Types of Crime - Guns And Crime

There are enough guns in private hands to provide every adult in America with one.

—Bulletin Reports, Federal Bureau of Investigation, September 2, 1997

Based on a survey funded by a National Institute of Justice (NIJ) grant, the Police Foundation estimated that FIGURE 2.4
Types of larceny-theft, 2002
Percent distribution^* private citizens owned 192 million firearms in the United States in 1994. During the year, about 211,000 handguns and 382,000 long guns (rifles and shotguns) were stolen from the nation's homes or vehicles. Not surprisingly many stolen guns wound up in the hands of criminals.

In 2002, of the 14,054 weapons used to commit murder, 9,369 were firearms. Of those firearms, 7,176 were handguns. Among those murders in which firearms were used, 76.6 percent were handguns, 5.1 percent were rifles, 5.1 percent were shotguns, and 13.2 percent were other types of firearms or unknown. (See Table 2.16.)

Weapons Offenses and Offenders

Weapons offenses are violations of statutes or regulations that seek to control deadly weapons. Deadly weapons include firearms and their ammunition, silencers, explosives, and certain knives. From 1992 to 2002 the number of arrests for weapons offenses dropped from 129,122 to 118,148, a decline of 8.5 percent. Those under 18 years of age accounted for 25,239 of the 2002 arrests. In 2002 just over 1 percent of arrests nationwide were for weapons offenses. Of those persons arrested, 70.7 percent were white and 26.9 percent were black.

TABLE 2.15
Arson, by type of property, 2002
[12,414 agencies; 2002 estimated population 225,428,667]

Property classification	Number of offenses	Percent distribution¹	Percent not in use	Average damage	Total clearances	Percent of offenses cleared²	Percent of clearances under 18
Total	66,308	100.0		$11,253	11,190	16.9	42.1
Total structure:	27,373	41.3	18.2	20,818	6,139	22.4	40.3
Single occupancy residential	11,789	17.8	19.7	18,535	2,631	22.3	31.2
Other residential	4,821	7.3	14.8	21,846	1,071	22.2	30.7
Storage	1,940	2.9	19.7	15,627	391	20.2	54.0
Industrial/manufacturing	333	0.5	22.8	71,376	62	18.6	29.0
Other commercial	2,735	4.1	15.4	45,927	485	17.7	27.6
Community/public	3,140	4.7	13.6	11,181	1,036	33.0	71.8
Other structure	2,615	3.9	24.3	11,933	463	17.7	47.1
Total mobile:	21,920	33.1		6,073	1,584	7.2	23.6
Motor vehicles	20,736	31.3		5,781	1,423	6.9	21.9
Other mobile	1,184	1.8		11,183	161	13.6	39.1
Other	17,015	25.7		2,536	3,467	20.4	53.5
¹Because of rounding, the percentages may not add to 100.0.
²Includes offenses cleared by arrest or exceptional means.
SOURCE: "Table 2.32: Arson, by Type of Property, 2002," in Crime in the United States 2002, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, 2003

Crimes Committed with Firearms

From 1974 to 1993 the number of violent offenses (murders, robberies, and aggravated assaults) committed with firearms increased 78 percent. But from 1993 to 2001 the total number of violent crimes committed with firearms decreased by 63 percent.

According to Firearm Use by Offenders (Caroline Wolf Harlow, Ph.D., Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, November 2001), some 18 percent of state prisoners and 15 percent of federal prisoners in 1997 reported that they carried a firearm at the time of their offenses. Of those, 9 percent of state prisoners and 2 percent of federal prisoners in 1997 said that they fired a gun during the commission of the offense for which they were incarcerated. Most reported carrying a handgun (83 percent of state prisoners and 87 percent of federal prisoners).

Among prisoners in 1997 who reported carrying a firearm during the commission of a crime, some 23 percent of state inmates and 5 percent of federal inmates either killed or injured their victim as the result of discharging the firearm. Nonetheless, between 1993 and 1997, gunshot wounds from any type of crime declined by some 40 percent according to Firearm Injury and Death from Crime, 1993–97, by Marianne W. Zawitz and Kevin J. Strom (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2000). During the same period, firearm-related homicides fell by 27 percent, from 18,300 in 1993 to 13,300 in 1997.

Crimes committed with firearms usually carry a higher penalty. About 40 percent of all state prisoners and 56 percent of all federal prisoners who used firearms were given more severe sentences. On average, state inmates who used a firearm received 18 years in prison, while those who committed similar crimes without firearms received 12 years.

TABLE 2.16
Murder victims, by weapon used, 1998–2002

Weapons	1998	1999	2000	2001¹	2002
Total	14,209	13,011	13,230	14,061	14,054
Total firearms:	9,220	8,480	8,661	8,890	9,369
Handguns	7,405	6,658	6,778	6,931	7,176
Rifles	546	400	411	386	480
Shotguns	626	531	485	511	476
Other guns	16	92	53	59	74
Firearms, type not stated	627	799	934	1,003	1,163
Knives or cutting instruments	1,890	1,712	1,782	1,831	1,767
Blunt objects (clubs, hammers, etc.)	750	756	617	680	666
Personal weapons (hands, fists, feet, etc.)²	959	885	927	961	933
Poison	6	11	8	12	23
Explosives	10	0	9	4	11
Fire	132	133	134	109	104
Narcotics	33	26	20	37	48
Drowning	28	28	15	23	18
Strangulation	213	190	166	153	143
Asphyxiation	99	106	92	116	103
Other weapons or weapons not stated	869	684	799	1,245	869
¹The murder and nonnegligent homicides that occurred as a result of the events of September 11, 2001, are not included.
²Pushed is included in personal weapons.
SOURCE: "Table 2.10: Murder Victims, by Weapon, 1998–2002," in "Crime Index Offenses, Percent Distribution, 2002," in Crime in the United States 2002, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, 2003

Firearm-Related Deaths

From 1991 to 1999 the percentage of firearm-related homicides declined from 47 percent of all firearm-related deaths to 38 percent, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The reduction in the overall number of firearm-related homicides was even more dramatic, from 17,986 in 1991 to 10,828 in 1999. Though the FBI estimated that

TABLE 2.17
Justifiable homicide by private citizens,* by weapon, 1998–2002

Year	Total	Total firearms	Handguns	Rifles	Shotguns	Firearms, type not stated	Knives or cutting instruments	Other dangerous weapons	Personal weapons
1998	196	170	150	6	14	0	17	5	4
1999	192	158	137	5	10	6	18	9	7
2000	164	138	123	4	7	4	15	8	3
2001	222	183	143	10	13	17	26	6	7
2002	225	184	154	11	13	6	26	9	6
¹The killing of a felon, during the commission of a felony, by a private citizen.
SOURCE: "Table 2.17: Justifiable Homicide by Weapon, 1998–2002: Private Citizen," in Crime in the United States 2002, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, 2003

TABLE 2.18
Justifiable homicide by law enforcement officers,* by weapon, 1998–2002

Year	Total	Total firearms	Handguns	Rifles	Shotguns	Firearms, type not stated	Knives or cutting instruments	Other dangerous weapons	Personal weapons
1998	369	367	322	15	18	12	0	0	2
1999	308	305	274	11	15	5	0	1	2
2000	309	308	274	14	13	7	0	1	0
2001	378	375	318	25	11	21	0	3	0
2002	339	335	294	18	7	16	1	3	0
*The killing of a felon by a law enforcement officer in the line of duty.
SOURCE: "Table 2.16: Justifiable Homicide by Weapon, 1998–2002: Law Enforcement," in Crime in the United States 2002, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, 2003

66 percent of the 15,517 murders in 2000 were committed with firearms, this still shows a decline, with about 10,241 homicides attributed to firearms. The National Center for Health Statistics estimated that of the other deaths caused by firearms in 1999, 57 percent were suicides, 3 percent were unintentional, and the intent in the remaining 1 percent of deaths was undetermined. The proportion of firearm-related deaths ruled to be suicides showed an increase between 1991 and 1999, rising from 48 percent to 57 percent. Although the rate of firearm-related suicides rose during that period, the overall number of such suicides declined from 18,526 in 1991 to 16,599 in 1999.

Among persons 19 years of age and younger, 59 percent (1,990) of the 3,385 firearm-related deaths in 1999 were homicides and 32 percent (1,078) were suicides. The remaining deaths were either unintentional or undetermined. Among adults 20 years of age or older, 35 percent of the 25,469 firearm-related deaths in 1999 were homicides and 61 percent were suicides.

Sources for Firearms Used in Crimes

Among prisoners in 1997 who reported carrying a firearm during their crimes, 14 percent said they bought or traded the gun from a legitimate retail outlet (store, pawn shop, flea market or gun show), a decline from the 21 percent of inmates in 1991 who reported purchasing a firearm from legitimate sources. Part of this decline may be attributed to the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act's requirement for criminal history checks for firearm purchases. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, since the law's enactment in 1994, some 689,000 of the nearly 30 million applicants for gun purchases were rejected by the FBI. Of the 7.8 million applicants for firearm permits or transfers in 2000, some 153,000 were rejected. State agencies rejected 2.5 percent of the 3.5 million criminal background checks conducted in 2000, while the FBI rejected 1.6 percent of 4.3 million checks they conducted. Friends, family, street buys, theft, and other illegal means of acquiring a gun accounted for 80 percent of firearms used in crimes.

Defensive Use of Guns

The number of justifiable homicides by private citizens (when a citizen kills a felon during the commission of a criminal offense) increased from 196 in 1998 to 225 in 2002. According to the FBI, in 2002 about 184 firearms were used in cases of justifiable homicide in the United States. Of those, most (154) were handguns. (See Table 2.17.) Among law enforcement officers, there were 339 incidents of justifiable homicide in 2002, most of which (294) involved the use of handguns. Although justifiable homicides by law enforcement officers have declined from a five-year high of 369 in 1998, there was a rise in such homicides in years 2001-2002. (See Table 2.18.)

TABLE 2.19
Workplace homicides by victim characteristics, type of event, and selected occupation and industry, 1992–2001¹

	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001²
Total	1,044	1,074	1,080	1,036	927	860	714	651	677	639
Victim characteristics Employee status Wage and salary workers³	793	786	818	823	675	632	526	485	488	470
Self-employed⁴	251	288	262	213	252	228	188	166	189	169
Sex
Male	862	884	895	790	751	715	550	525	543	513
Female	182	190	185	246	176	145	164	126	134	126
Age
Under 16 years	5	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
16 to 17 years	11	11	10	6	8	9	5	8	5	5
18 to 19 years	19	16	27	26	21	16	12	11	14	14
20 to 24 years	105	89	102	70	74	60	44	49	41	45
25 to 34 years	271	294	280	264	220	215	178	145	142	136
35 to 44 years	275	295	290	258	228	216	199	166	177	174
45 to 54 years	186	194	205	215	189	171	139	155	165	151
55 to 64 years	116	108	104	127	120	120	82	74	100	81
65 years and older	56	61	61	65	65	51	52	38	31	34
Race, ethnicity
White	597	583	592	578	504	500	399	346	344	331
Black	192	164	210	206	171	146	128	116	118	113
Asian or Pacific Islander	105	128	129	100	105	104	74	85	84	72
American Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut	5	6	7	5	6	5	5	5	5	5
Other or unspecified	14	8	5	17	11	5	10	5	20	13
Hispanic⁶	132	185	139	130	130	101	99	95	108	106
Type of event
Shooting	852	884	934	762	761	708	574	509	533	505
Stabbing	90	95	60	67	80	73	61	62	66	58
Hitting, kicking, beating	52	35	47	46	50	48	48	48	37	36
Other	30	48	31	153	29	26	24	26	38	38

Other Self-Protective Measures

According to Criminal Victimization in the United States, 2001 Statistical Tables, published by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 70.4 percent of violent crimes, the victims offered resistance to their assailants. Only 0.9 percent used a weapon, while 9.5 percent attacked their assailant without a weapon. Eleven percent scared off or warned off their attackers and another 11 percent persuaded or appeased their attackers. Of those incidents where the victim resisted, their self-protection measure helped the situation in 67.8 percent of the cases.