The California Department of Justice’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP) has released its first Gun Violence Prevention Data Report, revealing that the state’s firearm homicide rate is 33% below the national average.
The report was designed to highlight successful policies and areas needing greater attention, according to the OGVP.
With over 116 gun-related deaths occurring daily across the United States, Attorney General Rob Bonta stated that his office is committed to reducing this number. “I and we chose to change the trajectory of where we’ve been and to end the gun violence epidemic,” Bonta said.
The OGVP, established in September of last year, compiled data showing that if the national gun death rate had matched California’s over the past decade, almost 140,000 Americans who died from gun violence would still be alive.
The report also demonstrated that gun violence among individuals 25 years old and younger significantly decreased in California compared to other large states. In 2022, California’s youth homicide rate was 3.3 per 100,000 residents, almost half the rate of Texas and Florida.
Bonta attributed these figures to “nation-leading common-sense data-driven gun laws and prevention policies.”
However, the OGVP’s 2021 data also revealed challenges. Over half (50.4%) of firearms recovered by law enforcement in California were traced back to out-of-state dealers. And while there has been a national increase in the use of unserialized firearms (ghost guns) in crimes, California has been able to reduce the number of ghost guns recovered.
The report also emphasized the necessity of protecting communities of color, which are disproportionately impacted by gun violence.
The OGVP plans to host a gun violence prevention webinar to discuss the report’s findings in greater detail.