![]() This report highlights the costs to survivors, their families, and employers, and costs borne by the government and paid for with taxpayer dollars. Quantifying what we spend in the aftermath of a shooting-whether the shooting was unintentional, an assault, a shooting by police, or an act of suicide-helps us understand the price we pay for this violence. Rather, it details the depth and breadth of America’s gun violence crisis in an effort to show yet another reason why we must work to solve it now. This report doesn’t try to put a price on human lives. Today in the United States we are all paying an enormous economic cost, as well as an unmeasurable human cost of trauma and loss, for our failure to prevent gun violence. 3 Costs estimated from Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, “Calculate the Economic Cost of Gun Violence,” accessed July 13, 2022. This one horrific incident of gun violence left in its wake unspeakable human tragedy, but also an estimated $244.2 million price tag, of which $10.2 million is borne by taxpayers. 2 Jessica Schladebeck, “2 Victims Wounded in Robb Elementary School Shooting Slowly Improving,” New York Daily News, May 31, 2022. On May 24, 2022, an 18-year-old boy shot 38 people, 21 fatally, including 19 children and two teachers-at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Calculate the Cost of Gun ViolenceĬalculate the cost of gun violence in your local community using our interactive tool. However, in states with stronger gun laws, the economic toll of gun violence is less than half this amount, whereas in states where gun laws are weaker and gun injuries and fatalities are higher, gun violence costs residents double or more this amount per person. The average annual cost for overall gun violence in the United States is $1,698 for every resident in the country. The large variation in rates of gun deaths and injuries in the 50 states and Washington, DC, translates into substantial differences in the economic burden from this violence.Ĭompiling this information is vital so that policymakers and constituents can understand how resources are currently being spent and to provide direction for a different tomorrow. ![]() Society loses $1.34 billion daily in quality-of-life costs from the suffering and lost well-being of gun violence victims and their families.Employers lose an average of $1.47 million on a daily basis in productivity, revenue, and costs required to recruit and train replacements for victims of gun violence.American taxpayers pay $30.16 million every day in police and criminal justice costs for investigation, prosecution, and incarceration.Taxpayers, survivors, families, and employers pay an average of $7.79 million daily in health care costs, including immediate and long-term medical and mental health care, plus patient transportation/ambulance costs related to gun violence, and lose an estimated $147.32 million per day related to work missed due to injury or death.This $557 billion problem represents the lifetime costs associated with gun violence, including three types of costs: immediate costs starting at the scene of a shooting, such as police investigations and medical treatment subsequent costs, such as treatment, long-term physical and mental health care, earnings lost to disability or death, and criminal justice costs and cost estimates of quality of life lost over a victim’s life span for pain and suffering of victims and their families.Īs survivors, families, communities, employers, and taxpayers, we all pay for the enormous costs associated with this violence, whether we own a gun or not. If shooting tragedies were prevented from occurring in the first place, the vast funds spent in the aftermath of gun violence could be directed toward beneficial and productive investments such as educating the next generation. 1 US Department of Education, “FY 2022 President’s Budget,” May 28, 2021. This staggering $557 billion figure is five times the nation’s budget for the Department of Education, which funds preschool through college for millions of Americans. In addition to this human impact, examining the serious economic consequences of gun violence offers a wider lens for understanding just how extensive and expensive this crisis is. Without a doubt, the human cost of gun violence-the people who are taken from us and the survivors whose lives are forever altered-is the most devastating. In an average year, gun violence in America kills 40,000 people, wounds twice as many, and has an economic consequence to our nation of $557 billion.
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