Santa Barbara County dropped to fifth lowest in total firearm deaths in California in 2024, an improvement compared to the previous year when the county ranked 12th lowest statewide. Statistics across the state show that California as a whole recorded its lowest firearm death, firearm suicide, and firearm homicide rate in 2024 — the most recent year for these statistics — creating the largest gap recorded between California and the rest of the nation.
“As far as California goes, we have actually done very well as a state,” observed Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown, “and we have done exceptionally well as a county in the last few years, in terms of gun violence or firearm death rates generally.”
Brown said that the drop is related to a specific formula, including the level of policing and law enforcement in the community, how actively firearms are investigated, and economic issues, such as employment rate or quality of life…