The Buffalo Peacemakers’ Proven Record
The Buffalo Peacemakers have a proven record of decreasing gang and youth violence.
Our first full year was in 2014, and violence dropped steadily as we did our work:
- We helped drop gang-related homicides from 43 in 2014 to 18 in 2019.
- We helped drop gang-related acts of violence from 112 in 2014 to 36 in 2019.
During the Covid pandemic gun violence spiked in Buffalo as in other U.S. cities. Unable to work on the streets, our major focus changed to working with the Buffalo Public Schools to distribute free lunches and electronic equipment to 3,000 students who were unable to get to school each day. We also provided hundreds of thousands of meals and personal protective equipment to thousands of citizens in need.
As soon as we were able to return to our face-to-face violence prevention work in the last half of 2022, the incidence of violence started coming down again.
- In 2020 as Covid took hold, there were 287 shooting incidents in Buffalo.
- In 2021, that rose slightly to 295 shooting incidents.
- In 2022, as we returned to work, the number of shooting incidents dropped to 197.
- And in 2023, we dropped it again to 141.
- In 2024, the number of shooting incidents dropped to 125, the lowest since 2006.
- In 2020, total homicides in Buffalo rose to 59. Then 66 in 2021. Then 71 in 2022.
- However, in 2023 we helped drop homicides sharply to 39.
- And in 2024, 30 people were murdered by guns, and the total homicides were 38, the lowest since 2011.
The decrease in gun violence and homicides coming out of the Covid pandemic in Buffalo was acknowledged by Gov. Kathy Hochul as one of the sharpest drops in the United States. Over the 10-year life of the Peacemakers, we have consistently proven our worth.
Gun Violence Facts
(Source: everystat.com – a resource of Everytown for Gun Safety)
Nationwide Facts
Every day, 125 people in the United States are killed with guns, twice as many are shot and wounded, and countless others are impacted by acts of gun violence.
In the United States from 2014 to 2023, the rate of gun homicides increased 57% and the rate of gun suicides increased 21%. The overall rate of gun deaths increased 34%. This means that in 2023 there were 13,133 more gun deaths than in 2014.
Guns are the leading cause of death among children and teens in the United States. In the United States, an average of 4,320 children and teens die by guns every year, of which 30% of these deaths are suicides and 65% are homicides. Thankfully, in New York State guns are “only” the fourth leading cause of death.
Costs
In 2019, gun violence cost the United States $557.2 billion, of which $12.6 billion was paid by taxpayers.
The average annual cost for overall gun violence in the United States is $1,698 for every resident in the country. However, in states like New York with stronger gun laws, the economic toll of gun violence is less than half this amount, whereas in states like Mississippi where gun laws are weak and gun injuries and fatalities are much higher, gun violence costs residents double or more this amount per person.
Racial Inequalities
In the United States, Black people are 12 times more likely than White people to die by gun homicide.
Black children and teens in the United States are 6 times more likely than their White peers to die by gun homicide. Although sadly, Black children and teens in New York are 9 times more likely than their White peers to die by gun homicide.
Men and Women
Every year, an average of 19,050 people in the United States die by gun homicides and 35,451 are wounded by gun assaults—a rate of 6.0 homicides and 10.7 assaults per 100,000 people.
87% of those suffering a nonfatal shooting are males, mainly between age 15 and 25. Blacks are more than 10 times more likely to be shot than whites. One quarter of males who are shot before they are age 24 will be shot again in the next 10 years.
In 2021, 912 women were fatally shot by an intimate partner in the United States. 71% of female intimate partner homicide victims were killed with a gun.
Suicides and Homicides
In the United States, 56% of gun deaths are suicides and 40% are homicides.
Of all homicides in the United States, 79% involve a gun.
New York State Facts
In an average year, 984 people die and 2,841 are wounded by guns in New York.
New York averages 492 deaths per year by gun homicide, which is 50% of all gun deaths.
In New York, the rate of gun homicide increased 22% from 2014 to 2023, compared to a 57% increase nationwide. In 2023 there were 68 more gun deaths than in 2014.
Every year, an average of 1,341 people are wounded by gun assaults in New York.
Costs
In 2019, gun violence cost New York $11.4 billion, of which $301.2 million was paid by taxpayers.
New York has the 2nd-lowest societal cost of gun violence in the US at $588 per resident each year.
Racial Inequalities
In New York, Blacks are 21 times more likely to be killed by guns than Whites.
However, Whites are 3 times more likely to commit suicide than Blacks.