New Fact Sheet Shows the Devastating Impact of Gun Violence on Hispanic Communities

New Fact Sheet Shows the Devastating Impact of Gun Violence on Hispanic Communities

Washington, D.C. — Today, the Center for American Progress released a new fact sheet highlighting the disproportionate impact that gun violence has on Hispanic communities, particularly Hispanic youth, in the United States. From 2014 to 2020, the number of Hispanic people who died due to gun violence rose by 66 percent, increasing at nearly twice the rate of gun deaths nationally. And in 2020, gun violence killed 5,003 Hispanic Americans, a record number that averages to 13 people per day. Seventy-three percent of all Hispanic people in the United States live in only nine states; this has led to a concentration of Hispanic gun deaths in states with dangerous gun laws that make it easier for people who commit crimes to access guns.
“Considering the disproportionate impact that gun violence has on the community, it should come as no surprise that Hispanic Americans support stronger gun laws,” said Allison Jordan, a research assistant for the Gun Violence Prevention team at CAP and author of the column. “The solutions exist—it’s now time for policymakers to act.”
The fact sheet also found that:
• From 2019 to 2020, the gun homicide death rate among Hispanic Americans increased by a shocking 30 percent, averaging a rate of 4.6 deaths per every 100,000 people, compared with 2.2 deaths per 100,000 people among white Americans.
• 27 percent of Hispanic Americans report that they or a close friend or family member experienced gun violence in the past five years, compared with only 13 percent of white Americans.
• Hispanic youth ages 24 and younger are nearly three times more likely to die by gun homicide than their white counterparts.
Read the fact sheet: “Gun Violence Has a Devastating Impact on Hispanic Communities” by Allison Jordan
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Madia Coleman at mcoleman@americanprogress.org.

The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to promoting a strong, just and free America that ensures opportunity for all. We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values. We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that is “of the people, by the people, and for the people.