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« Interesting self-defense case | Main | Chicago to pay nearly $1 million to NRA in fees »

UW study: gun violence linked to violent subgroups

Posted by David Hardy · 7 July 2014 11:47 AM

It may seem obvious, but it's handy to have hard proof of this.

"People hospitalized with a firearm injury are 30 times more likely to return to the hospital with another firearm injury than people hospitalized for other reasons. And they're 11 times more likely to die from gun violence within the next five years, according to a study commissioned by the Seattle City Council."

I've seen this borne out by other studies: even in a high-crime neighborhoods, gun violence is largely limited to small subgroups of the population (meaning drug dealing gangs) who routinely use violence and have it used on them.

Practical implications: (1) gun laws need not aim at ensuring "only the best" have guns; they should aim rather at making it harder for only the worst to have them, a small fraction of one percent of the population. (2) There's no practical difference between "may issue" and "shall issue," except that "shall issue" lets more of the non-violent population carry. Both screen out the small number of bad guys, the difference is that "may issue" screens out more good guys, too. (3) Enforcement: even if guns are banned, and 99% of them confiscated, odds are that the remaining 1% will be disproportionately in the hands of career gang-bangers.

· Crime and statistics

3 Comments | Leave a comment

Matthew Carberry | July 7, 2014 2:48 PM | Reply

If the CDC itself is to be believed, about 80% of firearm homicides are "gang-related."

If we have 10,000 such homicides a year, controlling for gangs leaves 2,000 "regular firearm homicides."

300,000,000 population, 2,000 non-gang firearm homicides...

That's a firearm homicide rate of 0.66/100K, hardly a "societal" issue or one that has a direct relation to legal gun ownership. Particularly since those homicides are not evenly distributed in the US by location nor by demographics.

Scott Connors | July 9, 2014 11:00 AM | Reply

What is the source for the CDC stating that 80% of all firearm homicides are gang related? I've tried to find it, but without success.

Also, wasn't there an academic paper published in the last few years that examined the demographics of victims of firearms homicides and found that an overwhelming majority had histories of criminal activities, drug use, and illegal gun use? Couldn't find it on Google either.

Thanks!

anonymous | July 11, 2014 7:01 AM | Reply


For decades, I have heard the assertion that most victims of "gun violence" are criminals themselves. This is the first time I've seen any attempt to quantify that.

Are there other studies?

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