Gun violence

Gun related violence is violence committed with the use of a gun (firearm or small arm). Gun related violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal, includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable), assault with a deadly weapon, and suicide, or attempted suicide, depending on jurisdiction. Non-criminal violence may include accidental or unintentional injury and death. Included in this subject are statistics regarding military or para-military activities, as well as the actions of civilians.

Graph showing the rate of gun deaths per capita in the United States and Australia between the years 1990 and 2012.
Time series showing rates of gun related deaths per capita (all sources) in the US and Australia (1990-2012)
According to GunPolicy.org, 75 percent of the world's 875 million guns are civilian controlled.Globally, millions are wounded through the use of guns. Assault by firearm resulted in 180,000 deaths in 2013 up from 128,000 deaths in 1990. There was an additionally 47,000 unintentional firearm related deaths in 2013.

Levels of gun related violence vary greatly among geographical regions, countries, and even subnationally. The United States has the highest rate of gun related deaths per capita among developed countries,:29 though it also has the highest rate of gun ownership and the highest rate of officers. Mother Jones has found that, in the United States, "gun death rates tend to be higher in states with higher rates of gun ownership." It has also found that "gun death rates are generally lower in states with restrictions such as assault-weapons bans or safe-storage requirements."

According to the United Nations, Deaths from small firearms exceed that of all other weapons combined, and more die each year from gun related violence than did in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. The global death toll from use of guns may number as high as 1,000 dead each day.

Aside from the human costs like the emotional toll of losing a loved one, the purely economic cost of gun related violence in the United States is $229 billion a year, meaning a single murder has average direct costs of almost $450,000, from the police and ambulance at the scene, to the hospital, courts, and prison for the murderer.

Assault by firearm resulted in 180,000 deaths worldwide in 2013, up from 128,000 deaths worldwide in 1990. There were 47,000 unintentional firearm deaths worldwide in 2013.

Emergency medical care is a major contributor to the monetary costs of such violence. It was determined in a study that for every firearm death in the United States for the year beginning 1 June 1992, an average of three firearm-related injuries were treated in hospital emergency departments.

Children exposed to gun related violence, whether they are victims, perpetrators, or witnesses, can experience negative psychological effects over the short and long terms. Psychological trauma also is common among children who are exposed to high levels of violence in their communities or through the media. Psychologist James Garbarino, who studies children in the U.S. and internationally, found that individuals who experience violence are prone to mental and other health problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep deprivation. These problems increase for those who experience violence as children.