These Guns Show Up at Crime Scenes More Than Any Others

When it comes to gun violence in the United States, many people believe that — unless they have been subject to a mass shooting — gun violence has not heavily affected them, or that it might not be as prevalent in their communities. But is this true? A national study performed by researchers at Rutgers University and published in Lancet Regional Health – Americas actually found that 64% of American adults have had some exposure to gun violence, whether directly or indirectly. The study also found significant racial components to this, with Black and Hispanic individuals more likely to report witnessing gun crime, being threatened with a gun, or having a loved one, friend, or community member who was shot. Gun crime has also been widely shared on social media, with many people witnessing gun crime shared on social media or in popular culture. (Once one of America’s quietest states, gun crime has doubled here in recent years.)

But when guns are used in the commission of a crime, how does law enforcement use these guns to identify perpetrators and solve crimes? The answer is firearm tracing. Outside of finding people who are committing crimes, firearm tracing also gives law enforcement and gun manufacturers a better idea of which guns are being used. Here, 24/7 Wall St. sourced data on the top gun calibers recovered and traced in the United States and U.S. territories from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Through this 2023 data — which remains the most up-to-date at this time — we determined the gun calibers most often used for crime across America. Although the ATF presented state-by-state tracing data, we provided you with the total guns traced for each caliber. Additional information on gun crime statistics, typical firearm types, and typical caliber uses were sourced from our own knowledge and gun use, the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and gun-specific websites.

This previously published article was updated in May 2025 to add additional depth into gun crimes and gun tracing in the U.S., as well as highlight state- and city-specific efforts to reduce gun crime. 

What is Gun Tracing?

Gun tracing essentially means tracking a gun once it has been received by law enforcement. Law enforcement can take these guns used in crimes and determine where these weapons were imported, manufactured, and sold. According to the National Policing Institute, guns are traced “to link a suspect to a firearm in a criminal investigation; to identify potential traffickers (whether licensed or unlicensed sellers); and when sufficiently comprehensive tracing is undertaken by a given community, to detect in-state, interstate, and international patterns in the sources and kinds of crime guns.”

Gun Crime: An Overview

The most common gun crimes in the United States include:

• Homicides
• Rape
• Aggravated assault
• Robbery
• Gun trafficking

That being said, while not actually a crime, guns are used extensively in suicides. Mass shootings make up just 1% of American gun deaths, while suicide accounts for 60%.

American Gun Statistics

Gun culture is deeply ingrained in the United States — despite the fact that we face some of the highest and worst rates of gun violence in high-income countries:

• Approximately 40% of Americans live in a home with a gun and 32% are gun owners.
• Republicans and conservative-leaning independents are more likely to own a gun than Democrats or liberal-leaning independents.
• In 2023, 46,728 people across America died from gun-related injuries.
• Americans are 26x more likely to be shot and killed than in other high-income countries.
• Every day, approximately 327 people in America are shot. Of these, on average, 36% will die.

Why It Matters

All firearms are deadly weapons that can be misused for illegal purposes — but when it comes to crime, certain types of guns are used more often than others. While federal tracing is not an exact science, it does offer a rough approximation of gun crime as guns recovered from crime scenes or removed from suspects are usually reported to the ATF. Not all traced guns were used in a crime and not all guns used in crimes are traced. However, by looking at gun tracings, we can begin to understand where, how, and why gun crime is exploding and develop solutions to temper that. States across the nation are beginning to set into motion ways to combat gun crimes, including:

• Delaware’s Governor creating an Office of Gun Violence Prevention and Community Safety
• Marchers in Kalamazoo advocating for new gun control and anti-gun violence measures
• Portland Office of Violence Prevention’s 2025 Safer Portland grant

Interestingly, the calibers and types of firearms most commonly traced by the ATF are also among the most popular firearms and calibers for law-aiding American gun owners. If you’re a gun owner, is your gun on this list?

Here are the guns most often associated with crime in the United States: 

28. .243 caliber

• .243 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 571
• Typical .243 caliber firearm type(s): Rifle
• Common legal usage(s) of .243 caliber firearms: Hunting for most game, cartridge dependent

27. 16 gauge

• 16 gauge firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 577
• Typical 16 gauge firearm type(s): Shotgun
• Common legal usage(s) of 16 gauge firearms: Upland and water-fowl hunting, deer hunting, recreational shooting, home defense

26. .50 caliber

• .50 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 640
• Typical .50 caliber firearm type(s): Pistol, rifle, revolver
• Common legal usage(s) of .50 caliber firearms: Anti-material, big game hunting

25. .30 caliber

• .30 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 645
• Typical .30 caliber firearm type(s): Rifle
• Common legal usage(s) of .30 caliber firearms: Small game hunting

24. .270 caliber

• .270 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 727
• Typical .270 caliber firearm type(s): Rifle
• Common legal usage(s) of .270 caliber firearms: Large and medium game hunting

23. .30-30 caliber

• .30-30 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 1,294
• Typical .30-30 caliber firearm type(s): Rifle
• Common legal usage(s) of .30-30 caliber firearms: Large and medium game hunting

22. .45 caliber/.410 Bore

• .45 caliber/.410 Bore firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 1,300
• Typical .45 caliber/.410 Bore firearm type(s): Revolver/shotgun
• Common legal usage(s) of .45 caliber/.410 Bore firearms: Self-defense

21. .410 Bore

• .410 Bore firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 1,518
• Typical .410 Bore firearm type(s): Shotgun
• Common legal usage(s) of .410 Bore firearms: Bird and small game hunting, home defense

20. .30-06 caliber

• .30-06 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 1,590
• Typical .30-06 caliber firearm type(s): Rifle
• Common legal usage(s) of .30-06 caliber firearms: Large and medium game hunting

19. .300 caliber

• .300 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 1,603
• Typical .300 caliber firearm type(s): Rifle
• Common legal usage(s) of .300 caliber firearms: Hunting for most game, cartridge dependent

18. .308 caliber

• .308 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 1,765
• Typical .308 caliber firearm type(s): Rifle
• Common legal usage(s) of .308 caliber firearms: Toughest game, large and medium game hunting

17. .44 caliber

• .44 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 1,958
• Typical .44 caliber firearm type(s): Revolver
• Common legal usage(s) of .44 caliber firearms: Hunting, self defense

16. 20 gauge

• 20 gauge firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 3,498
• Typical 20 gauge firearm type(s): Shotgun
• Common legal usage(s) of 20 gauge firearms: Upland and water-fowl hunting, deer hunting, recreational shooting, home defense

15. 5.7mm

• 5.7mm firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 3,805
• Typical 5.7mm firearm type(s): Pistol
• Common legal usage(s) of 5.7mm firearms: Self-defense

14. .32 caliber

• .32 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 3,971
• Typical .32 caliber firearm type(s): Pistol, revolver
• Common legal usage(s) of .32 caliber firearms: Self-defense

13. 10mm

• 10mm firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 4,464
• Typical 10mm firearm type(s): Pistol
• Common legal usage(s) of 10mm firearms: Hunting, self defense

12. .25 caliber

• .25 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 4,506
• Typical .25 caliber firearm type(s): Pistol
• Common legal usage(s) of .25 caliber firearms: Self-defense

11. .223 caliber

• .223 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 7,009
• Typical .223 caliber firearm type(s): Rifle
• Common legal usage(s) of .223 caliber firearms: Home defense, small to large game hunting – cartridge dependent

10. .357 caliber

• .357 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 8,770
• Typical .357 caliber firearm type(s): Revolver
• Common legal usage(s) of .357 caliber firearms: Hunting, self defense

9. 7.62mm

• 7.62mm firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 10,450
• Typical 7.62mm firearm type(s): Rifle
• Common legal usage(s) of 7.62mm firearms: Home defense, small to large game hunting – cartridge dependent

8. 5.56mm

• 5.56mm firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 11,982
• Typical 5.56mm firearm type(s): Rifle
• Common legal usage(s) of 5.56mm firearms: Home defense, small to large game hunting – cartridge dependent

7. .38 caliber

• .38 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 16,194
• Typical .38 caliber firearm type(s): Revolver, pistol
• Common legal usage(s) of .38 caliber firearms: Self-defense, small game hunting

6. 12 gauge

• 12 gauge firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 21,744
• Typical 12 gauge firearm type(s): Shotgun
• Common legal usage(s) of 12 gauge firearms: Upland and water-fowl hunting, deer hunting, recreational shooting, home defense

5. .45 caliber

• .45 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 28,676
• Typical .45 caliber firearm type(s): Pistol
• Common legal usage(s) of .45 caliber firearms: Self-defense

4. .380 caliber

• .380 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 29,732
• Typical .380 caliber firearm type(s): Pistol
• Common legal usage(s) of .380 caliber firearms: Self-defense, target practice, plinking

3. .22 caliber

• .22 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 37,864
• Typical .22 caliber firearm type(s): Pistol, rifle, and revolver
• Common legal usage(s) of .22 caliber firearms: Plinking, target shooting, small game hunting, training

2. .40 caliber

• .40 caliber firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 48,637
• Typical .40 caliber firearm type(s): Pistol
• Common legal usage(s) of .40 caliber firearms: Self-defense, law enforcement, concealed carry

1. 9mm

• 9mm firearms traced by the ATF in 2023: 231,681
• Typical 9mm firearm type(s): Pistol
• Common legal usage(s) of 9mm firearms: Self-defense, law enforcement

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