Weapon Use and Violent Crime, 1993-2001.pdfVIP

By Craig Perkins BJS Statistician Estimates from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) indicate that between 1993 and 2001 approxi- mately 26% of the average annual 8.9 million violent victimizations were committed by offenders armed with a weapon. About 10% of the violent victimizations involved a firearm. From 1993 through 2001 violent crime declined 54%; weapon violence went down 59%; and firearm violence, 63%. Males, American Indians, and Hispan- ics, the young, and those with the lowest annual household income were more vulnerable to weapon violence in general and firearm violence in particu- lar than their respective counterparts. For the 9-year period beginning with 1993, 23% of white victims of violence and 36% of black victims were victims of violence involving an offender armed with a weapon. About 7% of white victims and 17% of black victims were involved in incidents in which an offender was armed with a gun. Forty-five percent of all violence with a weapon involved victims between ages 25 and 49, and 38% involved victims between ages 15 and 24. Blacks were about 9 times more likely than whites to be victims of gun-related homicides (25 per 100,000 blacks age 12 or older versus 3 per 100,000 whites.) $ Approximately half of all robberies, about a quarter of all assaults, and roughly a twelfth of all rapes/sexual assaults involved an armed assailant. About 90% of homicide victims were killed with a weapon. $ Firearm violence rates for blacks age 12 or older (8.4 per 1,000 blacks) were C 40% higher than rates for Hispanics (6.0) 200% higher than rates for whites (2.8 per 1,000). $ Blacks were about 9 times more likely than whites to be murdered with a firearm. $ On average black victims of firearm violence were 3 years younger than white victims C 29 versus 32. $ From 1993 through 2001 blacks accounted for 49% of homicide victims and 54% of victims of firearm homicide but 12% of the U.S. population. $ The likelihood of an injury was the s