Gun Violence Prevention

The volatile combination of a lack of strong laws to prevent gun violence and animosity towards the LGBTQ+ community increases the dangers faced by LGBTQ+ people. The Human Rights Campaign supports a number of commonsense gun violence prevention measures to address this issue.


The Problem

Gun violence has taken an enormous toll on the LGBTQ+ community. From the Pulse shooting in Orlando in 2016 and the devastating Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs in 2022, to youth suicides and anti-trans violence across the country, our community has suffered terribly as a result of our nation’s inadequate laws to stop gun violence.

According to a 2016 study published in the American Journal of Medicine, Americans are 25 times more likely to be murdered with a gun compared to people in other developed countries. Transgender and gender non-conforming people have been uniquely impacted by gun violence. Since 2013, nearly two-thirds of fatal violence toward transgender and gender-nonconforming people involved a gun. The overwhelming majority of those victims were black women under the age of 30.

According to CDC data, two-thirds of firearm deaths in the U.S. are suicides. For those using a gun, 90 percent of suicide attempts are fatal, while only 4 percent of attempts are fatal for those not using a gun. Data shows that this has particular impact for the transgender and adolescent members of the LGBTQ+ community. According to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, 40 percent of transgender people report having attempted suicide in their lifetime, nearly nine times the national average. Furthermore, one-third of LGBTQ+ youth report having contemplated suicide, nearly three times the national average.

Intimate partner violence is also a major concern for the LGBTQ+ community, with particular vulnerability in the transgender and youth communities. According to the FBI, in an average month, 50 women are shot to death by intimate partners in the U.S. More than half (54 percent) of transgender people responding to the 2015 Survey experienced some form of intimate partner violence, including acts involving coercive control and physical harm, and LGBTQ+ youth experience dating violence at twice the rate of their non-LGBTQ+ peers.

Commonsense Gun Violence Prevention Measures

There is no single solution to stopping gun violence in the United States. Efforts to curb gun violence by other countries shows that a comprehensive approach must be taken in order to effectively reduce and prevent gun violence.

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (S. 2938) was signed into law by President Biden on June 25, 2022, making history as one of the most significant steps Congress has taken to curb gun violence. This law was enacted in response to the ongoing crisis of mass shootings in this country, particularly the two mass shootings in Buffalo, NY and Uvalde, TX in 2022. This legislation enhances access to mental health services, expands firearm purchasing requirements, and includes appropriations for gun violence prevention programs in the Departments of Justice (DOJ), Education (ED), and Health and Human Services (HHS).

While the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is a significant step in reducing gun violence prevention, Congress needs to take further action. The Human Rights Campaign also supports legislation that would:

  • Enhance background checks to close loopholes that allow for people at high risk of violence against themselves or others to purchase guns.

  • Limit access to assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and “bump stocks,” which are attachments for semi-automatic weapons that increase firing speed, effectively simulating the abilities of a fully automatic weapon or machine gun.

  • Limiting the ability of those with a history of domestic abuse to access guns.

  • Appropriate funding for the Centers for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health to conduct research on gun violence.

For more information, please contact legislation@hrc.org. Read about other Federal Legislation pertinent to the LGBTQ+ community here.

Last Updated: November 16, 2023

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