Gun Violence
The YWCA Racial Justice Challenge explores the history of gun ownership in America, and how it has impacted the lives of marginalized people. YWCA is committed to ensuring that communities are safe places for women and girls to thrive. The United States has the highest number of civilian-owned firearms in the world. However, from school hallways to music festivals and nightclubs to homes and communities across the country, headlines and research make clear that gun violence is a major threat to Americans’ health and safety. Women — and in particular, women of color —experience unacceptably high levels of gun violence that leave them at heightened risk of harm and death.
Suicide
According to PEW Research Center, suicides account for half of gun deaths in the U.S. These resources will discuss the complex reasons for this rise, including an increase in firearm purchases among people of color and the powerful stigma around mental health in this country. Only one in ten people who attempt suicide with a gun survive, so we must find ways to remove firearms from crisis situations.
About half of all suicides are committed with guns, and this proportion has been rising. Between 2019and 2022, the rate of firearm suicide increased 11% — from 7.3 per 100,000 to 8.1 — the highest level since 1968.
Communities of color have disproportionately experienced these increases: the rate of increase in firearm suicide for American Indian/Alaska Native individuals was 66%, 42% for Black individuals, and 28% for Latino/Latinas, compared to a 9% increase experienced by white individuals.
In 2022, the suicide rate among Black children and teens (ages 10-19) surpassed the rate for white children and teens. The Black children and teen firearm suicide rate has tripled over the last two decades.
Every year, an average of 3,250 women die by firearm suicide, representing 54% of all female gun deaths.
The firearm suicide rate rose by 17% for women over the last decade, and at disproportionate levels for women of color: though gun suicide rates rose 15% for white women, American Indian / Alaska Native women saw a 114% increase, Black women a 103% increase, Latinas a 96% increase, and Asian American/ Pacific Islander women a 26% increase.
Firearms and Intimate Partner Violence
As headlines and research make clear, gun violence is a major threat to the health and safety of women and girls, particularly women and girls of color. Women’s experiences of gun violence are inextricably linked to domestic violence, and firearm violence is particularly dangerous for women of color. Unfortunately, the significant links between mass shootings and domestic violence, and the disparate impacts of gun violence on women of color, are too often overlooked in the public narrative.
Some 4.5 million women in the U.S. have been threatened with a gun by an intimate partner, and nearly 1 million women alive today have been shot, or shot at, by an intimate partner.
In an average month, 70 women in the U.S. are shot to death by intimate more are injured.
Most mass shootings in the U.S. — those in which four or more individuals are killed — are related to domestic violence: shooters killed intimate partners or other family members in at least 46% of mass shootings.
Intimate partner firearm violence is particularly dangerous for women of color. For instance, Latinas are twice as likely, Black women are nearly 3x as likely, and American Indian / Alaska Native women are nearly 4x as likely as white women to be murdered by an intimate partner using a gun. Further, while Asian American / Pacific Islander women have lower rates of intimate partner firearm homicide than other racial and ethnic groups, they experience the highest proportion of firearm homicides committed by intimate partners — 58% of gun homicides of AAPI women are committed by an intimate partner.
Transgender women of color face an even higher increased risk of gun violence: transgender women are 3.6x more likely to experience gun violence than cisgender women, and nearly 85% of transgender victims are women of color.
Firearm Violence and Communities of Color
Weak firearm safety laws and systemic racial inequities — including racial segregation; unequal access to safe housing; underfunded schools; poor access to health care, social services, and employment opportunities; and a history of disinvestment in public infrastructure and services — contribute to disproportionate rates of gun violence in communities of color in the United States, further exacerbating existing social and economic disparities. These communities experience higher rates of firearm-related injuries and fatalities, leading to acycle of trauma and grief. The impact extends beyond immediate physical harm, influencing mental health, community cohesion, and economic prospects. Addressing the root causes of gun violence and implementing comprehensive community-based solutions are crucial steps to break this cycle and promote safer, healthier environments for marginalized communities.
Every year in the U.S., more than 46,000 Black people are shot and wounded, one person every 11 minutes. Further, Black individuals made up just 12% of the U.S. population in 2020, yet they were victims in 61% of all gun homicides. Black individuals are 12x more likely than white individuals to die by gun homicide.
Black people are 3x more likely than white people to be fatally shot by police.
Every year in the U.S., more than 4,700 Latinos/Latinas die from gun violence, and more than 13,000 are shot and wounded. 60% of deaths among Latinos/Latinas are homicides, and they are twice as likely as white people to die by gun homicide and 4x as likely as white people to be wounded by a firearm during an assault.
Firearm homicide disproportionately impacts teens of color: Latino/Latina teens and children are 4x more likely and Black children and teens are 20x more likely to die by firearm homicide, compared to their white counterparts.
More than 2,600 women are murdered by guns each year. Women of color are overrepresented in these deaths at 61%, despite comprising only 40% of the population.
90% of gun violence survivors report experiencing trauma from the incident, but less than half of survivors report that they have access to the support, assistance, or services they needed to cope with the violence within the six months to a year following the incident.
A recent report by Everytown found that Black and Latino/Latina survivors of gun violence reported experiencing less attention, but more blame, from law enforcement than white survivors. Survivors of color also more frequently experienced disbelief from law enforcement, and were more likely to report that their cases were less prioritized than white participants. Black and Latino/Latina survivors were therefore more likely to have a loved one whose homicide remains unsolved. Black and Latino/Latina survivors are less likely than white survivors to have access to short- and long-term support for mental health services after surviving gun violence, and even when accessing services, experienced stigma, discrimination, and a lack of culturally attuned providers.
White Supremacy and Gun Violence
Over the past several years, we have seen numerous examples of white supremacist gun violence devastating communities across the country. This violence is part of the long history of racial terrorism and hate crimes in the United States, which modern firearms have only made deadlier. The below resources will help us understand this phenomenon and what we can do to break the cycle.
In 2022, 59.1% of all hate crimes were based on race, ethnicity, or ancestry; anti-Black incidents were three times higher than the next racial or ethnic category.
Longitudinal research shows that, on average, 69 hate crimes are committed in the U.S. using a firearm every day.
Nine of the 13 shooters in the ten deadliest mass shootings were white, and at last two of the shooters expressed support for white supremacist extreme ideologies before committing the mass shooting.
Only half of states prohibit people with hate crime convictions from having firearms.