FBI 2022 Crime Data Sheds Light on Disproportionate Impact of Gun Violence on Children, Teens and Black Community

NEW YORK – Earlier this week, the FBI released its annual Crime in the Nation report revealing the disproportionate impact of America’s gun violence crisis on children, teens and the Black community. The report, which breaks down FBI data from 2022, shows that while rates of violent crime and fatal gun violence decreased overall, rates of gun violence increased amongst juveniles, with rates of fatal gun violence increasing 11%. The FBI’s data also shows how while fatal gun violence decreased across the country, Black people still died by gun violence at a rate nearly ten times higher than their white counterparts.

Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens in America. While gun violence rates dropped overall amongst adults, the FBI’s data shows how gun violence rates continue to climb among children and teens. A recent report by the Center for Justice Innovation found that since the onset of COVID-19, young people carry guns for reasons such as protection, fear, prior victimization, lack of economic opportunity, and threats of violence on social media. Every year, nearly 19,000 children and teens are shot and killed or wounded and approximately three million are exposed to gun violence. Witnessing shootings – whether in their schools, their communities or their homes – can have a devastating impact. Even for those who haven’t experienced gun violence, the trauma of experiencing active shooter drills and swatting incidents – which are happening with increasing frequency – leaves students, teachers and parents across the country experiencing firsthand the impacts of the gun lobby’s ‘guns everywhere’ agenda. 

America’s gun violence epidemic also disproportionately impacts the Black community and other marginalized communities. On average, Black people in America are twelve times more likely than their white counterparts to die by gun homicide. The data released by the FBI earlier this week also sheds light on how gun violence impacts the Native American community – with the rate of fatal gun violence nearly 50%  higher than the rate for white people. Inequities in systems such as those in our justice, health, housing, and education institutions, along with generations of discrimination and disinvestment in certain communities, have exacerbated the gun violence crisis in a way that disproportionately impacts historically marginalized communities, including racial and ethnic groups, women, and LGBTQ+ people. 
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