Gun Violence Prevention

More Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2022 than any other year on record, and gun violence was the leading cause of death for children. The Center for American Progress is committed to advancing evidence-based gun violence prevention policies and advocating for local, state, and federal investments in violence prevention programs and victim services. We are also committed to examining gun violence through a racial equity lens and rooting out systemic racism because while gun violence affects every community in the United States, young Black and brown people experience the highest rates of gun homicides.

We can help build safe and just communities by holding gun manufacturers and the gun industry accountable, closing gun law loopholes, and balancing immediate actions we can take to address recent increases in gun violence with long-term solutions focused on root causes. In addition to passing gun control laws to address how easy it is to buy a gun in America, the country must advance holistic community safety and justice policies that advocate for investments in solutions that prevent crime before it happens and defend criminal justice reforms wrongly blamed for increasing crime.

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Recommendations for Newly Confirmed ATF Director Steve Dettelbach Sign-On Letter

Recommendations for Newly Confirmed ATF Director Steve Dettelbach

This coalition letter, led by the Center for American Progress in partnership with gun violence prevention and allied organizations, includes a list of immediate actions the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives can take to reduce gun violence.

Nick Wilson, Allison Jordan

Hospital-Based Intervention Programs Reduce Violence and Save Money Article
A man and woman are pictured in a room at the Violence Advocacy Program offices at Boston Medical Center in Boston.

Hospital-Based Intervention Programs Reduce Violence and Save Money

Hospital-based community violence intervention programs combat cycles of violent crime and retaliation by engaging patients in the recovery process immediately following injury.

Karenna Warden

Media Coverage Often Ignore Guns as the Main Driver of the Recent Rise in Violent Crime Article
A TV camera is seen at a memorial for shooting victims.

Media Coverage Often Ignore Guns as the Main Driver of the Recent Rise in Violent Crime

The word “gun” or another synonymous variation was only included in 3.5 percent of headlines and summaries of online news posts that included the words “murders” or “homicides,” even though 80 percent of homicides are committed with a firearm, and gun homicides increased by 35 percent.

Will Ragland

Guns and Anti-Government Extremism in Nevada Report
An AR-15 pictured at in Boulder City, Nevada, on March 14, 2018.

Guns and Anti-Government Extremism in Nevada

The rise in white supremacist and anti-government violence is fueled by weak gun laws and easy access to firearms.

Marissa Edmund, Annette Magnus, Amber Falgout

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