2014497 (85% were suicides)
2015486 (77% were suicides)
2016510 (81% were suicides)
2017529 (83% were suicides)
2018519 (82% were suicides)
2019566 (82% were suicides)
2020127 fatally shot (Suicide data not yet available)

The 2000 to 2004 data are set forth in the Oregon Vital Statistics Annual Report for the year specified, in volume 2, section 6, table 6-30 (in the 2000 report, table 6-29). Click here to view the reports. The 2005 to 2014 data are from Center for Disease Control: Injury and Prevention Control: Data and Statistics (WISQARS) for Oregon.

Oregon State Links

National Links

Gun Lobby Organizations

Note: Links to these sites are provided as an educational service by Ceasefire Oregon and the Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation, but are neither part of nor endorsed by Ceasefire Oregon or the Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation. Ceasefire Oregon and the Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation have no control over the content or availability of these sites.

COEF’s Presentations to the Oregon Public Health Association Conference

2019: Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation’s presentation to Oregon Public Health Association, “Educating Healthcare Providers and the Public About the Link Between Firearm Ownership and Suicide.

The link between suicide and gun ownership is well established.
Miller, Azrael, et al, from the Harvard School of Public Health conducted a
survey of American households in 2002. In states where guns were prevalent—as in Wyoming, where 63 percent of household reported owning guns—rates of suicide were higher. The inverse was also true: where gun ownership was less common, suicide rates were also lower.

Tragically, only 1 of 3 health care practitioners agreed that having a household firearm increases suicide risk. Among health care practitioners who own firearms, 11.8% agreed with this statement.

Providing accurate information about the increased risk of suicide among gun owners is vital to reducing gun death in Oregon, where 82% of all gunshot death is suicide.