Justice Department: Gun Violence Falls 63%

Firearms Violence 200% Higher for Blacks Than For Whites
In spite of all the hoopla regarding gun violence in America, a study by the US Department of Justice appears to dispel claims of rising gun deaths. The government study received minimal if any mainstream media attention. Estimates from the National Crime Victimization Survey indicate that between 1993 and 2001 approximately 26% of the average annual 8.9 million violent victimizations were committed by offenders armed with a weapon. About 10%, or 846,950 victimizations each year, involved a firearm.

• For nonfatal violent crimes, offenders were more likely to have a firearm than a knife or club. From 1993 to 2001 the rate of firearm violence fell 63%
• Approximately half of all robberies, about a quarter of all assaults, and roughly a twelfth of all rapes/sexual assaults involved an armed assailant. About 90% of homicide victims were killed with a weapon. 
  
• Firearm violence rates for blacks age 12 or older (8.4 per 1,000 blacks) were 40% higher than rates for Hispanics (6.0) 200% higher than rates for whites (2.8 per 1,000).
  
• Blacks were about 9 times more likely than whites to be murdered with a firearm.
  
• On average black victims of firearm violence were 3 years younger than white victims -- 29 versus 32.
  
• From 1993 through 2001 blacks accounted for 46% of homicide victims and 54% of victims of firearm homicide but 12% of the U.S. population.
  
• From 1993 through 2001 the number of murders declined 36% while the number of murders by firearms dropped 41%. [more]