Reports show gun homicides down since 1990s | The Detroit News | detroitnews.com
Washington — Gun homicides have dropped steeply in the
United States since their peak in 1993, a pair of reports released Tuesday
showed, adding fuel to Congress' battle over whether to tighten restrictions on
firearms.
A study
released Tuesday by the government's Bureau of Justice Statistics found that
gun-related homicides dropped from 18,253 in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011. That's a 39
percent reduction.
Another
report by the private Pew Research Center found a similar decline by looking at
the rate of gun homicides, which compares the number of killings to the size of
the country's population. It found that the number of gun homicides per 100,000
people fell from 7 percent in 1993 to 3.6 percent in 2010, a drop of 49
percent.
Both
reports also found the rate of non-fatal crimes involving guns was also down by
around 70 percent over that period.
The trend
in firearm-related homicides is part of a broad nationwide decline in violent
crime over past two decades, including incidents not involving firearms.
The Justice
study also said that in 2011, about 70 percent of all homicides were committed
with a firearm, mainly a handgun.
The data was released three weeks after the Senate rejected an
effort by gun control supporters to broaden the requirement for federal
background checks for more firearms purchases. Senate Democratic leaders have
pledged to hold that vote again, and gun control advocates have been raising
public pressure on senators who voted "no" in hopes they will change their
minds.
Gun rights
advocates have argued that people are safer when they are allowed to own and
carry guns. Those supporting gun control say that with more background checks,
gun violence would drop because more criminals and mentally unstable people
would be prevented from getting weapons.
AP reporter Pete Yost contributed to this
report.
SOURCE:
http://www.detroitnews.com/
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