BJS Report

[Subdeacon Joe]

http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fv9311.pdf

 

Good stuff there.

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Statistics

BJS

Special Report

I

n 2011, a total of 478,400 fatal and nonfatal violent

crimes were committed with a firearm

(table 1)

.

Homicides made up about 2% of all firearm-related

crimes. There were 11,101 firearm homicides in 2011,

down by 39% from a high of 18,253 in 1993

(figure 1)

.

The majority of the decline in firearm-related homicides

occurred between 1993 and 1998. Since 1999, the number of

firearm homicides increased from 10,828 to 12,791 in 2006

before declining to 11,101 in 2011.

Nonfatal firearm-related violent victimizations against

persons age 12 or older declined 70%, from 1.5 million

in 1993 to 456,500 in 2004

(figure 2)

. The number then

fluctuated between about 400,000 to 600,000 through 2011.

1

While the number of firearm crimes declined over time, the

percentage of all violence that involved a firearm did not

change substantively, fluctuating between 6% and 9% over

the same period. In 1993, 9% of all violence was committed

with a firearm, compared to 8% in 2011.

MAY 2013

NCJ 241730

Michael Planty, Ph.D., and Jennifer L. Truman, Ph.D.,

BJS Statisticians

HIGHLIGHTS

Firearm-related homicides declined 39%, from 18,253 in

1993 to 11,101 in 2011.

Nonfatal firearm crimes declined 69%, from 1.5 million

victimizations in 1993 to 467,300 victimizations in 2011.

For both fatal and nonfatal firearm victimizations, the

majority of the decline occurred during the 10-year period

from 1993 to 2002.

Firearm violence accounted for about 70% of all homicides

and less than 10% of all nonfatal violent crime from 1993 to

2011.

About 70% to 80% of firearm homicides and 90% of

nonfatal firearm victimizations were committed with a

handgun from 1993 to 2011.

From 1993 to 2010, males, blacks, and persons ages 18 to 24

had the highest rates of firearm homicide.

In 2007-11, about 23% of victims of nonfatal firearm crime

were injured.

About 61% of nonfatal firearm violence was reported to

the police in 2007-11.

In 2007-11, less than 1% of victims in all nonfatal violent

crimes reported using a firearm to defend themselves

during the incident.

In 2004, among state prison inmates who possessed a gun

at the time of offense, less than 2% bought their firearm at

a flea market or gun show and 40% obtained their firearm

from an illegal source