Gun Deaths in Arizona, 2015 – 2017

As my parting project as Research Director at ASU’s Morrison Institute, I analyzed Arizona’s violent gun death data. From 2015 – 2017, there were 3,188 firearms deaths in AZ, 71% of which were suicides. The number of homicides, suicides, and unintentional firearm deaths increased from 2015 to 2017. Whites are disproportionately affected by suicide by firearm, and homicide victims are disproportionately more likely to be black or American Indian.

Data are from ASU’s Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety and part of the Centers for Disease Control’s National Violent Death Reporting System project.

With this heavy topic, I’m grateful for all the media attention this report received. Putting numbers to homicides, suicides, and unintentional deaths in Arizona can inform policy-makers and public health experts. A big thanks to the very sharp Ted Simons at AZ PBS Horizon who hosted me to talk about the report – you can watch the video here. And, the full report is here on the Morrison Institute site.