Gun violence both reflects and worsens these inequities.
Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people experience higher rates of gun homicides overall and fatal shootings by police1CDC, WONDER, Underlying Cause of Death, 2018–2022. See also, mappingpoliceviolence.org. than their white peers do. Gun homicides perpetrated by intimate partners disproportionately impact women, particularly Indigenous, Black, and Latina women.
Although research on the intersection of gun violence and LGBTQ+ people is limited, surveys show that, compared to their straight peers, LGBTQ+ people are at higher risk for suicide and intimate partner violence. And Everytown’s tracking of homicides of transgender and gender-expansive people in the United States and Puerto Rico shows that the overwhelming majority of these homicides are committed with a gun, and the victims of these shootings are disproportionately Black trans women.
Structural disadvantages in marginalized communities are exacerbated by generations of systemic racism, discriminatory policies, and patterns of police violence, which dramatically reduce public confidence in government institutions and law enforcement. This distrust can make community members less likely to report victimization, which can hamper efforts to solve crimes, create barriers to accessing services—including victim compensation—and perpetuate cycles of violence.
Gun violence has a devastating impact on individual victims, and entire groups and communities experience the reverberating effects. News of a violent crime targeting members of a shared identity group can feel like a personal attack. Following the racially motivated mass shooting in 2022 by a white supremacist at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, members of Black communities across the country faced the profound trauma that accompanies such horrific acts of targeted mass violence. Research has also found that people have reported experiencing higher levels of emotional distress and stated that they would be less likely to attend safe spaces—like LGBTQ+ nightclubs—after mass shootings that have victimized people of their shared identities.2Julie M. Croff, “Hidden Rainbows: Gay Bars as Safe Havens in a Socially Conservative Area since the Pulse Nightclub Massacre,” Sexuality Research and Social Policy 14 (2017): 233–40, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-017-0273-1; Skyler D. Jackson, “‘Connection Is the Antidote’: Psychological Distress, Emotional Processing, and Virtual Community Building among LGBTQ Students after the Orlando Shooting,” Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity 4, no. 2 (2017): 160–68, https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/sgd0000229; Menachem Ben-Ezra et al., “Shattering Core Beliefs: Psychological Reactions to Mass Shooting in Orlando,” Journal of Psychiatric Research 85 (2017): 56–58, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2016.09.033; Christopher B. Stults et al., “Perceptions of Safety among LGBTQ People following the 2016 Pulse Nightclub Shooting,” Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity 4, no. 3 (2017): 251–56, https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/sgd0000240. When safe spaces no longer feel safe, entire communities suffer.
Understanding how gun violence affects historically marginalized communities is critical to developing data-driven and culturally competent interventions and policy solutions, such as community violence intervention programs. It also helps ensure that people and communities receive the resources needed to prevent violence, manage the trauma that can follow violence, and heal. For decades, members of these communities have come together to reduce violence and increase safety. But lawmakers need to do their part. They must prioritize community- and evidence-based solutions to gun violence, assess the disproportionate impacts, and develop policies to ensure accountability for police violence and ultimately end it. Survivors and advocates from marginalized communities must be an integral part of this process.
