Poster #33 - Characterizing Gun Violence in the United States: A Multi-Year Descriptive Analysis, 2019–2024

• In Event: ASC Poster Session I

Abstract

This paper presents a multi-year descriptive analysis of fatal gun violence incidents in the United States from January 1, 2019, to July 15, 2024, using incident-level data from the Gun Violence Archive (GVA). After excluding duplicates, geospatial errors, and suicide-only or standoff-related cases, the final analytical sample includes 91,708 unique fatal gun violence incidents. GVA data were spatially joined with U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line shapefiles using ArcGIS Pro to assign FIPS codes, enabling tract-level geographic analysis. Each incident includes detailed information on date, location, number of victims and suspects killed or injured, and incident type. The final dataset provides a detailed, multi-year record of fatal gun violence incidents in the United States between 2019 and mid-2024. This study provides foundational insight into the temporal and geographic distribution of fatal gun violence and supports future research examining its structural, demographic, and environmental correlates. Future directions should explore how exposure to local gun violence influences adolescents’ and youths’ perceptions of safety, psychological well-being, and social development in both high-risk and disadvantaged communities. Findings may inform targeted public health interventions and community-based strategies to address firearm-related harm and its broader societal consequences.

Author

• Rachel Elizabeth Colello, University of California, Irvine