Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41739740›Full record

ArticlePloS one2026

Unequal by the gun: Four decades of the Black-White firearm homicide gap.

Alex Knorre, John MacDonald

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Alex KnorreUniversity of South Florida, Department of Criminology, Tampa, Florida, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5079-9573
John MacDonaldUniversity of Pennsylvania, Department of Criminology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFirearm homicide is a leading cause of death in the United States, with substantial racial disparities documented over time. Black Americans experience disproportionately higher rates of firearm homicide compared to White Americans, reflecting long-standing social, economic, and structural inequities. This study contributes to understanding the magnitude and trends of this disparity.

objectiveWe investigate the Black-White population-level disparity in firearm homicide rates over 45 years in the United States and estimate the fraction of excess deaths in the Black population attributable to firearm homicides.

methodsWe measure racial disparities in firearm homicides as the ratio of age-adjusted rates between Black and White populations. Using annual national firearm homicide and population data from CDC WONDER (1979-2023), disaggregated by race, age, and sex, we calculate age-adjusted Black-White mortality ratios by year and sex, as well as the number of excess Black firearm homicide deaths attributable to these disparities.

resultsAfter a steady period of 1990-2010, the Black-White disparity began increasing and peaked in 2020 when the firearm homicide rate in males was 10.38 times higher in Blacks than Whites. There were 31,202 excess firearm homicides of Black people attributed to the Black-White racial disparity in 2021-2023.

conclusionsDespite significant declines in firearm homicides during the 1990s, the relative racial gap in firearm homicide has persisted and grown, reflecting the unequal burden of violence borne by the Black population during both declines and surges of violence.

Indexed as

Black or African AmericanFirearmsGun ViolenceHomicideWhiteFemaleHumansMaleUnited States

Identifiers

PMID41739740
PMCPMC12935247

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.