Hillary Clinton says 33,000 Americans die each year from guns

Early in the third presidential debate in Las Vegas, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton got into a back and forth over guns. At one point, Clinton said, "We have 33,000 people a year who die from guns."

Is she correct? According to data from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, there were 33,599 people who died due to guns in 2014, the most recent year available. And the number has topped 33,000 for three years running. So Clinton has a strong point.

That said, it’s important to note that she is bundling together homicides, suicides and other types of gunfire, including accidental discharges and legally permissible killings such as those by law enforcement.

As the following chart shows, suicides account for the largest share of gun-related deaths -- about two-thirds in recent years. And while gun-related suicides have risen by 10 percent since 2010, the number of non-suicide gun deaths has remained roughly the same.

Year

Deaths by guns (including suicides)

Suicides alone

Deaths by guns excluding suicides

2014

33,599

21,334

12,265

2013

33,636

21,175

12,461

2012

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Donald Trump

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33,563

20,666

12,897

2011

32,351

19,990

12,361

2010

31,672

19,392

12,280

Average per year, 1999-2014

31,102

18,223

12,879

Clinton phrased her statement carefully -- she referred to people who "die from guns" without specifying the circumstances of how they were shot. Still, the fact that suicides represent such a large share of gun deaths is a detail worth noting.

Our ruling

Clinton said, "We have 33,000 people a year who die from guns." She’s correct that all deaths from guns have exceeded 33,000 during the most recent three years for which we have data. That said, it’s worth noting that roughly two-thirds of these were suicides. We rate her claim Mostly True.

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