In 2020, gun-related incidents, including homicides, suicides, accidents, and other firearm-related incidents, accounted for over 45,200 deaths in the United States, an increase of nearly 13.9% from 2019 levels. At 13.7 deaths per 100,000 population, the U.S. gun death rate was up from 12.1 deaths per 100,000 population the prior year.  The five-state Rocky Mountain region recorded 2,064 gun-related deaths in 2020.  With 16.4 gun-related deaths per 100,000 population in 2020, the region's gun death rate was 19.7% higher than the national average.  Utah was the only state in the region where the gun death rate in 2020 was below the national average.  A closer examination of 2020 data from the National Center for Health Statistics reveals the following about gun death rates in the Rocky Mountain region.:

Gun Death Rates in the Rocky Mountain Region

State	Deaths	Population	Death Rate*
Colorado	922	5,807,719	15.9
Idaho	321	1,826,913	17.6
Montana	238	1,080,577	22.0
Utah	429	3,249,879	13.2
Wyoming	154	582,328	26.4
Region	2,064	12,547,416	16.4
U.S. Totals	45,222	329,484,123	13.7

(*) number of gun deaths per 100,000 population

Report Period: 2020

Source: CDC Wonder. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Underlying Cause of Death 1999-2020 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2021. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 1999-2020, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Accessed on August 29, 2022