Issues

Armed Extremism

The U.S. faces a confluence of dangerous challenges from white supremacists, anti-government militias, and other armed groups and individuals of the extreme right that seek to perpetrate violence, spread conspiracies, traffic in hate speech, and engage in armed intimidation. Guns and gun rights are central to many extreme-right groups and individuals.

Impact of Gun Violence on Black Americans

Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by gun violence. They experience 10 times the gun homicides, 18 times the gun assault injuries, and nearly 3 times the fatal police shootings of white Americans.

Domestic Violence

Domestic violence and gun violence are deeply interconnected, impacting millions of women, families, and communities across the U.S. Guns are more likely to turn abuse fatal.

Gun Suicide

Gun suicide claims the lives of  nearly 24,000 people in America every year. This public health crisis should be addressed to reduce gun violence in this country.

Responsible Gun Ownership

There are an estimated 393 million civilian-owned firearms in the United States. With gun ownership comes responsibility. All gun owners should take certain steps to ensure that their guns are used safely, stored securely, and that they don’t end up in the wrong hands.

Gun Violence by Police

Every year, police in America shoot and kill more than 1,000 people, and Black people are victims at a disproportionate rate. Curbing this gun violence requires confronting America’s history of racism, reimagining the role of police, and implementing policies that reduce police gun violence.

Mass Shootings

In the eight years between 2015 and 2022, over 19,000 people were shot and killed or wounded in the United States in a mass shooting. The reach of each mass shooting stretches far beyond those killed and wounded, harming the well-being of survivors, their families, and entire communities.

Lack of Gun Industry Accountability

Every day, more than 110 people are shot and killed in the United States, but the gun industry plays by a special set of rules that allows it to avoid responsibility and endanger public safety.

Not Enough Funding for Research

Though more than 40,000 people are killed with guns in the U.S. every year, Congress has restricted research on the causes and impacts of gun violence. Research on gun violence could lead to the development of life-saving scientific and policy solutions.

Keeping Guns Out of the Wrong Hands

Keeping guns out of the hands of people who are likely to harm themselves or others—before they act—is the most effective way to prevent gun violence.

Hate Crimes

In an average year, over 10,300 hate crimes in the United States involve a firearm—more than 28 each day. Easy access to guns gives a single, hate-filled individual the means to shatter numerous lives and whole communities.

Guns in Schools

We need meaningful strategies to keep our nation’s schools safe. School communities must be provided with the tools they need to intervene and prevent school-based gun violence.

Guns in Public

Carrying a gun in public is a tremendous responsibility. Common-sense public safety laws help keep guns out of places where they don’t belong. They also ensure that people who carry concealed guns in public have undergone a background check and gun owner safety training.

Gun Trafficking

Criminals get their hands on tens of thousands of guns every year through illegal trafficking. States with weak gun laws often serve as suppliers of guns to states with stronger gun laws. Law enforcement is constrained by insufficient laws to crack down on gun trafficking.

Ghost Guns

A ghost gun is a do-it-yourself, homemade gun made from easy-to-get building blocks that can be purchased with no background check and no questions asked. These guns are made by an individual, not a federally licensed manufacturer or importer. Ghost guns are the fastest-growing gun safety problem facing our country.

Downloadable Guns

Downloadable guns, or 3-D printed guns, are serious threats to our communities. With a 3-D printer and access to the computer schematics, anyone can build an untraceable firearm without a background check.

COVID & Gun Violence

Unprecedented increases in gun sales, combined with economic distress and social isolation due to COVID-19, are intensifying the country’s gun violence crisis.

City Gun Violence

Gun violence is prevalent in many U.S. cities, particularly in historically underfunded neighborhoods. It spreads through social networks and intensifies long-standing inequities and public health disparities.

Child & Teen Gun Safety

Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens (ages 1 to 19) in the United States. Every year, 19,000 children and teens are shot and killed or wounded and approximately 3 million are exposed to gun violence.