Americans’ Experiences With Gun-Related Violence, Injuries, And Deaths
Key Findings
- Experiences with gun-related incidents are common among U.S. adults. One in five (21%) say they have personally been threatened with a gun, a similar share (19%) say a family member was killed by a gun (including death by suicide), and nearly as many (17%) have personally witnessed someone being shot. Smaller shares have personally shot a gun in self-defense (4%) or been injured in a shooting (4%). In total, about half (54%) of all U.S. adults say they or a family member have ever had one of these experiences.
- Gun-related injuries and deaths, as well as worries about gun violence, disproportionately affect people of color in the U.S. Three in ten Black adults (31%) have personally witnessed someone being shot, as have one-fifth of Hispanic adults (22%). One-third of Black adults (34%) have a family member who was killed by a gun, twice the share of White adults who say the same (17%). In addition, one-third of Black adults (32%) and Hispanic adults (33%) say they worry either “every day,” or “almost every day” about themselves or someone they love being a victim of gun violence (compared to one in ten White adults). And one in five Black adults (20%) and Hispanic adults (18%) feel like gun-related crimes, deaths, and injuries are a “constant threat” to their local community, more than double the share among White adults (8%).
- The majority (84%) of U.S. adults say they have taken at least one precaution to protect themselves or their families from the possibility of gun violence, including nearly six in ten (58%) who have talked to their children or other family members about gun safety, and more than four in ten who have purchased a weapon other than a gun, such as a knife or pepper spray (44%), or attended a gun safety class or practiced shooting a gun (41%). About a third (35%) have avoided large crowds, such as music festivals, or crowded bars and clubs to protect themselves or their families from the possibility of gun violence. Three in ten (29%) have purchased a gun to protect themselves or their family from the possibility of gun violence. Smaller shares, but still at least one in seven, have avoided using public transit (23%), changed or considered changing the school that their child attends (20%), avoided attending religious services, cultural events or celebrations (15%), or moved to a different neighborhood or city (15%).
- One in seven (14%) adults say a doctor or other health care provider has asked if they own a gun or if there are guns in the home, while about one in four (26%) parents of children under 18 say their child’s pediatrician has asked them about guns in the home. Few (5%) adults say a doctor or other health care provider has ever talked to them about gun safety.
- Four in ten (41%) adults report living in a household with a gun. Among this group, more than half say at least one gun in their home is stored in the same location as the ammunition (52%), 44% say a gun is stored in an unlocked location, and more than one-third report a gun is stored loaded (36%). Overall, three in four (75%) adults living in households with guns say any of their guns are stored in one of these ways, representing three in ten overall adults (31%). About four in ten (44%) parents of children under age 18 say there is a gun in their household. Among parents with guns in their home, about one-third say a gun is stored loaded (32%) or stored in an unlocked location (32%). More than half of parents (61%) say any gun in their homes is stored in the same location as ammunition.
Many Say They Or A Family Member Have Experienced Or Witnessed A Shooting, Or Have Been Threatened With A Gun
The latest polling from KFF finds a majority (54%) of U.S. adults have either personally or had a family member who has been impacted by a gun-related incident, such as witnessing a shooting, being threatened by gun, or being injured or killed by a gun. When asked about their own personal experience, one in five report that they have been threatened with a gun (21%), while nearly as many (17%) say they have witnessed someone being shot. Small but important shares report experiencing other gun-related incidents, including 4% who have been injured by a gun, and 4% who have shot a gun in self-defense. The share who have shot a gun in self-defense rises to 18% among adults whose current or past job included the use of guns, such as military or law enforcement work.
When asked about their family members, about three in ten adults (31%) say they have a family member who has been threatened with a gun, while a similar share (28%) say a family member has witnessed someone being shot. One in five (20%) adults say a family member has been injured by a gun, and 19% say a family member has been killed by a gun, including death by suicide. About half of deaths (55%) in the U.S. involving guns are suicides.
People Of Color Are More Likely To Report Experiencing Gun-Related Incidents, More Likely To Worry About And Feel Less Safe From Gun Violence
The latest KFF poll finds experiences with shootings are pervasive but even more commonly reported among people of color. While many factors, such as income, education, age, gender, and where they live can play a role in people’s experiences with gun-related incidents and worries about gun violence, race and ethnicity consistently is one of the strongest demographic predictors of both experiences and worries.1
Black adults (31%) are about twice as likely as White adults (14%) to say they have personally witnessed someone being shot and are also twice as likely to have a family member who has been killed by a gun (34% compared to 17% of White adults). Appendix Table 1 shows each reported incidence asked about by racial and ethnic groups.
Black adults are more Likely To Report Being Worried About Being victims of gun violence, see gun violence as a constant threat
While a majority of adults (82%) say they worry “sometimes” or less often that they or someone they love will be a victim of gun violence, small but important shares say they worry either “every day,” (8%) or “almost every day” (10%) about this. Larger shares of Black and Hispanic adults compared to White adults say they frequently worry about themselves or someone they love being a victim of gun violence. One-third of Black adults (32%) and Hispanic adults (33%) say they worry either “every day,” or “almost every day” about themselves or someone they love being a victim of gun violence, compared to one in ten (10%) White adults.
One-fourth of parents of children under 18 say they worry “every day” (12%) or “almost every day” (13%) about themselves or a loved one being a victim of gun violence. Adults who have personally experienced or had a family member experience a gun-related incident are almost twice as likely to say they worry “every day” than those who have not (11% vs. 6%). In a sign of how pervasive gun violence is, how often someone worries about a loved one being a victim of gun violence does not vary much among all age groups under the age of 65.
Half (51%) of U.S. adults say gun-related crimes, injuries, and deaths, are a “constant threat” in their local community (11%) or a “major concern but not a constant threat” (40%). Majorities of Black adults (62%) and Hispanic adults (62%) say gun-related activities are either a major concern or a constant threat, while less than half (45%) of White adults say the same. Notably, 8% of White adults say gun-related activity is a constant threat, less than half the share of Black adults (20%) or Hispanic adults (18%) who say the same.
Those living in urban areas are more concerned about the threat of gun-related crimes, injuries, and deaths compared to those living in other types of areas. About six in ten (62%) adults living in urban areas say gun activity is a constant threat or a major concern, compared to about half (48%) of those who live in suburban areas and about three in ten (29%) rural adults.
Women are also more likely than men to say gun-related crimes, injuries, and deaths are either a constant threat or major concern in their local communities (58% vs. 43%).
Overall, most adults say they feel either “very” (41%) or “somewhat” (41%) safe from gun violence in their neighborhoods. The groups most likely to say they feel “not too safe” or “not safe at all” from gun violence in their neighborhood are also among the groups most likely to say they worry about someone they love being a victim of gun violence. One in six (17%) Black adults say they feel “not safe at all” from gun violence in their neighborhood, a substantially larger share compared to White adults (2%) and nearly twice as many as compared to Hispanic adults (9%).
Similar shares of people living in urban areas (25%) also say they feel not too safe or not safe at all. About one in five women (22%) say they do not feel safe from gun violence, including 6% who say they feel not safe at all. Larger shares of adults who have experienced gun-related incidents, either personally or had a family member who has, say they feel unsafe from gun violence in their neighborhood than do adults who have not experienced gun-related incidents (23% vs. 13% not too safe or not safe at all).
More Than Eight In Ten Adults Have Taken At Least One Precaution To Protect Themselves Or Their Families From The Possibility Of Gun Violence
Large majorities of adults (84%) say they have taken at least one precaution to protect themselves or their families from the possibility of gun violence. Nearly six in ten (58%) adults say they have talked to their child or other family members about gun safety, including majorities of White adults (62%), Hispanic adults (56%) and Black adults (54%). At least four in ten adults have taken defensive actions, including 44% who say they have purchased a weapon other than a gun, such as a knife, pepper spray, or something else, and 41% who say they have attended a gun safety class or practiced shooting a gun. Nearly half of White adults (47%) say they have taken a gun safety class or practiced shooting a gun, a substantially larger share than Black adults (34%) or Hispanic adults (32%) who say they have done so.
About one in three (35%) adults say they have avoided large crowds, such as music festivals or crowded bars and clubs to help protect themselves or their families from the possibility of gun violence. This figure is driven largely by Black adults, of whom more than half (55%) say they have done this, compared to about four in ten (43%) Hispanic adults and three in ten (29%) White adults.
About three in ten (29%) adults say they have purchased a gun as a precaution against gun violence, including slightly larger shares of White adults (35%) than Black adults (24%) or Hispanic adults (20%). Smaller, but important shares of adults report that they have taken other steps to protect themselves or their families from gun violence, including one in four (23%) who say they have avoided using public transit, one in five (20%) who say they changed or considered changing the school their child attends, and one in seven (15%) who have avoided attending religious services, cultural events, or celebrations, or who have moved to a different neighborhood or city (15%).
Public Awareness And Experiences Talking With Health Care Providers About Gun Safety
Few Adults Say A Health Care Provider Has Talked To Them About Gun Safety
In 2016, the American Medical Association (AMA) adopted a policy calling gun violence in the U.S. a “public health crisis” and since then, medical schools have increasingly offered gun-related content to train doctors about how to talk about gun safety with their patients. However, the latest KFF poll finds that more than eight in ten (86%) adults say they have never had a doctor or other health care provider ask if they own a gun or if there are guns in the home. Overall, 5% say a doctor or health care provider has talked with them about gun safety.
About one in four (26%) parents report that their child’s pediatrician has asked about gun ownership and guns in the home, yet, overall, less than one in ten (8%) say the pediatrician talked to them about gun safety.
Three In Four Adults Living In A Household With A Gun Say It Is Stored Either Unlocked, Loaded, Or In The Same Location As Ammunition
About four in ten (41%) adults say they live in a household with a gun. Among this group, slightly more than half (52%) say at least one gun in their home is stored in the same location as ammunition, while about half (47%) say a gun is not stored in the same location as ammunition. More than four in ten (44%) say any gun in their house is stored in an unlocked location, and just over a third (36%) say any of the guns in their household are stored loaded. Collectively, three in four adults (75%) with guns in their household (31% of all adults) say any of the guns in their house are stored in the same location as ammunition, in an unlocked location, or loaded.
About four in ten (44%) parents of children under age 18 report there is a gun in their household. Parents with guns in their homes are less likely than those without children to say they store their guns loaded or unlocked. About one-third of parents who have guns in their home say their guns are stored loaded (32%) or stored in an unlocked location (32%). More than half of parents (61%) say any gun in their homes are stored in the same location as ammunition. Taken as a whole, a majority (78%) of parents in gun-owning households say a gun is stored in any one of these ways.
Knowledge on some Gun Violence facts IS SOMEWHAT LIMITED
Despite the ubiquitous news of gun violence in this country and that so many people have experienced gun-related incidents, the public is largely unaware of the extent to which guns are responsible for the deaths of young people and the cause of death in many suicides. About half (49%) of the public is aware that guns are the leading cause of death for children and teenagers ages 1-19 in the U.S, which recently became the case in 2020 according to an analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Past KFF analysis of CDC and IMHME data has found that the U.S. is alone among peer countries in the number of deaths of children and teens by guns. In no other peer country are guns a top cause of childhood and teenage mortality. In the survey, Black adults (71%) and Hispanic adults (60%) are more likely than White adults (42%) to be aware that guns are the leading cause of death for those under the age of 20 in the U.S.
Slightly less than half (46%) of adults are aware that more than half of deaths in the U.S. involving guns are suicides. Indeed, in the U.S., about half of deaths (55%) in the U.S. involving guns are suicides according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and about half of suicides (52%) are committed by guns according to the National Institute of Health (NIH).