Guns and Crime

• NCJ Number: 147003
• Author(s): M R Rand
• Date Published: April 1994
• Length: 2 pages
• Publication Series: BJS Crime Data Briefs
• Agencies: BJS
• Publication Type: Survey

Annotation

Handgun crimes accounted for about 13 percent of all violent crimes in 1992, when offenders armed with handguns committed a record 931,000 violent crimes.

Abstract

This report provides new estimates of the extent of handgun crime in the United States, as well as the first estimates from the National Crime Victimization Survey of thefts of firearms and the extent of firearm use for self-defense. Using data from 1987 through 1992, the report compares the handgun victimization experience of the various age, race, and sex subgroups of the Nation's population and examines the consequences of such victimization. The report also discusses the consequences and outcomes of crimes in which victims used firearms for self-defense.