Posted on 11/28/2001 12:19:53 PM PST by Dan from Michigan
Nearly One Third of Kids Murdered With Handguns Are Shot And Killed by Other Kids, VPC Study Reveals
Washington, DC—Children and youth are murdered with handguns more often than with all other weapons combined, according to a new 27-page study released today by the Violence Policy Center (VPC). Kids in the Line of Fire: Children, Handguns, and Homicide is a first-time analysis of handgun murders of children up to age 17. The study analyzes unpublished Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) homicide data for the five-year period 1995 through 1999—the most recent data available. During this period, nearly a third (32.1 percent) of child handgun homicide victims were murdered by another child. Other findings include: an average of two children per day were murdered with handguns in the U.S. from 1995 to 1999; and, that black children had the highest rate of handgun homicide victimization—seven times higher than that of white children.
"Although a tragedy in New Bedford, Massachusetts, was apparently averted this week, two kids are murdered with handguns every day in our country," states Karen Brock, VPC health policy analyst and study author. "Children can't legally buy handguns, children can't legally possess handguns—yet they are killing each other with handguns. The reason: children still have easy access to handguns because of the lax practices of an unregulated gun industry and the mistaken idea that a handgun in the home offers protection, when in reality it is far more likely to result in horrific consequences."
Kids in the Line of Fire contains both national and state statistics. It ranks states by both rate of child victims murdered by a handgun, as well as rate of child shooters who murdered with a handgun. The report also ranks states by the percentage of child homicides in which a handgun was used. Additional data for the top 15 states include: race of victim; type of firearm used; relationship of victim to offender; and, the circumstances of the homicide.
For the years 1995 through 1999, the overall national rate of child handgun homicide victims in the U.S. was 1.20 per 100,000. For that period, 11 states had child handgun homicide victim rates higher than the national average: Maryland (2.86 per 100,000); Louisiana (2.4 per 100,000); Illinois (2.24 per 100,000); California (2.19 per 100,000); Nevada (1.85 per 100,000); Arizona (1.69 per 100,000); Missouri (1.39 per 100,000); Tennessee (1.37 per 100,000); Alabama (1.28 per 100,000); Georgia (1.27 per 100,000); and, Oklahoma (1.23 per 100,000).
unregulated gun industry
BS
and the mistaken idea that a handgun in the home offers protection,
BS again.
BTW - Maryland, Illinois, California, and Missouri all have strict gun laws. Works great, eh?
Sounds like a mandate for Vermont Carry everywhere.
These VPC pukes sure have been churning out these things at breakneack pace since 9-11, no?
But then, why should logic get in the way of these people's agenda?
And they're proposing to solve this situation with another law. (Sigh!)
You can teach them how to properly handle firearms. That way, when the dufus kid says "let's play with my dad's gun", your kid will say no. If the dufus kid pulls it out anyway, your kid can say "Wait, let me check to make sure that it is not loaded" and he will know how to do so.
Looking at the states with the highest averages (MD, LA, IL, CA) I see two things in common.
1. Like others pointed out, they have tough gun laws.
2. They have large urban areas (Chicago, Baltimore, etc) with a history of violent gang crime.
Yeah... Right...
Why do young adults shoot at each other?
The reason I disklike VPC press releases, is that they are calulated to sound bad. They are alarmist, and appeal to emotion. The statement does not show which age groups are doing the most dying. There is no way that the numbers are evenly spread between 2 year olds and 17 year olds. The vast majority of the homicides are committed by young adults on young adults. I saw a figure once that broke homicide victims out by age per year, and between 1 and 18 years the vast majority occured in the teenage years. Very few actual children are murdered, relative to the number of criminal young adults.
Furthermore, 17 year olds who commit murder are routinely tried as adults. If young adults who commit murder are tried as adults, are they still included in a figure of child on child violence? Nor does this statement figure any relavent information about the children or young adults. How many of them have previous criminal juvinile records before committing a murder?
I am pinging butter pecan fan, since this is a similar subject earlier. He was of the mindset that these experts have something that needs to be addressed. I think many people around here would disagree, saying these particular experts are biased, and are writing pursuasive pieces, rather than scientific studies.
"Children can't legally buy handguns, children can't legally possess handguns-yet they are killing each other with handguns. The reason: children still have easy access to handguns because of the lax practices of an unregulated gun industry and the mistaken idea that a handgun in the home offers protection, when in reality it is far more likely to result in horrific consequences."
Again, there are many misleading statements in this release. Children can possess firearms with parental permission. Possess has a very broad meaning, and could stand for anything. If children were not allowed to possess firearms, then it would be against the law to take a child hunting or shooting. There would be no young adult competition shooting sporting events.
The reason children and young adults have access to firearms is due to two factors not presented by VPC: 1. parents allow it, or 2. the young adult steals one, or aquires one through already illegal means. This suggests that there are no laws pertaining to the manufacture, sale, and purchase of firearms. To suggest the firearm industry is unregulated is absurd. Then they claim, with no supporting evidence, that owning a firearm is more dangerous than crime. This is also absurd, because the number of murders using a firearm is far above deaths from accidental discharges. If owning a firearm were actually dangerous in its own right, the number of injuries and deaths from accidental discharges would be higher, because of the very large actual number of homes that own firearms.
The so-called "experts" are biased.
Hmmm.... Where's Jesse Jackson? How dare these VPC racists suggest that ethnicity and not exposure to handguns correlates most highly with child victimization.
Do you suppose that the rate of knife homicide victimization is also seven times higher?
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