Guns are the #1 killer of children in America.
We refuse to stay silent. We are choosing to be L.O.U.D.
L.O.U.D. — Lives Over Unnecessary Death — is a national anti-gun violence campaign built entirely around and by young people. Every commercial, PSA, social media post, and activation features the faces, voices, and stories of youth — because this crisis belongs to them, and so does the solution.
We are not a political campaign. We are a public health campaign. Gun violence is the number one killer of children in the United States, and that is a fact that transcends party lines. Every American, regardless of political affiliation, can agree that children should not be dying at this rate.
Our mission is threefold: Amplify youth voices, Educate communities with real data, and Activate a generation to demand change — through policy, through culture, and through direct action.
"Be LOUD. Because silence is how they win."
Center authentic youth voices across all media. Every asset features real young people — not actors, not adults speaking for them.
Transform statistics into stories. Make the data accessible, undeniable, and impossible to scroll past.
Convert awareness into action. Register. Rally. Organize. Every piece of content ends with a clear, accessible next step.
Reach across race, region, and background. Gun violence touches every zip code. Our coalition must too.
The following statistics are sourced from the CDC, Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, KFF, Giffords Law Center, and Everytown for Gun Safety. All data reflects the most recently published figures available as of early 2026.
Gun violence does not impact all youth equally. The racial disparities are stark, persistent, and rooted in generations of systemic inequality. These numbers demand acknowledgment, not erasure.
Researchers across institutions examined whether the COVID-19 pandemic increased or decreased gun violence among youth. The short answer: it accelerated it — dramatically and disproportionately.
The firearm homicide rate increased nearly 35% after the start of the pandemic, according to peer-reviewed research published in PMC (2022). The U.S. saw its largest single-year increase in the homicide rate in modern recorded history between March 2020 and March 2021 — a 31% rise in the rolling monthly average.
Child-involved shooting incidents jumped to 1,076 in 2020, compared to 811 in 2019 and 803 in 2018 — a 33% spike in a single year. Researchers published in the Journal of Surgical Research confirmed these increases were statistically significant.
Researchers noted a brief, paradoxical initial drop in certain juvenile justice indicators. With schools closed and people quarantined at home, overall juvenile arrests fell sharply in 2020, and some reported crimes temporarily declined as fewer interactions occurred in public spaces.
However, experts are clear: this was a brief statistical artifact of lockdown, not a genuine reduction in risk. The violence that was suppressed re-emerged quickly.
Gun suicide among young people is the most underdiscussed dimension of the youth gun violence crisis. It accounts for nearly one-third of all youth gun deaths — and its rate has been climbing for a decade. This is not a side issue. It is at the center of L.O.U.D.'s mission.
Suicidal crises in young people are typically brief and impulsive. Research consistently shows that most people who survive a suicide attempt do not go on to die by suicide — in fact, 90% of those who survive do not later die by suicide. Time and distance from a lethal method are among the most powerful interventions available.
Firearms eliminate that window. A gun attempt is fatal 90% of the time. Every other common method — pills, cutting, falls — has a case fatality rate below 10%. This is why gun access is not merely a contributing factor to youth suicide; it is often the deciding variable between a crisis survived and a life lost.
Access to a gun in the home increases the odds of suicide more than three-fold for any household member. For children and adolescents specifically, the risk is four times higher in homes with firearms than in homes without — per research published by the Society for Research in Child Development.
Males ages 10–24 account for the vast majority of youth firearm suicide deaths. Boys and young men are significantly less likely to seek mental health help, less likely to discuss suicidal ideation with anyone, and more likely to have unsupervised access to firearms. The CDC found that male youth who die by firearm suicide are less likely than those who use other means to have had a prior identified mental health problem — meaning their distress often goes unseen.
Gun suicide rates among Black youth ages 10–19 tripled (+245%) from 2014 to 2023. For the first time, firearm suicide rates among Black young adults surpassed those of white peers in 2022 — a historic and alarming reversal. American Indian and Alaska Native youth have consistently some of the highest suicide rates of any group, with firearm suicide rates surging 23% from 2023 to 2024 alone. The Jed Foundation notes that progress in overall youth suicide rates has not reached these groups equitably.
Rural youth face dramatically elevated firearm suicide risk due to higher rates of gun ownership, greater geographic isolation from mental health services, and cultural norms around firearms. Wyoming's gun suicide rate is nearly 10 times higher than Massachusetts'. The University of Washington found that the earliest average age of gun carrying among rural youth is just 12 years old, and rural communities have far less access to crisis intervention resources.
LGBTQ+ youth face significantly elevated suicide risk due to minority stress, family rejection, bullying, and lack of affirming support systems. Research published in JAMA Pediatrics found that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender youth experience considerably higher rates of suicidal ideation and attempts. Combined with access to firearms in the home, this elevated baseline risk translates into disproportionately higher firearm suicide fatality among LGBTQ+ youth.
Approximately 30 million children in the U.S. live in homes with firearms, and as of 2024, 4.6 million of them live in homes where at least one gun is kept loaded and unlocked. The risk of suicide for a child in a home with firearms is four times higher than for a child in a home without. Fewer than 10% of gun-owning adults believe the presence of a firearm increases their child's suicide risk — a dangerous knowledge gap.
The CDC's 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 1 in 5 high school students seriously considered attempting suicide and nearly 1 in 10 had attempted it in the past year. A University of Colorado study found that teens with depression and a history of suicidality who have personal firearm access or access to a family member's guns represent the highest-risk group — and that teens at risk sometimes acquire guns through informal channels even when family members restrict access.
Gun suicide is not a mental health issue that happens to involve guns — it is a gun access issue that is made fatal by firearm lethality. The same young person in the same crisis without access to a gun survives 96% of the time. With a gun, they die 90% of the time. L.O.U.D. advocates for treating firearm access as the decisive variable in youth suicide prevention: secure storage laws, ERPO implementation, pediatric counseling, and expanded mental health access must all be pursued simultaneously. Removing the gun from the crisis window saves lives. The data is unambiguous.
Public health researchers, criminologists, pediatricians, and social scientists broadly agree: gun violence among youth is a multi-factor public health crisis rooted in structural inequality — not a simple matter of individual morality.
Gun violence extends far beyond fatal shootings. Youth are disproportionately represented in gun-related crimes that do not result in death — including armed robbery, carjacking, and aggravated assault. Here's what the data shows.
| Crime Category | Youth Context | Key Data Point |
|---|---|---|
| Armed Robbery | Youth under 18 represented approx. 9.9% of all violent crime arrests in 2022, per OJJDP | Nonfatal violent victimization rate for ages 12–17 was 27.4 per 1,000 in 2022 — more than twice the prior year rate |
| Carjacking / Motor Vehicle Theft | Post-pandemic surge in juvenile arrests specifically for gun crimes and car thefts, per Annie E. Casey Foundation 2026 | Youth arrests for serious violent crimes peaked in 2023, then declined 4% by 2024 — remaining 12% below 2019 levels |
| Aggravated Assault (Firearm) | Adjudicated youth with psychopathic traits showed elevated gun-carrying rates in studies examining juvenile detention populations | 1.4% of youth reported carrying a weapon to school — playing violent games was associated with a 4× increase in this likelihood |
| Weapon Possession at School | Adolescents with "at-risk/problem gaming" reported more weapon-carrying, having been threatened with weapons, and feeling unsafe at school | Youth who carry guns to school: 84% reported attacking someone with intent to harm, vs. 23% of non-carriers |
| Retail Theft (Armed) | Organized retail crime increasingly involves youth with firearms, though specific federal data on firearm involvement remains inconsistently tracked | FBI 2024 data shows robbery down 8.9% nationally — but concerns persist about firearm-involved retail incidents in high-density urban areas |
| Juvenile Incarceration (Gun-Related) | Black youth incarceration rate was 5.6× that of white youth in 2023 (293 vs. 52 per 100,000), despite decades of overall decline in youth incarceration | Youth held in juvenile facilities fell from 120,200 in 2000 to 31,800 in 2023 — a 74% decline — but racial disparities persist |
Does exposure to violent media cause youth gun violence? This is one of the most studied — and most debated — questions in behavioral science. Here is an honest account of what the research actually finds, including where experts agree, where they disagree, and why the picture is more complex than either side often admits.
What studies show: The American Psychological Association (APA) maintains there is a consistent association between violent video game use and increased aggressive behavior, decreased empathy, and desensitization to violence, based on hundreds of studies and multiple meta-analyses.
A landmark randomized clinical trial (Chang & Bushman, 2019) tested 220 children ages 8–12. Children assigned to play games with gun violence were significantly more likely to touch a real disabled handgun afterward — 61.8% of this group touched the gun, compared to substantially fewer in the non-violent game group.
A 2023 longitudinal study (PMC) found that frequent childhood exposure to violence in video games was associated with 6.73× elevated odds of seriously violent behavior in adolescence, even after adjusting for other risk factors.
But: Critics, including researchers at Texas A&M and the Entertainment Software Association, argue that many studies measure proxy behaviors rather than real-world violence, that longitudinal studies show weak or no long-term effects when properly controlled, and that youth violence declined dramatically from 1995–2019 even as video game sales soared.
What studies show: Research consistently finds that exposure to violent music lyrics — particularly gangster rap, drill, and heavy metal — is associated with increased aggressive thoughts, decreased empathy, higher tolerance for violence, and associations with problem behaviors including substance use and risky sexual behavior.
A key 2023 longitudinal study (PMC) found that frequent exposure to violent music in childhood was associated with 5.91× elevated odds of seriously violent behavior in adolescence — the highest risk ratio of any single media type studied.
Research from the University of Michigan found that the percentage of rap songs mentioning violence increased from 27% during 1979–1984 to 60% during 1994–1997, with later songs more likely to portray violence as glamorous and associated with wealth. Researchers also note a strong correlation (Pearson's r = 0.966) between prevalence of gun-related terms in rap lyrics and FBI crime rates across decades.
Important nuance: Researchers caution that correlation is not causation. Criminologists argue rap often reflects — rather than creates — the violent realities of underserved communities. Black youth who are heavy rap consumers are not consistently more violent; the relationship varies significantly by race, SES, and how literally lyrics are interpreted.
What studies show: A 2025 study published in PsyPost tracking two decades of American TV and film found that depictions of firearms in movies and television strongly paralleled rising homicide rates among youth ages 15–24. The proportion of violent scenes involving firearms increased steadily from 2000 to 2021, tracking closely with youth firearm homicide trends.
A randomized clinical trial (Dillon & Bushman, 2017) found that children ages 8–12 who watched a PG-rated film containing gun scenes were 22.3× more likely to pull the trigger on a disabled real gun afterward than children who watched the same film with gun scenes removed.
Gun violence in PG-13 films has more than tripled since that rating was introduced in 1984. Since 2009, PG-13 films have contained as much or more gun violence as R-rated films — meaning youth-marketed entertainment is now saturated with firearm imagery.
The FBI noted in a 2000 report that media violence is a risk factor in school shootings. The FCC in 2007 cited "strong evidence" that violent TV programming can increase aggressive behavior in children.
The weight of scientific evidence suggests that violent media is a contributing risk factor — not a root cause — of youth aggression and potentially gun violence. The American Academy of Pediatrics is clear: exposure to violent media increases aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in children. However, structural factors — poverty, trauma, unsecured guns, and systemic inequality — consistently explain far more of the variance in youth gun violence than media exposure alone. The research community broadly agrees that addressing media violence in isolation, without addressing these upstream structural causes, would have minimal impact on youth gun homicide rates.
L.O.U.D. is only as powerful as the people behind it. Whether you're a student, parent, educator, creator, or funder — there is a place for you in this movement.
If you've been affected by gun violence — directly or indirectly — your voice belongs in this campaign. We are collecting stories, testimonials, and short video submissions from youth across the country to be featured in our national PSA campaign.
Submit Your Story →L.O.U.D. chapters are forming in schools and communities nationwide. Get trained in advocacy, organizing, and storytelling. Lead events in your area. Bring the campaign to your school, your city, your block.
Find a Chapter →Download our free social media toolkit. Post, share, and use #LOUD and #LivesOverDeath. The more noise we make online, the harder it is for decision-makers to look away. Every share reaches someone who hasn't heard this message yet.
Get the Toolkit →Are you a filmmaker, photographer, graphic designer, or content creator? We need your talent. L.O.U.D. is building a network of youth creators who produce campaign content — and we compensate for professional work.
Apply Now →Request a L.O.U.D. presenter to speak at your school, church, community center, or event. We provide free data presentations, discussion guides, and youth-led workshops on gun violence prevention and safe storage.
Request a Speaker →Every dollar funds production — commercials, PSAs, billboards, school outreach. Corporate and foundation funders who partner at the Founding level receive naming recognition in all national media assets. This campaign is going big.
Funder Information →Add your name to the L.O.U.D. generation. Every signature tells lawmakers, funders, and the media that this movement is real — and it is growing.
Join over 10,000 young people who have already signed. #LOUD
In Observance of the Holiday