The Problem

In the United States, nearly 60,000 individuals are shot each year, with gun homicides disproportionately affecting urban areas, particularly impoverished and underserved communities of color. These neighborhoods often experience homicide rates comparable to warzones, perpetuating cycles of fear and instability. Unfortunately, both public and community-based systems of care frequently fall short, failing to provide the necessary resources and responsive opportunities for those most impacted by urban gun violence. As a result, individuals involved in gun crimes are often left disengaged from vital support systems, having been let down time and again by the very infrastructures designed to assist them.

This disconnect leads to a critical problem: unchecked violence that fosters an environment in which more violence can thrive. The individuals most at risk of gun violence remain largely unengaged by supportive systems. Consequently, our communities find themselves investing in reactive responses to violence rather than a proactive approach that seeks to interrupt these patterns before they escalate. By prioritizing genuine, trust-based connections, we can turn the tide on this pervasive issue and lay the groundwork for lasting change in the lives of those most affected by gun violence.

The persistence of urban gun violence is not only a reflection of the harm caused by the violence—it is also a reflection of our systems’ inability to transform with it.

Why It Matters

Gun violence is one of the most urgent and costly public health crises in America. Each shooting deeply impacts families, communities, and local economies. It costs lives, it costs the community safety, and it drains public resources. Cities spend millions every year on emergency response, law enforcement, medical care, incarceration, and lost productivity due to gun violence. Community Violence Intervention saves lives and saves cities millions of dollars each year.

Studies have shown that when CVI strategies are fully implemented, shootings and homicides can drop by 20 to 40 percent or more. Each prevented shooting represents not only a life preserved but an estimated savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical costs, policing, and court expenses. By investing in CVI, communities are choosing prevention over punishment and healing over harm. Every dollar spent on Advance Peace programs helps reduce violence, strengthen families, restore community trust, and free up resources that can be reinvested in education, housing, and opportunity.

The Costs

$2.6M

Approximate average cost to taxpayers for a single gun homicide in America³

49 per day

The number of gun homicides in
America every day³

>1/2

More than half of all firearm deaths in America occur in urban neighborhoods.⁴

Lois Beckett, ProPublica November (2015)⁵

A total of 90 people were killed in mass shootings in 2012. That same year, nearly 6,000 black men were murdered in shootings that rarely made the news.

Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence & PICO National Network¹

Highly concentrated levels of violence creates a vicious cycle…Exposure to firearm violence-being shot, being shot at, or witnessing a shooting — doubles the probability that a young person will commit a violent act within two years.

Pastor Michael McBride, LIVE FREE Campaign

Every day, the number of individuals murdered in urban America by guns equals a mass shooting.

Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the PICO National Network, “Healing Communities in Crisis: Lifesaving Solutions to the Urban Gun Violence Epidemic” (2016).
Boggan, 2015
Mark Follman, Julia Lurie, Jaeah Lee, and James West, “What Does Gun Violence Really Cost?” Mother Jones (May/June 2015).
Everytown for Gun Safety, 2016.
Lois Beckett, “How the Gun Control Debate Ignores Black Lives,” ProPublica (November 24, 2015).