Gun deaths in Tennessee hit record highs in 2023, according to data released by the Tennessee Department of Health (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
In 2023, 1,588 Tennesseans died as a result of a firearm, a historic high, according to newly released data by the state’s Department of Health.
The rate of firearm deaths rose in nearly every category: adult suicide, child suicide and homicides of both adult and child victims.
The latest numbers put Tennessee seventh in the nation for the rate of gun deaths.
A record number of Tennessee children — 96 — were killed by guns in 2023, the most recent data available shows. In the past ten years, firearm fatalities from all causes increased by 41% in Tennessee.
State Sen. Heidi Campbell, a Nashville Democrat, blamed Republican policy decisions on the rising gun deaths at a news conference held to highlight the gun fatality data.
“There’s no mystery here,” Campbell said. “Republican lawmakers have made it easier for criminals to get guns, and it’s harder for kids to grow up safely. The result is predictable. It’s more shootings. It’s more fatal suicides. And it’s more dead children.”
Republicans rejected Democrats’ efforts to enact red flag laws, strengthen background checks and enact safe gun storage laws, Campbell noted.
Tennessee Senate Democrats created their own database to track gun deaths in Tennessee following their unsuccessful efforts to enact gun restrictions after the 2023 mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville claimed the lives of three children and three adults.
The database, “Tennessee Under the Gun,” shows that over the past ten years, firearm fatalities involving children increased overall by 128%. Firearm suicides among children rose 115% and firearm homicides for children rose 114%.
Tennessee House Majority Leader William Lamberth, a Portland, Tenn. Republican, blamed “leftist policies that favor criminals” for crime rates in Tennessee.
“Tennessee Republicans have proven that it’s possible to strengthen both freedom and public safety,” Lamberth said.” Unfortunately, in the few urban areas governed by the same Democrats who commissioned this so-called ‘study,’ crime has spiraled out of control due to leftist policies that favor criminals.”
Lamberth pointed to the arrival of hundreds of federal and state law enforcement in Memphis in recent weeks, including the Tennessee National Guard, as evidence of Republicans’ commitment to combating crime. The Memphis Safe Task Force is a state-federal partnership initiated by President Donald Trump and Gov. Bill Lee.
“The success of the Memphis Safe Task Force has shown us in just two weeks that it’s not difficult to crack down on crime; you only need leaders willing to do so,” Lamberth said.“Republicans will continue to defend the constitutional freedoms that make our nation strong, and we will use every state and federal resource available to stop the crime wave plaguing our state’s blue cities.”
Tennessee Department of Health 2025 Firearms Report
