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March 10 2001, 20:22

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U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief Guns and Crime: Handgun Victimization, Firearm Self-Defense, and Firearm Theft April 1994, NCJ-147003 Full text with tables available from: Bureau of Justice Statistics Clearinghouse 800-732-3277 (fax number for report orders and mail list signup only: 410-792-4358) Box 179 Annapolis Junction, MD. 20701-0179 By Michael R. Rand, BJS Statistician In 1992 offenders armed with handguns committed a record 931,000 violent crimes. Handgun crimes accounted for about 13% of all violent crimes. As measured by the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), the rate of nonfatal handgun victimizations in 1992--4.5 crimes per 1,000 people age 12 or older--supplanted the record of 4.0 per 1,000 in 1982. On average in 1987-92 about 83,000 crime victims per year used a firearm to defend themselves or their property. Three-fourths of the victims who used a firearm for defense did so during a violent crime; a fourth, during a theft, household burglary, or motor vehicle theft. Handguns and crime, 1987-92 Annual average, 1992 1987-91 ___________________ Handgun crimes 930,700 667,000 Homicide 13,200 10,600 Rape 11,800 14,000 Robbery 339,000 225,100 Assault 566,800 417,300 Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding. Data for homicide come from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports. For 1987-92 victims reported an annual average of about 341,000 incidents of firearm theft. Because the NCVS asks for types but not a count of items stolen, the annual total of firearms stolen probably exceeded the number of incidents. Males, blacks, and the young had the highest rates of handgun crime victimization, 1987-92 Average annual rate of crimes committed with handguns (per 1,000 persons)* _________________________________________________ Male victims Female victims Age of _________________________________________________ Victim Total White Black Total White Black _______________________________________________________________ All ages 4.9 3.7 14.2 2.1 1.6 5.8 12-15 5.0 3.1 14.1 2.5 2.1 4.7 16-19 14.2 9.5 39.7 5.1 3.6 13.4 20-24 11.8 9.2 29.4 4.3 3.5 9.1 25-34 5.7 4.9 12.3 3.1 2.1 9.0 35-49 3.3 2.7 8.7 1.7 1.4 3.3 50-64 1.5 1.2 3.5 0.8 0.7 1.6 65 or older 0.8 0.6 3.7 0.3 0.2 2.3 *Rate per 1,000 persons age 12 or older in each age category. Rates do not include murder or nonnegligent manslaughter committed with handguns. The totals include persons of other races not shown separately. Violent crime rates Unlike the record rate of handgun crimes in 1992, the overall rates for violent crimes were well below the 1981 peaks. (Except where noted, this brief excludes homicides, which NCVS does not measure.) The total 1992 rate for rape, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault was 35 per 1,000 persons, compared to 39 per 1,000 in 1981. The 1992 rate of 17 per 1,000 for the more serious violent crimes (rape, robbery, and aggravated assault)*was also less than the 20 per 1,000 in 1981. Most likely victims of handgun crime *Males were twice as likely as females to be victims of handgun crimes, and blacks 3 times as likely as whites. *Young black males continued to be the population subgroup most vulnerable to handgun crime victimization. For males age 16-19-- The rate for blacks (40 per 1,000 persons) was 4 times that of whites (10 per 1,000). For males age 20-24-- The rate for blacks (29 per 1,000) was 3 times that of whites (9 per 1,000). When offenders fired at victims *Offenders fired their weapon in 17% of all nonfatal handgun crimes (or about 2% of all violent crimes). In 3% of all handgun crimes, the victim was wounded. The offender shot at but missed the victim in 14% of all handgun crimes. Victims did not report if offenders had tried to hit the victim or missed intentionally. Self-defense with firearms *38% of the victims defending themselves with a firearm attacked the offender, and the others threatened the offender with the weapon. *A fifth of the victims defending themselves with a firearm suffered an injury, compared to almost half of those who defended themselves with weapons other than a firearm or who had no weapon. Care should be used in interpreting these data because many aspects of crimes--including victim and offender characteristics, crime circumstances, and offender intent--contribute to the victims' injury outcomes. About three-fourths of the victims who used firearms for self-defense did so during a crime of violence, 1987-92 Average annual number of victimizations in which victims used firearms to defend themselves or their property ________________________________________ Attacked Threatened Total offender offender ________________________________________ All crimes 82,500 30,600 51,900 Total violent crime 62,200 25,500 36,700 With injury 12,100 7,300 4,900 Without injury 50,000 18,200 31,800 Theft, burglary, motor vehicle theft 20,300 5,100 15,200 Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding. Includes victimizations in which offenders were unarmed. Excludes homicides. *In most cases victims who used firearms to defend themselves or their property were confronted by offenders who were either unarmed or armed with weapons other than firearms. On average between 1987 and 1992, about 35% (or 22,000 per year) of the violent crime victims defending themselves with a firearm faced an offender who also had a firearm. (Because the NCVS collects victimization data on police officers, its estimates of the use of firearms for self-defense are likely to include police use of firearms. Questionnaire revisions introduced in January 1993 will permit separate consideration of police and civilian firearm cases.) Offenders shot at victims in 17% of handgun crimes, 1987-92 Percent _______ Shot at victim 16.6% Hit victim 3.0 Missed victim 13.6 Nongunshot injury 1.6 No physical injury 12.0 Didn't shoot at victim 83.4% Other attack/attempt 19.9 Verb. threat of attack 15.4 Weapon present 46.8 Other threat .8 Unknown action .5 Average annual number 699,900 Note: Excludes homicides. Theft of firearms *Although most thefts of firearms (64%) occurred during household burglaries, a significant percentage (32%) occurred during larcenies. Loss of firearms through larceny was as likely to occur away from the victim's home as at or near the home. In 53% of the firearm thefts, handguns were stolen. 341,000 incidents of firearm theft occurred per year, 1987-92 Average annual number of victimizations in which firearms were stolen Crime in which ____________________________________ firearm was stolen Total Handgun Other gun ____________________________________ Total 340,700 180,500 160,200 Violent crime 7,900 5,300 2,600 Personal theft 6,200 33,900 22,300 Household theft 52,600 31,700 20,900 Household burglary 217,200 105,300 112,000 Motor vehicle theft 6,700 4,400 2,400 Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding. The table measures theft incidents, not numbers of guns stolen. See third paragraph of this report. end of file ----------- Owning Topic : T=Reference and Statistics - 202 E= 638 Type = e Creation System Name : NCJRS BBS This system is : NCJRS BBS This user is : bjs topic no 227 Topic Name : Violence and Crime Prevention current date Tue Nov 21 07:19:36 1995 Entry # : 1674 prepared Sep 7 18:49:23 1995 Author : Admin Subject :Guns and Crime: Hangun Victimization (ASCII) Read by : Admin : at Thu Sep 7 18:59:30 1995 jbevan : at Fri Oct 13 18:20:07 1995 garden : at Sun Oct 15 16:15:49 1995 mario : at Tue Oct 31 23:06:57 1995 chrisperry : at Fri Nov 3 20:54:52 1995 charrelson : at Mon Nov 20 06:45:45 1995 bjs : at Tue Nov 21 07:19:13 1995 Owning Topic : T=Violence and Crime Prevention - 227 E= 1674 Type = e

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