The following are more-or-less random resources relevant
to criminology.
They also include, from time-to-time, documents
relevant to the "gun debate" in the USA and Australia (this
may eventually need a section for itself). Documents
both for and against gun controls and relevant pro- and anti- arguments
are included.
A query can consist of one or more keywords in
glimpse format (e.g. foo;bar finds all articles with both
foo and bar in the same line) and it
will return a list of every line in every file in my CRIME files
that matches the query.
Comprehensive US-related crime/justice/criminology information.
Online books, law links and crime pages. Various special topics
include: Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice;
Drug and Alcohol Information;
Police Agencies and Resources;
Pornography, Obscenity, Censorship & The Communications Decency Act;
Community Corrections, Restorative Justice, Prisons and the Death Penalty;
etc.
Search-able database(s). [Multi-award-winning site maintained by (Dr) Cecil E. Greek]
Good resource for UK- (and some European-) oriented crime &
justice information. General Resources;
Includes links to: Official Publications; Police;
Prisons; Associations & Organisations; Electronic Journals. [Maintained by
David Fisher]
The British Journal of Criminology is one of the most influential journals in its field in the
English speaking language. It is widely consulted by academics and researchers in criminology,
probation and social work, and by professionals concerned with law, criminal justice, and
penology.
This electronic clearing-house represents the culmination of six
years of incremental efforts coordinated by the United Nations Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch, Vienna. The goal of the
Branch is to act as coordinator and arbiter of this forum for the
international exchange and dissemination of information on crime
prevention and criminal justice issues.
Crime reports are provided by criminal justice agencies, victims and offenders.
In all three types of reports there are two general limitations which must be considered.
The violent crime offenses of murder and forcible rape both showed increases in 2002 when compared to 2001 numbers, with murder increasing 2.3 percent and forcible rape, 1.8 percent. However, robbery showed a decrease of 0.4 percent, and aggravated assault declined 2.8 percent.
The number of major crimes in the US increased in 2001 for the first
time in a decades, bringing an end to a fall in violence that had
resulted in the lowest crime levels in a generation, according to FBI
statistics.
[According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reports,
the crime index rate increased slightly in 2001 after falling for the 10 straight years; from 1992 to 2001 the rate fell 26.5% while from 2000 to 2001 it increased 0.9%.
According to the BJS National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS),
from 2000 to 2001
the violent crime rate declined 10%, reaching the lowest level in NCVS
history].
Preliminary report:
According to preliminary statistics released by the FBI, :
140 of the Nation's law enforcement officers were feloniously
killed in the line of duty in 2001. This number includes the 71
officers killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Another 77 officers died accidentally during year.
The 69 officers not killed in terrorist attacks died in 65 separate events.
This was 18 more than died in 2000.
61 of these events have been cleared by arrest or exceptional means.
Sixty officers were killed in 2001 with firearms. Of these 60 officers, 45 were slain with handguns, 11 with rifles, and 4 with shotguns.
At the time they were slain, 39 officers were wearing body armor. Sixteen officers attempted to use their weapons by unsnapping the holsters, drawing the weapons, or performing an action to indicate an attempt to use the weapons but were unable to fire.
Presents 110 tables with detailed data on major variables measured by the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).
Includes:
Demography of victims;
Victims and offenders;
Geography;
The crime event;
Victims and the criminal justice system;
Series victimization.
The number of people under correctional supervision increased 2.3%
from 2000 to 2001.
The estimated number of arrests for drug abuse violations rose from
1999 to 2000.
Violent crime rates declined after 1994 as measured by the National
Crime Victimization Survey. Victimization rates for males and females
are getting closer in recent years.
n 1996 the U.S. firearms death rate was 12.94 per 100,000. Twenty-seven states were at or above this national
average rate. Louisiana ranked as the state with the highest firearms death rate (25.37 per 100,000)—nearly twice
the national average. Louisiana was followed by Nevada (22.38 per 100,000), Alaska (21.21 per 100,000),
Mississippi (20.90 per 100,000), and Alabama (20.05 per 100,000). Louisiana also ranked first for its rate of
firearms homicide (15.68 per 100,000). Alaska ranked first for firearms suicide (14.89 per 100,000), and Tennessee
ranked highest in the nation for its rate of unintentional firearms death (1.63 per 100,000).
[From the Violence Policy Center]
In this three-year national survey of gun homicide,
most victims were shot by a licensed gun owner with no
previous history of mental illness or violent crime.
Firearm regulation appears to have been effective in reducing gun suicide
and gun crime in Tasmania. The number, rate and proportion of firearm
suicides declined in the Guns Act period and continued to decline in 1996 and
1997. The result is that Tasmania no longer had the highest firearm suicide
rate in 1996 and 1997.
In the past ten years, 14 mass shootings in Australia and New
Zealand left 124 people dead by gunfire. Police files and
coroners' reports show that until the shooting occurred,
two-thirds of the killers were considered to be law-abiding gun
owners.
Archive of (Aus government) media releases, statistics, buyback handbook.
According to the
final tally, 643.6K weapons were bought back,
with $316K compensation paid.
Welcome to the website of the United Nations International Study on Firearm Regulation. Information on the
methodology of the study is provided below, as are links to documents presented to the fifth and sixth sessions
of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, including the survey instrument. The data of the
Survey are also available below. Note that files may be downloaded in various formats, including the Portable
Document Format (*.pdf) from Adobe Systems. Please click here to download the Adobe Acrobat viewer.
[The Survey involves analysing criminal cases, illicit traffic in
firearms, national regulations relevant to firearms, and seeks to
determine which information should be collected on an on-going basis.
It's not directly relevant to studies such as Killias 1993 that seek
to establish a connection between availability and use of firearms
across various countries].
The United States has weaker firearm regulations and
higher numbers of deaths involving firearms than all
other industrialized--and even most
developing--nations, according to a 1997 study by the United Nations.
The study surveyed 49 nations on their firearm legislation, manufacture, and
trade regulations, as well as on their rates of firearm crime and death.
Table showing
rates of murder, rape,
robbery, assault, burglarly,
larceny, MV theft and arson
per 100K population for each US city >= 100K population
reporting in 1994 and 1995.
Final 1994 crime statistics released today by FBI Director Louis J. Freeh showed that 14 million Crime Index
offenses were reported to law enforcement across the Nation. The 1994 total represents a rate of 5,374 offenses for
every 100,000 United States inhabitants. The number of crimes was down 1 percent from 1993, while the crime
rate declined 2 percent. The number of violent crimes dropped 3 percent, while the rate of violent crimes dropped
4 percent. In the nine U.S. cities with more than one million population, the decrease in the number of violent
crimes was 8 percent. In the 66 largest cities, with populations over 250,000, Crime Index totals dropped 4 percent.
For cities with populations over 1 mn, the odds of being the victim
of murder. Although NYc is cited as being "high" on the list, the
top few "cities" c1990 are Washington DC, New Orleans, Richmond VA,
and Las Vegas.
[Thanks to Tim Lambert for this one]
State-by-state rankings for violent crime, fed & stat prisoners and
reported child abuse cases, 1992. [AKA, why do some people cite
Vermont and New Hampshire as "typical" American states?].
Philadelphia seems to be one of the few US cities that maintain
crime statistics online.
Send comments and suggestions for new searches and reports to
editor@phillynews.com.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
said today that the estimated number of personal and household
crimes in the U.S. rose 1.9 percent last year, increasing from 34.4
million in 1990 to 35.1 million in 1991.
[Also see BJS web pages].
Causes of Death 1992 (Minister of Industry, Science and Technology,
Statistics Canada, Health Statistics Division, Sept. 1994);
and, Method of Committing Homicide Offences, Canadian the
Provinces/Territories, 1992 (Minister of
Industry, Science and Technology, Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for
Justice Statistics, 1992)
Until 1977, rifles and shotguns could be purchased in Canada without any
controls whatever. Starting in 1977, it was first necessary to
obtain a Firearms Acquisition Certificate (FAC) in order to purchase any
rifle or shotgun. Data collected for the period 1961--1994 show
a significant pattern of increasing rate of rifle+shotgun murders until 1977,
and a decline thereafter until c1994 the murder rate using rifles+shotguns
approached that for pistols.
During the same period all pistols were required to be
registered in Canada with stringent carry restrictions. The rate of
pistol homicides may thus be considered as a measure of the efficacy of
firearm registration. Registration of pistols has been in effect in
Canada since the 1930's.
Statistics obtained via
http://Justice.uafss.alaska.edu/Documents/Ucrprog.html
showing homicide
rate averages, medians and standard deviations for US cities
and towns, and comparison with New York. Numbers for major
crimes for the States of New York and Texas are also presented.
Figures used in this release are submitted voluntarily by law enforcement
agencies throughout the country. Individuals using these tabulations are
cautioned against drawing conclusions by making direct comparisons between
cities due to the many factors which affect the amount and type of crime from
place to place. Some of these factors are listed in the annual Uniform Crime
Reports. More valid use can be made of these figures by determining deviations
from national averages and through comparisons with averages for cities in
similar population groups.
The 1991 Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities is a prime
source of information about persons held in prisons across the Nation.
Through lengthy interviews and detailed questions with a representative
sample of State inmates, the survey complements the statistical series
that rely on official agency data. The survey data provide a profile of
who is in prison and how they got there. The 1991 survey, together with
similar surveys conducted in 1974, 1979, and 1986, represents the largest
single database on the Nation's prisoners and is an invaluable resource
for evaluating the effectiveness of current incarceration policies and
practices.
The Violence Policy Center is a national non-profit organization working
to fight firearms violence through research, education, and advocacy. As
a gun control "think tank," the VPC analyzes a wide range of current
firearm issues and provides information to policymakers, journalists,
public health professionals, grassroots activists, and members of the
general public.
Certain firearms are now prohibited in Victoria.
During the amnesty, (2 July 1996 - 30 Sept 1997)
compensation will be paid for semi - automatic
centre fire and rim fire rifles, semi - automatic and
pump action shotguns. Compensation will be paid
whether a shooter is licensed or unlicensed and
whether the firearm is registered or not. Cheques will
be issued on the spot, no questions asked.
On May 10th 1996, the Police Ministers from all States
and Territories met with the Commonwealth and
agreed on new laws for firearm ownership. This
involved compensating owners of those firearms which
had been made illegal, a process that ended on 30
September 1997. This Internet site provides you with
information about the Australian Firearms Buyback
and how it was implemented.
During the period 1979-87 there was an average of 689 deaths per year due to
firearms in Australia, accounting for 8.7% of all injury deaths. Of these,
about 77% were suicides, 15% were homicides, and 6% were unintentional
shootings. Firearm deaths are the third most common cause of injury-related
deaths in at least one State (NSW). [from the Public Health Association of Australia].
From June 1991 to May 1992 and June 1993 to May 1994, the
incidence of penetrating trauma increased from 27% to 35% of trauma
center admissions (chi2 test; P<.001). During the period from June 1985 to
May 1994, assault with a deadly weapon increased by 220% and firearms
became the most common assault mechanism (from 32% to 54%; chi2 test;
P<.001). Assailants using guns became significantly younger, with the
percentage of assailants aged 11 to 20 years increasing from 24% to 47%
(chi2 test; P=.001). The ages of assault victims also decreased (P<.003),
but were more evenly distributed across age categories.
[See lots more stuff under
JAMA search engine (try keyword "firearms")].
Laws that make gun owners responsible for storing firearms in a
manner that makes them inaccessible to children were in effect for at least 1
year in 12 states from 1990 through 1994. Among children younger than 15
years, unintentional shooting deaths were reduced by 23% (95% confidence
interval, 6%-37%) during the years covered by these laws. This estimate
was based on within-state comparisons adjusted for national trends in
unintentional firearm-related mortality. Gun-related homicide and suicide
showed modest declines, but these were not statistically significant.
Debate about regulation of firearms in Australia has always provoked intense controversy and generally
revolves around issues related to use of guns in violent crime. In particular, supporters of stricter gun
control argue that there is clear evidence of a direct relationship between availability of firearms and use in
violent incidents and the need to establish a uniform national approach. Opponents within the gun lobby
argue that most gun owners don't act illegally and that a tightening of gun laws is unnecessarily
inconvenient. They claim that gun related deaths are perpetrated by people who are clearly identified as
criminal and/or psychologically disturbed.
522 deaths caused by firearms were registered in Australia in 1994.
In addition to deaths, about 500 hospital admissions each year are due to non fatal firearm related injuries.
Firearm deaths comprise 7.3% of all injury deaths.
Most firearm deaths are suicides; most admitted cases are due to accidents.
Firearm death rates have declined in recent years.
Firearm death rates are generally higher in rural and remote areas than in urban areas.
Australia has a higher firearm related homicide rate than England & Wales and Switzerland, but lower than
Canada and much lower than the United States.
[Some graphs showing per capita rates across Aussie States, etc].
This is an annotated bibliography of papers published in the medical literature related to firearms during
1994-1995. This bibliography is far from complete, but includes several useful papers. Papers are listed in
alphabetical order by last name of the first author and by title if there is no author. The comments on each paper
are provided by Peter Cummings MD, MPH, an epidemiologist with the Harborview Injury Prevention and
Research Center and the University of Washington.
Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief by
Michael R. Rand, BJS Statistician.
In 1992 offenders armed with handguns committed a record 931,000
violent crimes. Handgun crimes accounted for about 13% of all
violent crimes. As measured by the National Crime Victimization
Survey (NCVS), the rate of non-fatal handgun victimizations in
1992--4.5 crimes per 1,000 people age 12 or older--supplanted the
record of 4.0 per 1,000 in 1982.
[See also
Murders, robberies, and aggravated assaults in which firearms were used,
numbers of offenses and rates per 100,000 population, 1973 to 1998].
Number, crude rates, and ratios of firearm- and motor-vehicle-related
deaths; Observed and predicted firearm- and motor-vehicle-related injury
Comparison of firearm- and motor-vehicle-related deaths. [part of
The CDC Prevention Guidelines Database]
Sloan, et al. (1990), compared suicide rates in King County (Seattle),
Washington, with that in the Vancouver, British Columbia, metropolitan
area, where handgun regulations are considerably more restrictive. The
rate of youth suicide from other means (e.g., poisoning and hanging) was
similar in both areas, but the rate of suicide by handguns among 15- to
24-year-olds was about 10 times higher in the Seattle area (Table 9).
Neither Vancouver nor Seattle, however, substantially restricts access
to rifles or shotguns, and in both communities the rates of suicides
involving these classes of weapons were similar. [part of
The CDC Prevention Guidelines Database]
About 1.3 million U.S. residents faced an
assailant armed with a firearm during 1993, the Department of Justice
announced today. Eighty-six percent of the time (in 1.1 million violent
crimes) the weapons were handguns. Seventy percent of the 24,526
murders in 1993 were committed with firearms, of which four out of five
were with a handgun. Recent studies indicate that the use of large caliber
semi-automatic handguns in homicides has been increasing.
Handguns predominate in firearms crime. More than three-quarters
of the 83,000 guns used in crime that ATF traced for law enforcement
agencies in 1994 were handguns. Almost 60 percent of the 2 million
stolen gun reports in the FBI's National Crime Information Center files
are handguns.
More than half of all the handguns manufactured domestically since
the turn of the century are 20 years old or less. From 1973 through 1993,
more than 40 million handguns were produced in the United States.
Most murders involve firearms, and
young minority men are at especially high risk of
being murdered with a gun. Innovations in laws,
law enforcement, public education, and technology
all show promise of reducing gun murders by
selectively making firearms less available to
persons likely to use them in violence, less
accessible in situations where violence is likely
to occur, or less lethal. Evaluations are needed
to test the effectiveness of these innovations.
Violence is a serious social problem. In 1990,
23,438 Americans were murdered--a rate of 9.4 for
every 100,000 people. In the latest years for which
comparative data are available, this rate was
nearly double that of Spain, which had the second
highest rate in the industrialized world. The
murder rate in the United States in 1988 was four
times that of Canada.
Violent crime short of murder is also a frequent
occurrence in this country. An estimated 2.9
million serious nonfatal violent
victimizations--rapes, personal robberies, and
aggravated assaults--occurred in 1990, according to
the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The
rates per 100,000 population for these crimes were
also among the world's highest.
It is increasingly common to hear "guns are a virus" or
discussion of "the bullet as pathogen." According to
Koch's Postulates of Pathogenicity, the criteria used to assess
disease-causing potential, any observation of the peaceful use
of firearms is sufficient reason to reject the hypothesis that guns
or ammunition are pathogens. The half of American homes with guns
offer a multitude of such observations. Further still, review of
the literature shows that guns and ammunition meet none of Koch's
Postulates of Pathogenicity. As appealing as the claim
may be to some, guns are not pathogens and crime is not a disease.
Crime is a social problem that does not lend itself to analysis or
treatment under the medical model. [Dr Suter goes on to conclude "guns" are a social problem
and are best deal with by "the methods of social science research"].
People can learn undesirable and antisocial forms of behaviour through
the same processes that foster the development of social co-operation,
sharing, altruism, and efficient problem-solving skills.
Violence as portrayed in the mass media, especially on TV,
has long been suspected of having such a negative impact on those
that consume it.
[Adapted from "Personality Theories" by Hjelle & Ziegler,
McGraw-Hill, 1992]
Researchers and professionals have argued for decades about whether or not the portrayal of violence in the
various media causes violence in society. Laboratory experiments, field research and correlational studies have all
been used as investigative tools. Some studies have suggested that there is a direct causal relationship between
violence in entertainment and violent behaviour, and others have concluded that there is no association
whatsoever. Most studies have shown that there is some sort of relationship or association.
[From AIC]
Research has suggested that a majority of people
in the United States receive much of their impressions
and knowledge of the criminal justice system through
the media, especially through entertainment television
viewing. Drawing on this work, a programmatic research
approach based on three primary strategies in selected
substantive areas is developed for in depth inquiry and
study of what people actually know, or think they know,
about the criminal justice system.
The Associated Press wire story from March 13, 1995, was
titled, "Relaxed Gun Laws Mean More Deaths."
This is a typical media story intended to make you think
that the more guns you have, the more endangered you are. It has
already been the basis for the Los Angeles Times to editorialize
against reforming California's laws which currently make it
impossible for most Californians to carry firearms for self-
protection without threat of arrest and prosecution under
Penal Code Section 12025.
Restrictions are almost always imposed upon CCW holders.
The following is a list of places many states will not permit you to
carry. Also, you may be confronted with local ordinances and individual
business restrictions.
[Thanks to Tim Lambert for this one]
The crime reductive value of civilian firearms ownership is a central issue in the "gun control" controversy. Sixty
five years of vitriolic debate have amply proven the wisdom of a leading early 20th Century opponent of gun
ownership, New York City Chief Magistrate
William McAdoo in predicting that
"We shall make no progress in removing this
national menace until this basic fact as to the ineffectiveness of
arming citizens is well and thoroughly understood by the people who
foolishly buy pistols and arm themselves." [from AMERICAN J OF CRIM LAW (1991)].
States from Michigan to Nebraska to California, as well as the federal
government, are considering new rules on letting law-abiding citizens
carry guns. Does allowing citizens to carry concealed handguns deter
violent crimes?
Using the FBI's crime-rate data for all 3,054 U.S. counties by year from
1977 to 1992, I co-authored a study in the January 1997 Journal of
Legal Studies. We found that concealed handguns deter violent
crimes and produce no significant increase in accidental handgun
deaths.
On Sept. 10, 1997, five men licensed to carry concealed handguns got
into a fight outside a Pittsburgh saloon after exchanging "hostile
looks." All of the men fired their weapons and ended up in the hospital.
The gun lobby attempts to justify this dangerous political agenda by
citing research conducted by Dr. John Lott. Lott's study concludes that
making it easier for citizens to carry concealed weapons reduces
violent crime rates.
In fact, in a nationally-televised symposium at which Lott's work was
critiqued, Dr. Daniel Nagin of Carnegie Mellon University, Dr. Daniel
Black of the University of Kentucky, and Dr. Jens Ludwig of
Georgetown University agreed that Lott's study is so flawed that
"nothing can be learned of it" and that it "cannot be used responsibly
to formulate policy." Since then, no credible evidence has been
produced to rebut the conclusions of Black, Nagin and Ludwig, or
other researchers who have identified additional flaws with Lott's work.
This Research in Brief summarizes the results of a
study concerning the number and types of firearms
juveniles possess as well as where, how, and why
juveniles acquire and carry firearms. The findings
derive from responses to surveys completed by
selected samples of male inmates (mostly from
urban areas) in juvenile correctional facilities
in California, New Jersey, Louisiana, and Illinois
and male students in 10 inner-city public high
schools near the correctional institutions
surveyed.
The US is a terribly violent country,
but there's no explosion in crime.
Crime rate flat, incarceration soars.
Victims mainly downscale and nonwhite.
Pandemic bastardry no explanation.
[from Left Business Observer, 1994]
International comparisons.
Canada's 1978 gun control laws.
NSW's introduction of gun control in 1920.
Japanese homicide and suicide.
Guns used for defence... [from
Tim Lambert at UNSW Com Sci & Eng ]
My aim is to keep this FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) list as short as
possible while covering a lot of areas quickly and pointing people toward
more information. Instead of providing exhaustive detail, I have listed
references and "recommended reading". The trade-off between precision and
brevity will be an ongoing struggle.
My purpose in this paper is to summarise the current data on all major aspects of the gun controversy. I shall
supplement and update the NIJ Evaluation in light of numerous credible studies that have appeared since the
mid-1970s. Predictably, this data has emerged from analyses approaching gun ownership as a social phenomenon
to be studied rather than as a problem to be exorcised by polemics thinly disguised as academic discourse.
Kleck's home page at FSU. Although Gary is sometimes touted to
be a specialist in criminology, his PhD from University of
Illinois at Urbana (1979) is in Sociology. His home page describes his
professional services as including:
Editorial Consultant, American Sociological Review,
American Journal of Sociology, Social
Forces, Social Problems, Law and Society Review,
Social Science Research, Criminology,
Journal of Quantitative Criminology,
Journal of Criminal Justice, Violence and Victims, Journal
of the American Medical Association.
Professor Kennedy is the Coordinator of the Center for Criminological
Research at the University of Alberta. His research interests are in criminal
victimisation, and community attitudes towards crime and safety, and he has
published extensively in these areas. He has been involved in research on
Canadian and American homicide trends, examining these data for clues
concerning the social and familial roots of murder.
Frank Scarpitti teaches courses on social problems and criminology. He has conducted
research in the areas of mental health treatment, juvenile delinquency, corrections, organized
crime, and female criminality. Currently, he works in the area of drug treatment program
evaluation. He has authored or co-authored a number of books and articles, including Social
Problems, Poisoning for Profit, Group Interaction as Therapy, Women, Crime and
Justice, and Drugs and the Youth Culture. He received the American Psychiatric
Association's Hofheimer Prize for Research in 1967, served as President of the American
Society of Criminology in 1981, and was named the recipient of the University of Delaware's
Francis Alison Award in 1995.
This paper of a summary of my book, Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America, which in turn summarises the
literature on guns, violence and gun control, as well as reporting new research. The purpose of the paper is to
outline the main findings and conclusions, without systematically establishing the empirical basis for each
conclusion. These can be found in the book itself. And since the book has about 570 references, it is not practical
to cite supporting materials for each assertion. Only studies summarised in the tables are contained in the
References. Instead, I have simply indicated the chapter of the book where interested readers may find the full set
of supporting citations, empirical evidence, and detailed argumentation.
Argument against
Sloan JH, Kellermann AL, Reay DT, et al. "Handgun Regulations, Crime, Assaults, and Homicide: A
Tale of Two Cities." N Engl J Med 1988; 319: 1256-62.
Sloan, Kellermann, and their co-authors attempted to prove that Canada's gun laws caused low rates of violence.
In their study of Vancouver, the authors failed to compare homicide rates before and after the law. As
Blackman noted, they had ignored or overlooked that Vancouver had 26% more homicides after the
Canadian gun ban, an observation that should warrant scientific exploration and generate a healthy skepticism of
the authors' foregone conclusions.
[Contains nice graphs of international comparisons
of homicide and suicide].
A NEJM article by Kellerman et al,
that found that gun ownership was associated with
an increased risk of homicide in the home,
has attracted much criticism for its methodology. Here is some
from Henry E. Schaffer.
Gun crime has been increasing rapidly throughout
the Nation, especially in inner-city areas. To
learn whether vigorous enforcement of existing gun
laws could reduce gun crime, the National Institute
of Justice (NIJ) sponsored an evaluation of the
Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department's "Weed
and Seed" program. The evaluation found that the
program's success in getting more guns off the
street in one violent Kansas City neighborhood
reduced gun crimes there by almost 50 percent
during a 6-month period. The data indicate that
more than two gun crimes were prevented for every
gun seized.
From the Baltimore Sun's "Maryland's Online Community".
This section covers Baltimore's ongoing struggle to reform the
court system and to decrease crime with more effective policing; stories
on gun legislation at the local and national levels; and coverage of the
relationship between Baltimore's high murder rate and the drug trade.
One of The New American's (yet another Right Wing Republican
mouthpiece) "Issues in Focus". Included here for light relief.
Exercising the Right - December 9, 1999 A regular department of THE
NEW AMERICAN, Exercising the Right features real-life
stories of American citizens who defended the lives and property
of their family with the use of a firearm.
Global Gun Grab - November 22, 1999 It's open season on the right
to keep and bear arms as UN globocrats gear up for international gun controls.
Propagandizing the Police - November 8, 1999 Leftist "watchdogs" posing as
experts on extremism are advising police agencies in "preemptive" law
enforcement. The resulting dragnet will increasingly target law-abiding gun
owners, pro-lifers, homeschoolers, and other foes of the total state.
Gun Control
(AKA the New York Time's Issues in Depth: "America Under the Gun")
Relying on Bush, Gun Makers End Talks
By FOX BUTTERFIELD
May 4, 2000. Faced with lawsuits by 31 cities and
counties, the nation's gun companies have broken
off settlement negotiations, deciding to rely on their
chances that state judges will prove sympathetic or
that victory in November will go to George W. Bush.
Gun Makers See Betrayal in a Decision by Smith & Wesson
By LESLIE WAYNE and FOX BUTTERFIELD
March 18, 2000. Smith & Wesson's decision to adopt
gun safety measures in order to settle lawsuits
brought by state and federal agencies has set off
criticism within the gun industry and a debate
among handgun control advocates.
A Note by the Crime and Criminal Justice Unit,
Research and Statistics Directorate of the Home
Office.
This Annex considers research done to see how far gun availability is linked to the level and nature of violent
crime. It starts with some points about the problem of measuring gun availability. It then sketches out some of the
main arguments put forward against a gun-violence relationship as a framework in which to present some recent
evidence which bears on the debate.
[Refers to work by Cook, 1991; 1983; Killias, 1993; Kleck, 1991; Wright et al., 1983; and Zimring and Hawkins, 1987].
Studies on Crime and Crime Prevention is a peer-reviewed journal addressed to criminologists, sociologists and
other scientists conducting research in the field of
crime and crime prevention and to other interested readers.
It is published for the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention,
Brottsförebyggande Rådet (BRÅ, Stockholm).
Chapter 59 of the Guide to Clinical Preventive Services,
a thoroughly updated and
expanded version of the 1989 landmark report of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).
Homicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S., and
because of the young age of its victims is a leading cause of
years of potential life lost. More than 25,000
Americans (10.0/100,000 population) were murdered in 1992.
The age-adjusted homicide rate increased 25%
between 1985 and 1991; a decrease of 3.7% occurred between 1991 and 1992.
In the 1991 National Crime Victimization Survey, the rate of aggravated
(i.e., involving a weapon) assault was 780/100,000 persons over 12
years of age, while the rate for all non-fatal crimes of violence
(including attempted and completed rape, robbery, and assault)
was 3,130/100,000. In 1 year, aggravated assaults alone accounted for
355,000 hospitalisations, 4 million lost work-days,
and $638 million in medical costs.
Selected statistics from the NATIONAL FIREARMS ASSOCIATION in Canada.
E.g. a 1992 survey sponsored by the UN reported that 26%
of Canadians, over 7,000,000 people, own firearms.
[c.f. a reported 47% of American adults own at least 1 firearm].
Heartland Policy Study
by Daniel D. Polsby and Dennis Brennen,
October 30, 1995.
In the twenty-year period between 1973 and 1992, the number of privately owned firearms in the United States
increased 73 percent--from 122 million to nearly 222 million. Handgun ownership increased by 110 percent,
from 37 million to 78 million. In 1994, the latest year for which data are available, there were 231 million
firearms in private hands in the U.S., 82 million of them handguns.
Firearm-related crime and resulting injury is a
relatively rare event.
In 1994 the BJS National Crime Victimization
Survey (NCVS) found that 29% of the victims of
non-fatal violent crime, excluding simple assault,
faced an offender armed with a gun.
According to the 1992 National Hospital
Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, about 0.3% of all
injury visits to emergency departments (3 of every
1,000 visits) were caused by firearms. This
estimate includes all causes of firearm injury and
may also include visits for patients seeking
follow-up care and patients who died at the
hospital.
Violent offenders are increasingly
likely to be armed, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
said today. While the overall violent crime rate decreased
during the last decade, the rate of offences committed with
pistols and revolvers rose from 9.2 percent in 1979 to 12.7
percent in 1992.
The number of Federal weapons offences
investigated and prosecuted has increased at least
4-fold since 1980.
Weapons offenders are making up an increasing
proportion of admissions to State and Federal
prisons.
Although many more offenders are admitted to
Federal prison for drug offences than for weapons
offences, from 1985 to 1992 the rate of increase
in admissions of weapons offenders was 4 times
greater than the rate of increase of drug
offenders.
Weapons charges as an addition to other charges
are more common at the Federal level than the State
level.
From 1982 to 1992 the number of Federal defendants sentenced to prison
with a weapons offense as their most serious crime increased 175%, from
1,000 to 2,755. However, even larger numbers of Federal offenders were
involved with firearms. Considering all Federal sentences, firearms were
involved in the crimes of 6,987 offenders, a sixth of those sentenced
under guidelines in the 12 months ending September 30, 1993.
In partnership with State departments of corrections, the Bureau of Justice
Statistics (BJS) collected information on sentences and time served by
violent offenders in State prison. For 1992, 1993, and 1994, 49 States
and the District of Columbia provided information on violent offenders
who were admitted to or released from prison.
An estimated one out of six state prisoners serving time
during 1986 for a violent crime had committed the offence against a
minor, the Bureau of Justice Statistics announced today. The Bureau,
a component of the Office of Justice Programs, said a survey also
revealed that 41 percent of the violent offenders had a prior
relationship with the victim as an acquaintance, an intimate or a
relative and 10 percent had committed the offence against a family
member.
This report describes the processing of cases for persons arrested for
a felony in the nation's 75 largest counties during February 1988.
Numerical tables present data on the pretrial, adjudication, and
sentencing phases of the criminal justice process.
[summary of 1988 DOJ report]
Felony case processing data from eight
states revealed that of the almost 600,000 alleged felons whose cases
were disposed of during 1988, 81 percent were prosecuted, 59 percent
were convicted and 39 percent were sentenced to a jail or prison term,
according to a Bureau of Justice Statistics study released today. The
findings are based on criminal case information the states voluntarily
send to the Bureau, which is a U.S. Department of Justice agency in
the Office of Justice Programs.
A majority (60%) of felony defendants charged as adults in the 75 largest
counties were under age 30. A fifth were under age 21, including about
a third of murder (35%) and robbery (31%) defendants. Defendants
whose most serious arrest charge was a driving-related offense (21%)
were the most likely to be age 40 or older.
In 1992 State courts convicted nearly 900,000 adults of a
felony. Forty-four percent of convicted felons were sentenced to
a State prison, and 26% were sentenced to a local jail (usually
for a year or less). The remaining 30% were sentenced to
straight probation with no jail or prison time to serve. These
findings come from a survey that is done every 2 years and that
provides the only detailed description of the sentences felons
receive in State courts nationwide.
An estimated 63% of the defendants who had State
felony charges filed against them in the Nation's
75 most populous counties during May 1992 were
released by the court prior to the disposition of
their case. About a third of these released
defendants were either rearrested for a new
offense, failed to appear in court as scheduled, or
committed some other violation that resulted in the
revocation of their pretrial release. Of the 25%
of released defendants who had a bench warrant
issued for their arrest because they did not appear
in court as scheduled, about a third, representing
8% of all released defendants, were still fugitives
after 1 year.
Ten [US] States executed 38 prisoners during 1993. The number of persons
executed was seven more than in 1992 and was the largest annual number
since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. The
prisoners executed during 1993 had been under sentence of death an
average of 9 years and 5 months, about 1 month less than the average for
inmates executed the previous year.
[From the US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs and
Bureau of Justice Statistics,
December 1994].
Carjacking is a type of robbery -- the theft or attempted theft of a
motor vehicle by force or threat of force. Between 1987 and 1992,
carjackings accounted for 2% of the 1.9 million vehicle thefts per
year that occurred in the US. An average of 35,000 completed and
attempted carjackings pa took place between 1987 and 1992. In 52% of
the carjackings the offender succeeded in stealing the victim's motor
vehicle. Most carjacking victims escaped without injury. Victims
were injured in 24% of the completed carjackings and 18% of attempted
carjackings.
In 1988 the justice system in the Nation's 75 largest counties disposed of
an estimated 540 spouse murder cases. Husbands charged with killing
their wife outnumbered wives charged with killing their husband. Of the
540, 318--or 59%--were husband defendants and 222--or 41%--were wife
defendants.
The data from the US National Crime Survey (NCS) states that
84% of the victims of "intimate" violence were
female. ("Highlights from 20 years of Surveying Crime Victims", NCJ-144525.)
It also puts the occurrence of this violent crime (from "intimates only") at
5.4 female victims per 1000 women per year - this is all crimes, some of
which did not involve injury. For comparison, the rate for
"Accidental injury, all circumstances" is given as
220 per 1000 adults per year - a figure 40 times higher.
More than half the persons in local jails charged with the offense of
driving while intoxicated with alcohol (DWI) in 1989 had prior sentences to
incarceration for DWI offenses. About 1 in 6 persons jailed for DWI had
served at least three prior sentences in jail or prison for drunk driving.
A collection of odds & ends from various places. Eventually
these will make their way into this list. In the meantime they
do appear in the index for the glimpse
keyword search (above).