NCJ Number
250330
Date Published
September 2016
Length
2 pages
Annotation
As part of the International Association of Chiefs of Police's (IACP's) Project Safe Neighborhoods, which aims to improve law enforcement's capacity to interdict firearms trafficking and disrupt gang activity, this Fact Sheet presents data on the scope of firearms violence and an example of an evidence-based program to reduce firearm homicide and nonfatal shootings.
Abstract
There are an estimated 310 million firearms in the United States, which is approximately one firearm for every American citizen. A total of 33,838 firearm deaths occurred in America in 2013. An average of 111,779 people are shot each year; of these, approximately 30 percent are fatal. Suicide is the second most common cause of death for Americans between the ages of 15 and 34; in 2013, more than half of these suicides involved firearms. Over the last 5 years, the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System estimates that just over 300 nonfatal firearms injuries were reported to hospital emergency services divisions each day. In 2014, the FBI reported that firearms were used in 67.9 percent of the Nation's murders, 40.3 percent of robberies, and 22.5 percent of aggravated assaults. The presence of a firearm in domestic-violence incidents increased the risk of homicide for women by 500 percent. Between 2005 and 2014, 82 percent of felonious deaths of law enforcement officers were perpetrated with a firearm. According to evaluation research, the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission has reduced homicides and nonfatal shootings through a multidisciplinary approach. 13 notes