Gun violence in the United States - Business

Suicides involving firearms Some research shows an association between household firearm ownership and Gun suicide rates while other research indicates no such association between firearm ownership and Gun suicide rates During the 1980s and early 1990s there was a strong upward trend in adolescent suicides with a Gun as well as a sharp overall increase in a suicides among those age 75 and over In the United States firearms remain the most common method of suicide accounting for 50 7 of all suicides committed during 2006 Research also indicates no association vis vis safe storage laws of guns that are owned and Gun suicide rates and studies that attempt to link Gun ownership to likely victimology often fail to account for the presence of guns owned by other people Researchers h ave shown that safe storage laws do not appear to affect Gun suicide rates or juvenile accidental Gun death Violent crime related to guns Main article Crime in the United States Homicides Homicides by weapon type 1976 2004 Homicide offenders by age 1976 2004 Gun and overall homicides in Washington D C are concentrated in crime hot spots located in neighborhoods including Shaw Sursum Corda Trinidad Anacostia and Congress Heights with socio economic disadvantage while homicide is rare in other neighborhoods While people during the 19th century were concerned about violent crime it often took the form of riots and other forms of disorder in cities Gun violence however sometimes played a role in these riots see Haymarket riot Homicide rates in cities such as Philadelphia were significantly lower than in modern times Durin g the 1980s and early 1990s homicide rates surged in cities across the United States see graphs at right Handgun homicides accounted for nearly all of the overall increase in the homicide rate from 1985 to 1993 while homicide rates involving other weapons declined during that time frame The rising trend in homicide rates during the 1980s and early 1990s was most pronounced among youths and Hispanic and African American males in the United States with the injury and death rates tripling for black males aged 13 through 17 and doubling for black males aged 18 through 24 The rise in crack cocaine use in cities across the United States is often cited as a factor for increased Gun violence among youths during this time period Homicide rates in the United States are two to four times higher than they are in countries that are economically and politically similar to it Higher rates are found in developing countries and those with political ins tability Prevalence of homicide and violent crime is greatest in urban areas of the United States In metropolitan areas the homicide rate in 2005 was 6 1 per 100 000 compared with 3 5 in non metropolitan counties In U S cities with populations greater than 250 000 the mean homicide rate was 12 1 per 100 000 Rates of gun related homicides are greatest in southern and western states Homicide rates among 18 to 24 year olds have declined since 1993 but remain higher than they were prior to the 1980s In 2005 the 17 through 24 age group remains significantly overrepresented in violent crime statistics particularly homicides involving firearms In 2005 17 through 19 year olds were 4 3 of the overall population of the United States This same age group accounted for 11 2 of those killed by firearm homicides This age group also accounted for 10 6 of all homicide offenses The 20 through 24 year old age group accounted for 7 1 of the population while accounting for 22 5 of those killed b y firearm homicides The 20 through 24 age group also accounted for 17 7 of all homicide offenses Those under age 17 are not overrepresented in homicide statistics In 2005 13 through 16 year olds accounted for 6 of the overall population of the United States but only accounted for 3 6 of firearm homicide victims and 2 7 of overall homicide offenses People with a criminal record are also more likely to die as homicide victims Between 1990 and 1994 75 of all homicide victims age 21 and younger in the city of Boston had a prior criminal record In Philadelphia the percentage of those killed in gun homicides that had prior criminal records increased from 73 in 1985 to 93 in 1996 In Richmond Virginia the risk of gunshot injury is 22 times higher for those males involved with crime In 2005 75 of the 10 100 homicides committed using firearms in the United States were committed using handguns compared to 4 with rifles 5 with shotguns and the rest with a type of firearm not specified D ue to the lethal potential that a gun brings to a situation the likelihood that a death will result is significantly increased when either the victim or the attacker has a firearm The mortality rate for gunshot wounds to the heart is 84 compared to 30 for people who sustain stab wounds to the heart Further information Gun violence in the United States by state U S President assassinations and attempts The most notable assassination victim in early U S history was President Abraham Lincoln in 1865 President Lincoln lived only a few hours after being hit in the head by a single 44 caliber handgun round fired by John Wilkes Booth Presidents James Garfield and William McKinley were both assassinated with handguns President Garfield was killed by an assailant using a 44 caliber handgun President McKinley was killed by two rounds fired from a 32 caliber revolver President John F Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald who used a bolt action Carcano M1891 38 rifle in 6 5 x 52 mm Presidents Andrew Jackson and Harry S Truman were uninjured during assassination attempts as was President Gerald Ford in two separate attempts only a few weeks apart President Ronald Reagan survived an assassination attempt after being shot by John Hinckley Jr with a Rhm RG 14 22 caliber revolver and is the only sitting President to survive a gunshot wound Former President Theodore Roosevelt was shot and wounded during the 1912 presidential campaign On February 15 1933 Guiseppe Zangara attempted to assassinate Franklin Delano Roosevelt while the then President elect was giving a speech in Miami Florida Other violent crime In the United States a quarter of commercial robberies are committed with guns Robberies committed with guns are three times as likely to result in fatalities compared with robberies where other weapons were used with similar patterns in cases of family violence Criminologist Philip J Cook hypothesizes that if guns were less available criminals may lik ely commit the crime anyway but with less lethal weapons He finds that the level of gun ownership in the 50 largest U S cities correlates with the rate of robberies committed with guns but not overall robbery rates A significant number of homicides result as a by product of another violent crime which escalates with the offender going into the crime without a clear or sustained intent to kill or be killed Overall robbery and assault rates in the United States are also comparable to other developed countries such as Australia and Finland notwithstanding the much lower levels of gun ownership in those countries See also Assault with a deadly weapon Gun ownership The General Social Survey GSS is a primary source for data on firearm ownership with surveys periodically done by other organizations such as Harris Interactive In 2004 36 5 of Americans reported having a gun in their home and in 1997 40 of Americans reported having a gun in their homes At this time there were approxim ately 44 million gun owners in the United States This means that 25 percent of all adults and 40 percent of American households owned at least one firearm These owners possessed 192 million firearms of which 65 million were handguns The number of American homes reporting have a gun in their homes is down from 46 as reported in 1989 Philip J Cook suggests that increased numbers of female headed households may be a factor in declining household ownership figures A National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms NSPOF conducted in 1994 indicates that Americans own 192 million guns with 36 of these consisting of rifles 34 handguns 26 shotguns and 4 of other types of long guns Most firearm owners own multiple firearms with the NSPOF survey indicating 25 of adults own firearms In the United States 11 of households report actively being involved in hunting with the remaining firearm owners having guns for self protection and other reasons Throughout the 1970s and much of t he 1980s the rate of gun ownership in the home ranged from 45 50 Gun ownership also varies across geographic regions ranging from 25 rates of ownership in the Northeastern United States to 60 rates of ownership in the East South Central States The GSS survey and other proxy measures of gun ownership do not provide adequate macro level detail to allow conclusions on the relationship between overall firearm ownership and gun violence Criminologist Gary Kleck compared various survey and proxy measures and found no correlation between overall firearm ownership and gun violence Self protection Between 1987 and 1990 David McDowall found that guns were used in defense during a crime incident 64 615 times annually This equates to two times out of 1 000 incidents 0 2 that occurred in this time frame For violent crimes assault robbery and rape guns were used 0 83 of the time in self defense Of the times that guns were used in self defense 71 of the crimes were committed by strangers w ith the rest of the incidents evenly divided between offenders that were acquaintances or persons well known to the victim Of all incidents where a gun was used for self defense victims shot at the offender 28 of the time In 20 of the self defense incidents the guns were used by police officers During this same time period 1987 and 1990 there were 46 319 gun homicides and the National Crime Victimization Survey estimates that 2 628 532 nonfatal crimes involving guns occurred The findings of the McDowall s study for the American Journal of Public Health contrast with the findings of a 1993 study by Gary Kleck who finds that as many as 2 45 million crimes are thwarted each year in the United States and in most cases the potential victim never fires a shot in these cases where firearms are used constructively for self protection The results of the Kleck studies have been cited many times in scholarly and popular media McDowall cites methodological issues with the Kleck studies claiming that Kleck used a very small sample size and did not confine self defense to attempted victimizations where physical attacks had already commenced The former criticism however is inaccurate Kleck s survey with Marc Gertz in fact used the largest sample size of any survey that ever asked respondents about defensive gun use 4 977 cases far more than is typical in national surveys A study of gun use in the 1990s by David Hemenway at the Harvard Injury Control Research Center found that criminal use of guns is far more common than self defense use of guns By the Kleck study however most successful preventions of victimizations are accomplished without a shot being fired which are not counted as a self defense firearm usage by either the Hemenway or McDowall studies Public policy Main article Gun politics in the United States Research and statistics have shown that guns intensify crime situations and increase the likelihood of a more violent or lethal outcome Public poli cy approaches generally focus on ways that law enforcement and regulatory agencies may intervene This includes intervention when a gun is acquired as with policies prohibiting youths and those with criminal records from buying guns Policies can also make it illegal for guns to be brought to a crime scene as in restriction or regulation of who may carry concealed weapons Policies can also focus on use by mandating increased sentences for those who use guns in crime or by requiring guns to have certain safety features Gun control proponents often cite the relatively high number of homicides committed with firearms as reason to support stricter gun control laws Firearm laws are a subject of great debate in the United States with firearms also widely used for recreational purposes and for personal protection Gun rights advocates cite the use of firearms for self protection and to deter violent crime as reasons why more guns can reduce crime Gun rights advocates also say criminal s are the least likely to obey firearms laws and so limiting access to guns by law abiding people makes them more vulnerable to armed criminals Criminologist Philip J Cook argues for public policy goals of keeping guns out of violent encounters and recommends approaches that limit the availability of guns to high risk groups and the accessibility of guns in volatile situations Cook suggests measures such as background checks for gun purchasers banning small easily concealed handguns intensive enforcement of illegal gun carrying and tougher sentences imposed on those convicted of using a gun in a crime Access to firearms The most common type of gun confiscated by police and traced by the ATF are 38 special revolvers such as this Smith and Wesson Model 60 38 Special revolver with a 3 inch barrel U S policy aims to maintain the right of legitimate users to own most types of firearms while restricting access to firearms by those individuals in high risk groups Gun dealers in the United States are prohibited from selling handguns to those under the age of 21 and long guns to those under the age of 18 There are also restrictions on selling guns to out of state residents Assuming access to guns the top ten types of guns involved in crime in the U S show a definite trend in favoring handguns over long guns The top ten guns used in crime as reported by the ATF in 1993 included the Smith Wesson 38 Special and 357 revolvers Raven Arms 25 caliber Davis P 380 380 caliber Ruger 22 caliber Lorcin L 380 380 caliber and Smith Wesson sem

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