U.S. Gun Violence Declines While Nevada’s Rate Holds Above Average, Driven by Suicides
In 2024, about 13 out of every 100,000 people in the United States died from gun-related injuries, totaling roughly 44,400 deaths. Mississippi, New Mexico, and Alaska had the highest gun death rates. Hawaii, Massachusetts, and New Jersey had the lowest.
Nevada’s rate was higher than the national average. In 2024, 582 people in the state died from gun injuries, or 17.2 deaths per 100,000 residents, about one-third above the national average. Roughly 7 in 10 of those deaths were suicides rather than homicides.
Since 2024, gun-related deaths have declined across the nation. Approximately 4.9% fewer people died from gun violence in 2025 during the same period the year before. Violent crime also fell 9.3% in 2025, the largest year-to-year decline since the FBI began tracking national estimates in 1936.
This data regularly shapes Nevada’s political debates over gun laws. The state has comparatively loose firearm rules, and the high share of suicides keeps attention on prevention and mental health support as much as on crime.
