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After a gunman at Florida State University killed two people and wounded at least six others, an advocacy group posted about firearm-related deaths.
"Gun violence is the leading killer of college-aged people in the U.S.," Moms Demand Action, part of gun violence prevention organization Everytown for Gun Safety, . "Our young people deserve better."
According to health experts and the most recent data, the statement is accurate for firearm-related deaths in this class of young people.
Everytown for Gun Safety released a citing 2021 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showing firearms are the No. 1 mechanism of death for people ages 18 to 25. Everytown for Gun Safety spokesperson Katie Wertheimer also pointed to a published in the journal Pediatrics that found "firearms are the leading cause of death in children and youth 0 to 24 years of age in the United States."
PolitiFact queried the CDC鈥檚 for data on the most recent injury deaths for ages 18 to 25. In 2023, firearms were the mechanism that accounted for the most deaths in that age group, at 8,086. For ages 24 and 25, drug poisoning was the top cause.
CDC data showed accidents, followed by suicide and homicide, were the leading causes of death among people ages 18 to 25. These categories all include firearm-related deaths. Brian Tsai, a CDC spokesperson, told PolitiFact that although the agency does not rank firearm deaths as a leading cause of death because they occur across categories, "our data does show that firearms are the leading mechanism of injury mortality."
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"Categories for ranking cause of death must be mutually exclusive and it has been CDC's longstanding policy to rank the homicide, suicide and unintentional injury categories," Tsai said in an email. "CDC does not classify firearms as a cause of death, but rather as a mechanism by which death occurs (same is true for motor vehicle accidents)."
The CDC considers unintentional as "fatal or nonfatal firearm injuries that happen while someone is cleaning or playing with a firearm or other incidents of an accidental firing without evidence of intentional harm."
In 2023, CDC data showed unintentional injuries (14,238) were the leading cause of death among people ages 18 to 25, followed by suicide (5,632) and homicide (5,060). Narrowing down to deaths by firearm, the majority were homicides (4,651), followed by suicides (3,158).
Gun-rights advocates whether the term "gun violence" should include suicides. Countries such as and in that term. use varying language and criteria on including suicides.
Daniel Webster, distinguished scholar for the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, told PolitiFact the Moms Demand Action statement is accurate.
Veronica Pear, a University of California Davis School of Medicine social epidemiologist and assistant professor, also said the statistic is accurate, based on 2023 mortality data, noting that "gun violence" includes suicide and homicide.Wertheimer referred PolitiFact to a by KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News, that said firearm-related deaths among ages 18 to 25 "are predominantly due to homicides."Shootings on school and college grounds appear to make up a small portion of firearm-related deaths among people ages 18 to 25. According to Everytown for Gun Safety, there have been since 2013. An average of 4,300 children and teens, up to age 19, were shot and killed per year from 2019 to 2023, Everytown for Gun Safety reported.
Our ruling
Moms Demand Action said "gun violence is the leading killer of college-aged people in the U.S."Accidental deaths ranked No. 1 for people ages 18 to 25 in 2023, and firearms were the "leading mechanism," according to the CDC.
Based on expert analysis and the data, we rate the statement True.
Our sources
- Email interview, Veronica Pear, University of California Davis School of Medicine social epidemiologist and assistant professor, April 18, 2025
- Email interview, Daniel Webster, distinguished scholar for the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, April 18, 2025
- Email exchange, Brian Tsai, CDC public affairs specialist, April 21, 2025, April 17, 2025
- Moms Demand Action, , accessed April 18, 2025CDC WISQARS search, April 18, 2025CDC, , accessed April 21, 2025
- The Heritage Foundation, , Dec. 8, 2023Everytown for Gun Safety, , May 2023
- KFF, , July 17, 2024Lois K. Lee, Eric W. Fleegler, Monika K. Goyal, Kiesha Fraser Doh, Danielle Laraque-Arena, Benjamin D. Hoffman, , 2022
- Public Safety Canada, , accessed April 22, 2025Australian Institute of Criminology Trends & Issues, , May 1997The Trace, , Dec. 13, 2021
- PolitiFact, , March 29, 2023
- PolitiFact, , June 4, 2022
- PolitiFact, , April 18, 2023
- PolitiFact, , Aug. 21, 2019
- Everytown for Gun Safety, , accessed April 18, 2025
