Firearm-Related Deaths
Firearm-related injuries are a major public health concern in both the United States and Virginia. These injuries and deaths may be intentionally self-inflicted (suicide), assault-related (homicide), unintentional, related to legal intervention, or of undetermined intent. Beyond the direct health impacts, these events affect individuals, families, neighborhoods, and entire communities. Comprehensive prevention strategies at both the state and community level are essential to reducing firearm-related injury and death. Virginia should take a public health approach to preventing all kinds of violence, by leveraging data, partnerships, and evidence-based strategies to address root causes of violence, prevent future violence, and strengthen community resilience, with a focus on improving health outcomes. Through collaboration across sectors, the Commonwealth can reduce the public health impacts of violence and support safer, healthier communities for all Virginians.
When environments are safe, people can flourish, injuries and violence decline, and communities grow stronger and more resilient. Promoting safety and well-being calls for a broad approach – one that brings together local agencies, community organizations, and other partners to implement proven strategies that foster equity and health across all groups. Social, economic, and environmental factors shape many health outcomes at once, and tackling shared risk and protective factors is essential. Challenges like violence, injury, and poor mental health often have similar underlying causes, including substance use, low social support, and poverty. By nurturing protective influences—such as strong family ties, connected communities, access to education, and economic opportunity—we help individuals, families, and neighborhoods thrive. Working together to reduce risks and strengthen protective factors across all levels can build safer communities and lower rates of violence and injury for everyone.
Goal
By 2029, reduce firearm-related death rate from the baseline of 14.3 deaths per 100,000 people to below the HP2030 target of 11.9 deaths per 100,000 people.
Strategies
Develop and share firearm injury data products (e.g., dashboards, data briefs) to raise awareness of the burden of firearm injuries and deaths. Use these insights to guide community partners and policymakers in creating program roadmaps for both unintentional and intentional injury prevention.
Support implementation of Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) training across health systems, equipping providers to help clients at risk for suicide reduce access to lethal means. Promote suicide prevention hotlines, such as the 988 Lifeline, to provide immediate resources for individuals and families.
Collaborate with diverse, multi-sectoral partners to implement interventions across the Social Ecological Model. These efforts seek to decrease risk factors and increase protective factors at individual, family, community, and public levels.
Strategies
Convene partners across sectors to participate in a statewide learning forum focused on community violence and firearm-related injury prevention, with a focus on improving public health outcomes.
Identify and compile evidence-based and promising practices related to community violence and firearm-related injury prevention and share them through the statewide convening and partner networks.
Facilitate opportunities for ongoing knowledge exchange among partners by connecting localities, hospitals, and community organizations working on violence prevention to strengthen collaboration and learning across Virginia.
Counseling on Access to Lethal Means is a free, self-paced, online course for healthcare and social service providers.