Shelby County leads the state of Tennessee in firearm deaths by county from 2019 to 2023, with a reported 1,849 firearm deaths.
The information comes as gun deaths in Tennessee hit a record high in 2023 with a total of 1,587 firearm fatalities. The state ranks seventh in the nation for overall gun deaths.
According to the Tennessee Senate Democratic Caucus, information compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that the state’s firearm deaths showed an upward trend from 2013 to 2023, despite the national rate declining.
Gunshot wounds are also the number-one cause of death for children and teenagers in the state. Officials said total firearm fatalities for those under 17 increased 128 percent.
Officials said the state’s firearm homicide rate increased by 97 percent during that time period, which is close to “double the national average.” With firearm fatalities on the rise, Tennessee Under the Gun, a data initiative of the Caucus, found that suicides are the leading cause of death, both nationally and statewide.
The project began after the 2023 legislative session, when lawmakers failed to pass “meaningful” firearm legislation following the Covenant School shooting in Nashville. Tennessee Under the Gun compiled CDC, FBI, and state data from 2023 for the “most complete annual data.” Beth Joslin Roth, a researcher with Tennessee Under the Gun, explained that the most up-to-date data is from 2023.
“Firearm fatalities include all forms of fatal gun violence: all violence-related fatal shootings, including homicides, fatal domestic violence shootings, and legal intervention, as well as firearm suicides, unintentional shootings, and shootings where the intent or motive is undetermined,” a report from Tennessee Under the Gun said.
Roth said for each category they looked at data for all ages, but specifically targeted children up to the age of 17.
Roth noted that firearm homicides for all ages increased 41 percent, while firearm homicides for children increased 141 percent, adding that firearm suicides for all ages increased 18 percent, while firearm suicides for those under 17 increased 115 percent.
The report comes a year after the Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation requiring the Tennessee Department of Health to release an annual report to the governor totaling firearm injuries and deaths. While the legislation brings more transparency and data regarding gun violence, Senator Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) noted that Republican lawmakers have made it “easier for criminals to get guns.”
During a virtual press conference on Tuesday, Campbell said that other states have seen a reduction in gun violence due to stricter safety laws. Some of those protections include background checks, safe-storage laws, and more.
“Tennessee’s rates are accelerating because of a decade-long Republican experiment of deregulation,” Campbell said. “Republican lawmakers have torn down nearly every safety measure we once had and the result is predictable — it’s more shootings, more suicides, and more dead children.”