Emergency departments see the most firearm-related injuries on the Fourth of July of any holiday, according to a CDC analysis covering nine states and Washington, D.C.
Researchers analyzed more than 93,000 ED visits across the 10 jurisdictions between January 2018 and August 2023 using data from the CDC’s Firearm Injury Surveillance Through Emergency Rooms program. The study, published April 15 in Annals of Internal Medicine, is the largest to date to analyze temporal trends in firearm-related ED visits.
Alongside Washington, D.C., states included in the analysis were: Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.
While the findings may not be nationally representative, researchers said the trends could inform emergency preparedness and staffing strategies, potentially reducing firearm-related deaths.
Below is a breakdown of firearm-related ED visit rates for 12 U.S. holidays or days of interest, based on the analysis:
- Independence Day — 158.7 per 100,000 ED visits
- New Year’s Eve — 141.1
- Christmas — 112.8
- Memorial Day weekend (Saturday/Sunday) — 106.7
- Halloween — 105.2 (94.0–117.8)
- Labor Day weekend (Saturday/Sunday) — 105
- Labor Day (Monday) — 89.1
- First day of the month — 74.2
- All other days — 73
- Days with full moon — 72.6
- Super Bowl Sunday — 71.1
- Memorial Day (Monday) — 65.3
View the full study here.
