NCJ Number
169543
Journal
Law and Contemporary Problems Volume: 59 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1996) Pages: 5-24
Date Published
1996
Length
20 pages
Annotation
After examining trends in homicide rates, with attention to homicides committed by juveniles, this paper considers the availability and possession of guns among youth as a factor in homicide rates as well as the link between gun ownership and drug trafficking.
Abstract
A review of time trends in homicide rates in the United States found that although there has been a significant decline in homicides committed by older offenders, homicides committed by juveniles have increased dramatically, beginning in 1985. An important factor in this growth has been a significant increase in the availability of guns to juveniles. By examining time trends in age-specific arrest rates for homicide (gun homicide compared to non-gun homicide) and similar trends in drug-related arrest rates (juveniles compared to adults), the role of gun availability, especially as it has increased through the recruitment of juveniles into drug markets, was identified as a probable cause of these homicide trends. Further examination of mortality rates -- due to gun homicides compared to non-gun homicides as well as gun suicides compared to non-gun suicides -- for various age and race groups also implicates gun availability as a key contributing factor in the increase in youth homicide. A discussion of policy implications focuses on the reduction of the availability of guns to juveniles, an attack on the gun markets selling to youth, and a reduction in drug markets, as well as the development of improved socialization for youth by the institutions that mold the behavior of youth. 10 figures and 28 notes