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- By Elyse Wild
The report analyzes the most recent available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In 2023, there were 553 reported gun deaths in the AI/AN population — 246 of which were homicides, and 260 were suicides. That year, Native people were twice as likely to die by gun violence as white people. The majority of the deaths were among AI/ANs aged 24-44, with men represented significantly more than women.
VPC research about female homicide victimization shows that since 2015, the rate of female Native victims killed by males is the second-highest in the nation.
Gun deaths were present in suicides among Native people as well.
In 2023, males accounted for the vast majority of AI/AN suicide victims (74.7%) as well as firearm suicide victims (85.8%). Both overall suicide rates and firearm suicide rates in Native people remain the second highest in the nation, behind the white population.
Executive Director of the Violence Policy Center Josh Sugarmann said he hopes the report brings attention to the disproportionate gun violence faced by Native people.
“The American Indian/Alaska Native population faces a continuing crisis of lethal gun violence that outside of impacted communities rarely receives the attention it demands," Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center. "The goal of this annual report is to support the efforts of advocates, organizations, and policymakers as they work to reduce gun violence in this community."
The study noted that the number of Native women and girls killed by guns is most likely undercounted due to the ongoing MMIW crisis, with experts believing that there are numerous unreported or misclassified deaths among AI/AI females that are currently not included in the data.
As well, the report acknowledged a recent study that showed racial misclassification on death certificates accounts for as much as a 40% undercount of Native American mortality.
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