GUN VIOLENCE in the UNITED STATES
Some Indicative Data:
Gun Ownership
Gun Deaths:
More than 30,000 people are killed by firearms each year in this country
More than 30 people are shot and murdered each day
1/2 of them are between the ages of 18 and 35
1/3 of them are under the age of 20
Homicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-24 year-olds
And the primary cause of death among African Americans of that age group
Gun Homicides (average annually):
Less than 50: Japan
Less than 150: Germany, Italy, France, etc.
Less than 200: Canada
More than 10,000: USA
Source: IANSA (International Action Network on Small Arms of the United Nations)
Injuries and Deaths from Guns
Everytime a gun injures or kills in self-defense, one is used:
Per Capita Annual Gun Death Rate (per 100,000 population):
Highest: Louisiana (19.04, 45.6% households contain guns)
#25: Pennsylvania (10.90)
Lowest: CT, NY, New Jersey (4.99), RI, MA, Hawaii (2.20)
National: (10.32)
Source: Centers for Disease Control
Costs of Gun Violence
Distance From Legal Point of Purchase to Crime Recovery:
Source: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
Percent of Recovered Crime Guns First Legally Purchased In-State:
Pennsylvania: 78%
New Jersey: 27% (18% from PA)
New York: 28%
Source: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
Some Interesting Poll Data
77% of NRA members favor a waiting period for purchase of a handgun
82% of American support limiting the sales of military-style assault weapons
94% of police chiefs favor requiring a background check for all handgun sales.
Support for background checks on private gun sales, including gun shows:
Some Indicative Data:
Gun Ownership
- The US has an estimated 283 million guns in civilian hands
- Each year about 4.5 million firearms, including approximately 2 million handguns, are sold in the United States
- An estimated 2 million second hand firearms are sold each year
- The percentage of American households with a gun has been steadily declining (high of 54% in 1977 to 33% in 2009)
- The average number of guns per owner has increased from 4.1 in 1994 to 6.9 in 2004.
Gun Deaths:
More than 30,000 people are killed by firearms each year in this country
More than 30 people are shot and murdered each day
1/2 of them are between the ages of 18 and 35
1/3 of them are under the age of 20
Homicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-24 year-olds
And the primary cause of death among African Americans of that age group
Gun Homicides (average annually):
Less than 50: Japan
Less than 150: Germany, Italy, France, etc.
Less than 200: Canada
More than 10,000: USA
Source: IANSA (International Action Network on Small Arms of the United Nations)
Injuries and Deaths from Guns
Everytime a gun injures or kills in self-defense, one is used:
- 11 times for a completed or attempted suicide
- 7 times in a criminal assault or homicide
- 4 times in an unintentional shooting death or injury
Per Capita Annual Gun Death Rate (per 100,000 population):
Highest: Louisiana (19.04, 45.6% households contain guns)
#25: Pennsylvania (10.90)
Lowest: CT, NY, New Jersey (4.99), RI, MA, Hawaii (2.20)
National: (10.32)
Source: Centers for Disease Control
Costs of Gun Violence
- Gun violence impacts society in many ways: medical costs, costs of the criminal justice system, security precautions such as metal detectors, and reductions in the quality of life because of fear of gun violence.
- U.S. lifetime medical costs for gunshot injuries total an estimated $2.3 billion
- U.S. taxpayers pay for almost half ($1.1 billion or 49%) of lifetime medical costs for gunshot injuries
- Only 1% of gun dealer account for almost 60% of crime guns recovered by police and later traced
- In one year, at least 30,000 guns were “lost” out of gun dealers inventories
- Guns with a short “time to crime” are disproportionately represented among crime guns. Guns manufactured and sold 3 years or less, prior to recopvery by police in crime make up 34 % of recovered and traced crime guns, but only 14% of the US gun stock.
- Guns sold as part of a multiple sale at a gun dealer were up to 64% more likely to be used in a crime than guns not part of such sales.
- “No background check” sales account for an estimated 40% of gun sales in the U.S.
Distance From Legal Point of Purchase to Crime Recovery:
| Within 10 miles | More than 100 miles | |
| Philadelphia | 61.2% | 18.1% |
| Pittsburgh | 62.9% | 12.6% |
| Newark | 9.1% | 81.5% |
| New York City | 4.4% | 83% |
Percent of Recovered Crime Guns First Legally Purchased In-State:
Pennsylvania: 78%
New Jersey: 27% (18% from PA)
New York: 28%
Source: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
Some Interesting Poll Data
77% of NRA members favor a waiting period for purchase of a handgun
82% of American support limiting the sales of military-style assault weapons
94% of police chiefs favor requiring a background check for all handgun sales.
Support for background checks on private gun sales, including gun shows:
- 87% of American
- 83% of gun owners
- 69% of NRA gun-owners
- 65% of Americans
- 59% of gun owners
- 79% of Americans
- 69% of police chiefs
- 61% of gun owners
- 59% of NRA members
Thanks for posting that, JR, that's a great reference.
ReplyDeleteThe United States easily owns more guns per person than anywhere else in the world, yet its per capita murder rate is 4.2 per 100,000 well below the world wide average of 6.9 per 100,000. In Honduras the gun ownership rate is many times less than the United States but the murder rate is 91.6 per 100,000.
ReplyDeleteBetter enforcement of current laws could keep guns out of the hands of the violent mentally ill like the one in Newtown Connecticut, or from released convicted murderers like the one in Webster New York. Restricting the capacity of magazine clips which responsible citizens can legally own would have no effect on criminals who don’t obey laws anyway.