NCJ Number
122704
Date Published
1990
Length
46 pages
Annotation
This report provides an overview of gun control as it affects children and youth, using data on homicide, suicide, accidents, robberies, and aggravated assaults in the United States, Hawaii, and among children and youth.
Abstract
Firearms were used in approximately 60 percent of all homicides and suicides in the United States in 1988, and they were used in 30,689 deaths and over 370,000 robberies and aggravated assaults in the same year. In Hawaii in that year, firearms were used in 18 homicides, 27 suicides, and over 50 robberies and aggravated assaults. Nationally, homicide and suicide are the second and third leading causes of death among children and youth under 21 years old. Guns, usually handguns, are used in most teen homicides and suicides. It is not sufficient to address the problem evidenced in this data by focusing on criminals instead of guns. This would not affect the use of firearms in suicides, and it is far easier to ban the guns used by most criminals than to either apprehend them or attempt to change their behaviors through punishment or rehabilitation. There is reasonable evidence of the effectiveness of gun control laws on suicide rates. The effectiveness of gun control laws in controlling crime is unknown, because most gun control laws are relatively weak and restricted to a few jurisdictions. 1 table, 6 figures, 90 references.