Economic Impact of Gun Violence
The primary economic impact of firearm related violence is years of potential life lost (YPLL), or in economic terms, opportunity costs. In 2015, the YPLL before age 65 due to firearm related deaths was 842,471 in the US. To put this number in perspective, the impact of fatal firearms injuries was more than three times greater than the impact of diabetes, and almost four times greater than cerebrovascular disease [7]. Furthermore, business recessions have also been shown to increase the suicide rate primarily among people that are in the prime working ages of 25 to 64 [6]. When all injuries are considered, over 100,000 Americans are killed or injured every year due to firearms [8].
Although a dollar amount cannot be placed upon premature death from firearm injuries, the costs of gun violence was estimated to be $229 billion in 2012 [9]. To put that amount in perspective, the costs of gun violence was $88 billion more than the US Federal Government budgeted for education that year, costing every man, woman, and child in the US over $700 a person.
In addition to the more direct costs related to gun violence, homicides and gun shootings also have a negative impact upon home values and business success in the communities where they take place. For example, in Minneapolis, each additional gun homicide in a census tract was associated with a $22,000 decline in average home values and 80 fewer jobs the following year [10].