NCJ Number
184993
Date Published
January 1994
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Intended to be included with the final report on guns and violent crime composed by the Virginia Governor's Commission on Violent Crime, this report is intended to provide Virginia policymakers and others with information to guide the development of policies to reduce firearms violence in Virginia.
Abstract
This report draws on many data sources, some of which have never before been available to Virginia policymakers. Much of the data on the number of violent crimes that have involved firearms in Virginia was taken from the FBI's national Uniform Crime Reports database. Data on the number of Virginia convictions for firearms-related offenses was drawn from the State's Pre/post-Sentence Investigation report database. Additional information was provided by data collection efforts developed especially for this report. The data show that nearly 75 percent of the 563 murders reported in Virginia during 1992 were committed with a firearm; and more than 80 percent of these firearms were handguns. With the exception of 1982, the percentage of murders in Virginia committed with a handgun remained fairly constant between 1980 and 1986. Handgun murders began to increase in 1987, and the sharpest increase occurred between 1989 and 1992. The percentage of murders committed with a handgun in Virginia exceeded those committed in the United States as a whole during all years except 1982. Data show the weapons used by juveniles arrested for murder in Virginia (1987-92); types of firearms possessed and used by juveniles and adult offenders in Virginia; most common handguns used in Virginia murders (1989-91); revolvers and semi-automatic handguns used in Virginia murders (1989-91); federally licensed firearms dealers in Virginia (1985-92; distribution of handgun sales by Virginia dealers (fiscal year 1991); multiple handgun sales in Virginia (fiscal year 1991); sources of firearms used by offenders; offenders and armed victims; Virginia firearm legislation; local firearm ordinances in Virginia; the Virginia Firearms Transaction Program (1990-92; and the Virginia mandatory Firearms Penalty Enhancement Law.