Report Highlights
Millions of American homes contain one or more firearms. There is an average of 44,404 gun deaths each year (2018-2025*).
- There is one gunshot fatality for every 2,547 adults living in homes with guns in the U.S. annually (2018 to 2025*), though not all victims lived in homes with guns.
- In 2022, 78.3% of unintentional firearm deaths occurred in a private residence, with 52.5% occurring in the victim’s residence.
- Firearms and hanging were involved in only 8.8% of suicide attempts, but accounted for 75.3% of suicide fatalities.
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Methodology
All data in this report are drawn from primary government and peer-reviewed sources wherever possible, including the CDC WONDER provisional database, National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer (CDE) and legacy Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), and studies published in journals including Annals of Internal Medicine, JAMA Psychiatry, American Journal of Public Health, and BMC Public Health. Survey-based estimates are noted separately because of their varying methodologies.
Time periods vary by source and are labeled throughout; figures marked with an asterisk (*) may include provisional CDC data and are subject to revision. Defensive gun uses range widely across sources (roughly 61,000-65,000 to 2.2-2.25 million per year). These figures represent varying methodologies and definitions. This report cites multiple estimates; national data cannot reliably estimate home-invasion-specific defensive gun use rates.
The estimate of gunshot fatalities among adults living in a home with a firearm was sourced from a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, which estimated that 42% of all American adults (113.1 million of 269.2 million) live in a home with a gun, and the CDC WONDER Provisional database average of 44,404 annual gun deaths between 2018 and 2025. 1, 2, 16 This produces a population-level approximation, not a measure of individual risk. The gun death numerator is not limited to victims who themselves lived in a home with a firearm.
Several cited studies on firearm access and homicide/suicide risk have documented limitations (e.g. incomplete adjustment for prior history of violence, small sample sizes, and unknown causal factors). These are noted in context and are not exact figures.
Does Having a Gun in Your Home Make You Safer?
Data suggest there is one fatality for every 2,547 American adults living in homes with guns each year, though not all victims lived in homes with guns.
According to a 2023 Pew survey, 42% (113.1 million) of American adults live in a household with a firearm. 1 Nearly three-quarters (72%) of gun owners cite protection as the main reason for owning a gun. 1 Of all American gun owners, 37.6% (approximately 33.1 million people) have used a firearm to defend themselves, their property, a family member, or a member of their household. Gun owners report an estimated 2.2 million defensive uses annually. 5
From 2018 to 2025*, there were an average of 44,404 reported gun deaths. 2 An earlier report covering 2016 through 2018 estimated two nonfatal shooting injuries for every gun death. 3 These figures combined (between 80,000 and 90,000 injuries per year, and 44,404 deaths) suggest an average of approximately 130,000 gunshot injuries and fatalities annually.
Per a 2014 meta-analysis, firearms accounted for more than half (51.8%) of all suicides, most of which occurred inside the decedents’ homes (76.4%). 4 More recent data from the CDC suggest that 59.0% of all gunshot deaths between 2018 and 2025* were suicides. 2
What Percentage of Gun Accidents Happen in the Home?
According to the CDC, 78.3% of 530 recorded unintentional shooting deaths in 2022 occurred inside a private residence. More than half (52.5%) occurred inside the decedents’ residences. 6
Between 2003 and 2021, 85.0% of all unintentional firearm deaths examined by the CDC (1,262) involving children and adolescents (0-17) occurred in a home or apartment. Over half of these incidents (56.0%) occurred in the victims’ residences. 7
Domestic Violence and Guns in the Home
According to the FBI CDE, 71,694 homicides with a known victim-offender relationship were reported from January 2020 to December 2025. Of those, 27.4% (19,638) occurred within a known family member or intimate partner relationship. 9 According to the CDC, 45.0% of all female homicide victims were killed in their homes, while 17.9% of male victims met the same end. 6
From 2015 to 2020, the FBI SHR reported 11,440 family homicides (which included only marital, blood, or common-law relationships), of which 5,658 (49%) involved firearms. 8A report published in BMC Public Health in 2025 suggests that individuals involved in domestic violence have higher odds of purchasing guns than those who aren’t. Intimate partner violence perpetrators had nearly five times higher odds of purchasing a gun within the past year than non-perpetrators, while victims had nearly three times higher odds than non-victims. Because this study is cross-sectional, it shows association; not cause and effect. 10
A 2022 Stanford-led cohort study of 17.6 million California adults suggested that people who began living with a handgun owner had more than double the risk of falling victim to homicide than those in households without guns. However, the study did not adjust for the victim’s prior risk for homicide, nor did it adjust for homes that may have had an unregistered handgun during the studied time period. 11 Recent estimates suggest there were 2,397,600 gun-owning households in California in 2025. That same year, Californiareported 252 family or intimate partner violence-related homicides. Although the weapon type is currently unknown, assuming firearms were used in all 252 incidents, this suggests that roughly one family member or intimate partner is murdered for every 9,514 gun-owning households in the state. 9
For homicide figures beyond the home, see our breakdown of murders by weapon type.
Home Invasion and Defensive Gun Use Statistics
The FBI CDE reported 915,372 robberies in the U.S. from January 2020 through December 2025. Of those, 18.4% (168,189) occurred in a residence or home. Although the NCVS suggests there are 61,000 to 65,000 defensive gun uses (i.e. preventing at least one of six major crime types) each year, the actual number of home invasions stopped by defensive gun use is unknown. 9, 12
A 1994 study examined 1,896,842 incidents in which an individual reported retrieving a firearm to stop a home invader but stated that they did not see a suspect. In a separate estimated 497,646 cases, the homeowner saw a suspect and reportedly scared them away. 13
A frequently cited survey of convicted felons found that 74% of criminals avoid breaking into occupied homes out of fear of being shot. 14
Suicide and Firearm Access
According to the CDC, there were 386,702 suicides in the U.S. from 2018 through 2025*. Of those, 208,980 (54.0%) were firearm-related suicides. 2 A nationwide study examining suicide attempts and deaths from 2007 to 2014 suggests that firearms are the most lethal method of suicidal acts (89.6% of firearm-related suicide attempts resulted in death), followed by drowning (56.4%) and hanging (52.7%). 15
While drug poisoning accounted for 59.4% of suicide attempts, this method resulted in only 13.5% of all suicide deaths. Firearms and hanging are far less common overall (8.8% of suicide attempts combined), but also accounted for a large share of suicide fatalities (75.3%). 15
Guns in the Home: Wrap-Up
Many American homes contain firearms. Although the relationship between firearm owners and injuries is complex, the vast majority of gun owners will never experience a firearm-related injury or fatality in their homes.
For ownership rates across the country, see our study of gun ownership by state, and for safe handling at home, review the four basic rules of gun safety.
Written by Cassandra McBride