Firearm Injury from Crime

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Firearm Injury from Crime: Firearms, Crime, and Criminal Justice 4/96

This document reports available statistical information on fatal and nonfatal firearm injury that results from crime from a number of sources. Findings include --

Of the victims of nonfatal violent crime who faced an assailant armed with a firearm, 3% suffered gunshot wounds.

An estimated 57,500 nonfatal gunshot wounds from assaults were treated in hospital emergency departments from June 1992 through May 1993. Over half of these victims were black males; a quarter were black males age 15-24.

The firearm injury rate for police officers declined in the early 1980s and began climbing again after 1987, but has not exceeded the peak reached in 1980-81.

Data presented in the report are from several sources including the BJS National Crime Victimization Survey, the FBI's Supplemental Homicide Reports, and the Firearms Injury Surveillance Study sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Included are descriptions of the characteristics of the victims and the circumstances surrounding the crime. Data about the number of law enforcement officers injured by firearms, offender involvement in firearm injury, and the costs of firearm injury are also included. NCJ 160093

Press release | Acrobat file (50K) | ASCII text file (21K) | Supporting spreadsheets in ZIP format (26K) | To order paper version

Return to BJS home page