CDC Data Sheds Light on Alarming Rise in Gun Suicides Across the Country, Disporportionate Impact on Communities of Color

Gun Suicide is at its Highest in the United States Since At Least 1968, CDC Data Shows Alarming Increases in Alaskan Native, Black and Latinx Communities

NEW YORK – Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, highlighting the CDC’s data on the troubling – and persistent – rise in suicide rates across the country. The New York Times also released an analysis this afternoon examining the data and the impact of gun suicide on communities across the country. The CDC’s data shows that the annual firearm suicide rate in the United States increased approximately 11% from 2019 to 2022—the highest documented level since at least 1968.

According to the CDC’s report, while gun suicide rates increased for all racial and ethnic groups from 2019 to 2022, certain groups experienced drastically higher increases in gun suicide. The single largest increase was experienced by the American Indian and Alaska Native community who saw a 66% increase, followed by the Black community that saw a 42% increase and the Latinx community that experienced a 28% increase.

Nearly six out of every 10 gun deaths in the US are suicides, averaging 68 people dying by gun suicide every day. The CDC’s data shows that over the past two decades, suicide rates overall have risen, with firearm suicide accounting for roughly one half of all suicides. 

“Every firearm suicide is a preventable tragedy. Keeping guns out of the hands of people experiencing a suicidal crisis is one of the most effective ways to avert tragedy,” said Sarah Burd-Sharps, Senior Director of Research at Everytown for Gun Safety. “When our leaders take action to pass proven gun safety laws, like policies that allow families and loved ones to intervene when someone is in crisis and petition to temporarily remove their guns, they can save lives.”

While gun suicide rates continue to increase across the country, this is not the case in every state. In September, Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund released a first-of-its-kind report analyzing suicide rates against state gun laws spanning multiple decades.

The report shows that in the two decades from 1999 to 2022, while firearm suicide rates have gone up 39% among 14 states designated as “national failures” on gun safety policy, rates of firearm suicide have gone down in the eight states that Everytown has designated as “national leaders” in gun violence prevention policies. Over this same period, there has been little to no difference in rates of suicides by other means in either states with weak or strong gun laws, inherently challenging the notion that individuals intent on attempting suicide will find a way, with or without a gun – a relentless and innacurate myth spread by the gun lobby. 

The bottom line: firearm suicide can be prevented through common-sense gun safety laws. From waiting periods and secure storage laws to Extreme Risk laws, when states take comprehensive action to pass common-sense gun violence prevention policies, we save lives.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org/chat to chat with a counselor from the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides 24/7, free, and confidential support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress anywhere in the U.S.