NCJ Number
159337
Date Published
1990
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Data from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports formed the basis of an analysis of the recent increase in firearms murder victims among youth ages 19 and under.
Abstract
The analysis revealed that more youths in the United States were murdered with firearms in both 1988 and 1989 than in any previous years since the FBI has published records. Firearms murders among youth have increased 97 percent since 1984. The increase has been 107 percent for youths ages 15-19, 77 percent for youths ages 10-14, and 27 percent for children ages 5-9. In most age groups of children and youth, the percentage increase in gun murders was greater than that for any adult age group. The proportion of murders in which firearms were used was greater in 1988 and 1989 than in any previous year. Three-fifths of children and youth murdered in those years were killed with guns. Eighty-one percent of the murders of youth ages 15-19 involved guns. Tables