This story was originally published by the Nashville Banner. Sign up for their newsletter at nashvillebanner.com/newsletters.
The impact of gun violence in the United States is vast and felt daily. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, firearms are the leading cause of death for Americans ages 1 to 17. While shootings are widely covered, their economic cost isn’t commonly measured. It’s a gap researchers are now working to fill.
A new interactive dashboard from Voices for a Safer Tennessee and the University of Tennessee’s Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research puts a price on that toll. Drawing on state data on firearm-related deaths and injuries, researchers estimate that gun violence cost Tennessee’s economy $3.6 billion in 2023 alone, up from $2.74 billion in 2017.
In a release, Matt Harris, the Boyd Distinguished Professor of Health Economics at the Boyd Center and co-creator of the dashboard, said the findings show firearm deaths in Tennessee are rising.
“Tennessee is a terrific state. We are growing in so many areas, but this is an outcome where our state has struggled,” Harris said.