A new study shows firearm homicides and nonfatal shootings in North Carolina are trending downward.
The N.C. Criminal Justice Analysis Center released the report, “Firearm Violence Across North Carolina,” this month. It shows trends in rural, urban and suburban communities to help officials improve safety policies.
Rose Werth, a program analyst with the Criminal Justice Analysis Center, says many factors contribute to the decline in firearm homicides being seen since the peak of 2019-2021.
"Those unique conditions from Covid-19, which created a lot of pressure on communities, in a lot of different ways, those conditions have been changing," she says. "We're hopeful that some of the interventions that have been put in place across the state have also been having some effect."
Guilford was among the counties with the highest number of firearm homicides between 2020 and 2024, behind only Mecklenburg. But rural counties had higher rates of gun violence per person.
According to the report, firearm homicides increased 72% in North Carolina between 2019 and 2021. Since then, it’s declined by 29% through June of last year.