Evidence · 2026-11-03
What share of U.S. violent offenses is a firearm?
National BJS estimates, 2022–2024. The firearm share eased. This page reports that national share. 2024 is still the initial vintage.
Data
| row_kind | year | offense | weapon | estimate | denominator | share_pct | vintage | pop_coverage_pct | suppressed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| firearm_share | 2022 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Firearms | 17443 | 22949 | 76.0 | final | 77.5 | no |
| firearm_share | 2023 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Firearms | 15680 | 20973 | 74.8 | final | 84.1 | no |
| firearm_share | 2024 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Firearms | 13187 | 18014 | 73.2 | initial | 86.6 | no |
| firearm_share | 2022 | Violent Crime | Firearms | 484132 | 1420287 | 34.1 | final | 77.5 | no |
| firearm_share | 2023 | Violent Crime | Firearms | 433281 | 1382749 | 31.3 | final | 84.1 | no |
| firearm_share | 2024 | Violent Crime | Firearms | 388494 | 1326129 | 29.3 | initial | 86.6 | no |
| firearm_share | 2022 | Aggravated Assault | Firearms | 370642 | 1004393 | 36.9 | final | 77.5 | no |
| firearm_share | 2023 | Aggravated Assault | Firearms | 332514 | 980957 | 33.9 | final | 84.1 | no |
| firearm_share | 2024 | Aggravated Assault | Firearms | 303284 | 951382 | 31.9 | initial | 86.6 | no |
| firearm_share | 2022 | Robbery | Firearms | 93649 | 242183 | 38.7 | final | 77.5 | no |
| firearm_share | 2023 | Robbery | Firearms | 82924 | 238772 | 34.7 | final | 84.1 | no |
| firearm_share | 2024 | Robbery | Firearms | 69984 | 220838 | 31.7 | initial | 86.6 | no |
| murder_firearm_type | 2022 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Handgun | 8691 | 16346 | 53.2 | final | 77.5 | no |
| murder_firearm_type | 2022 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Rifle | 576 | 16346 | 3.5 | final | 77.5 | no |
| murder_firearm_type | 2022 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Shotgun | 208 | 16346 | 1.3 | final | 77.5 | no |
| murder_firearm_type | 2022 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Other Firearm | 16346 | final | 77.5 | yes | ||
| murder_firearm_type | 2022 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Firearm | 6871 | 16346 | 42.0 | final | 77.5 | no |
| murder_firearm_type | 2023 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Handgun | 7897 | 15348 | 51.5 | final | 84.1 | no |
| murder_firearm_type | 2023 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Rifle | 567 | 15348 | 3.7 | final | 84.1 | no |
| murder_firearm_type | 2023 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Shotgun | 198 | 15348 | 1.3 | final | 84.1 | no |
| murder_firearm_type | 2023 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Other Firearm | 468 | 15348 | 3.0 | final | 84.1 | no |
| murder_firearm_type | 2023 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Firearm | 6218 | 15348 | 40.5 | final | 84.1 | no |
| murder_firearm_type | 2024 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Handgun | 6694 | 12930 | 51.8 | initial | 86.6 | no |
| murder_firearm_type | 2024 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Rifle | 434 | 12930 | 3.4 | initial | 86.6 | no |
| murder_firearm_type | 2024 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Shotgun | 164 | 12930 | 1.3 | initial | 86.6 | no |
| murder_firearm_type | 2024 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Other Firearm | 413 | 12930 | 3.2 | initial | 86.6 | no |
| murder_firearm_type | 2024 | Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter | Firearm | 5225 | 12930 | 40.4 | initial | 86.6 | no |
Methods & limits
Question. Of the Bureau of Justice Statistics national violent-offense estimates, what share is coded as a firearm, and does that share move from 2022 to 2024?
- National BJS file. The rows are the U.S. estimate. The question on this page is the firearm share.
- Source is the BJS/FBI NIBRS national estimates already imported on this host, violent offenses table. Coding used for the share is estimate_domain_1 = Weapon involved, estimate_type = count, the full violent-offense total.
- Share is Firearms divided by the sum of Firearms, knives and other cutting instruments, blunt instruments, other non-personal weapons, personal weapons, unknown, and no weapon. The Yes row is a different cut. The denominator is that weapon sum.
- Estimates are rounded to the nearest offense, then divided. The download is that rounded cut. The raw weighted float stays in the import.
- 2022 and 2023 are the final vintage. 2024 is initial. Population coverage in the file rises from 77.5% to 84.1% to 86.6%. The question on this page is the share. The falling firearm counts track a wider reporting base.
- 2022 murder has no usable No-weapon cell. BJS suppressed it. That year's murder denominator excludes it, so the 76.0% share is slightly high if the missing cell was not zero. 2023 and 2024 murder No-weapon cells are zero.
- The murder firearm-type rows use a different coding, Weapon involved hierarchy. The collapsed Firearms total is the share table above. In that hierarchy, Firearm means type not further specified. A large unspecified bucket remains. The rifle row is the known rifle slice inside that bucket.
- 2022 Other Firearm in the hierarchy was suppressed. These are BJS offense estimates. CDC death counts are a different series.
Limitations. National aggregate. The share eased from 2022 to 2024 in this coding. That is the result. Agency coverage rose over the same years, so the share can also move because the reporting base changed. 2024 can still be revised. Rifle counts in the type table are a small known slice beside a large unspecified firearm bucket.
Sources.
- BJS — NIBRS national estimates API — Violent offenses, Weapon involved and Weapon involved hierarchy. This page uses the import already on the host.
- BJS — NIBRS Estimation Program — Weighted national estimates from the agencies in the BJS program.