DOJ: Firearms-Related Homicides Drop 39% in 18 Years; Nonfatal Firearms Crimes Plummet 69%

[Geee]

CNS News:

New statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) show firearm related homicides have declined 39 percent over the course of 18 years in the United States. Nonfatal firearm crimes have decreased 69 percent in the same time period.

"Firearm-related homicides declined 39 percent and nonfatal firearm crimes declined 69 percent from 1993 to 2011, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. Firearm-related homicides dropped from 18,253 homicides in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011, and nonfatal firearm crimes dropped from 1.5 million victimizations in 1993 to 467,300 in 2011," says a press release from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).

It continues, "For both fatal and nonfatal firearm victimizations, the majority of the decline occurred during the 10-year period from 1993 to 2002. The number of firearm homicides declined from 1993 to 1999, rose through 2006 and then declined through 2011. Nonfatal firearm violence declined from 1993 through 2004 before fluctuating in the mid- to late 2000s."

[Valin]

Where the Gun Violence Is

Troy Senik

5/7/13

 

David M. Kennedy, Director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, has a fascinating op-ed in the Los Angeles Times that forsakes gun control garment-rending for data. The results are eye-opening:

 

The fact is that most of the recent debate entirely missed the point about the nature of most gun violence in America. The largest share — up to three-quarters of all homicides in many cities — is driven by gangs and drug crews. Most of the remainder is also concentrated among active criminals; ordinary citizens who own guns do not commit street robberies or shoot their neighbors and wives ...

 

... Gun violence turns out to be driven by a fantastically small number of people: about 5% of the young men in the most dangerous neighborhoods. It is possible to identify them, put together a partnership of law enforcement, community figures and social service providers, and have a face-to-face engagement in which the authorities say, "We know who you are, we know what you're doing, we'd like to help you, but your violence has to stop, and there will be serious legal consequences if it doesn't."

 

... Even in high-crime communities, gun violence is concentrated geographically. It is particular blocks and corners, not whole neighborhoods, that are at highest risk. Rutgers University criminologist Anthony Braga has found that such places often stay hot for decades. Focused police attention on those places pays demonstrable dividends. Mere presence works; more sophisticated problem-solving efforts work better.

 

These approaches can work quickly, and they sidestep the culture war on guns because they require no legislative action. Most important, they bring relief to the beleaguered communities that need it the most.

(Snip)