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Internationally, gun violence may be broadly defined as violence committed with the use of a gun (firearm or small arm). It may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal gun violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable), assault with a deadly weapon, and suicide, or attempted suicide, depending on jurisdiction. Non criminal gun violence may include accidental or unintentional injury or death. Not included in this subject are statistics regarding military or para-military activities, the information applies to the actions of civilians.

According to GunPolicy.org, 75 percent of the world's 875 million guns are civilian controlled. Many are owned for legitimate reasons, and many, if not most, are not misused. However, they are used daily to kill as many as 1,000 people. Globally, millions are wounded or denied basic services and human rights by people with guns.

Levels of gun violence vary greatly across the world, with very high rates in Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, South Africa, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Jamaica, as well as high levels in Russia, The Philippines, Thailand, and some other underdeveloped countries. Levels of gun violence are very low in Singapore and Japan, and are low in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and many other countries. The United States has the highest rate of gun related deaths among developed countries, though it also has the highest rate of gun ownership and the highest rate of officers.

Definitions

According to a 2007 paper by Krause and Muggah, there is no internationally agreed upon definition of armed violence. They cite the World Health Organization definition of violence:

The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation.

Krause and Muggah clarify that arms include bladed weapons, blunt objects, explosives, and other instruments, but that guns (in their paper, small arms and light weapons) "are disproportionately used to commit violence" worldwide. They break armed violence into five categories: inter-personal, collective, criminal, conflict, and institutional (or state).

In the United States, the term "gun crime" was common, especially in the years leading up to the passage of the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994, which expired in 2004. Since then, "gun violence" is the commonly used term.

Suicide

Some research shows an association between household firearm ownership and gun suicide rates. For example, it was found that individuals in a firearm owning home are close to five times more likely to commit suicide than those individuals who do not own firearms. However, other research found a statistical association among a group of fourteen developed nations but that statistical association was lost when additional countries were included. During the 1980s and early 1990s, there was a strong upward trend in adolescent suicides with a gun, as well as a sharp overall increase in suicides among those age 75 and over. In the United States, where suicides outnumber homicides 2:1, firearms remain the most common method of suicide, accounting for 52.1% of all suicides committed during 2005.

Research also indicates no association vis-à-vis safe-storage laws of guns that are owned, and gun suicide rates, and studies that attempt to link gun ownership to likely victimology often fail to account for the presence of guns owned by other people leading to a conclusion that safe-storage laws do not appear to affect gun suicide rates or juvenile accidental gun death.

Intentional homicide

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) defines intentional homicide as "acts in which the perpetrator intended to cause death or serious injury by his or her actions." This excludes deaths: related to conflicts (war); caused by recklessness or negligence; or justifiable, such as in self-defense or by law enforcement in the line of duty. In a study by the United Nations released in 2009, it was found that worldwide firearms were used in an average of 60% of all homicides. In 2010 USA homicides, guns are the weapon of choice, especially for multiple homicides.

Domestic violence

Gun control advocates argue that the strongest evidence linking availability of guns to injury and mortality rates comes in studies of domestic violence, most often referring to the series of studies by Arthur Kellermann. In response to public suggestions by some advocates of firearms for home defense, that homeowners were at high risk of injury from home invasions and would be wise to acquire a firearm for purposes of protection, Kellermann investigated the circumstances surrounding all in-home homicides in three cities of about half a million population each over five years. He found that the risk of a homicide was in fact slightly higher in homes where a handgun was present, rather than lower. From the details of the homicides he concluded that the risk of a crime of passion or other domestic dispute ending in a fatal injury was much higher when a gun was readily available (essentially all the increased risk being in homes where a handgun was kept loaded and unlocked), compared to a lower rate of fatality in domestic violence not involving a firearm.

This increase in mortality, he postulated, was large enough to overwhelm any protective effect the presence of a gun might have by deterring or defending against burglaries or home invasions, which occurred much less frequently. The increased risk averaged over all homes containing guns was similar in size to that correlated with an individual with a criminal record living in the home, but substantially less than that associated with demographic factors known to be risks for violence, such as renting a home versus ownership, or living alone versus with others.

Critics of Kellermann's work and its use by advocates of gun control point out that since it deliberately ignores crimes of violence occurring outside the home (Kellermann states at the outset that the characteristics of such homicides are much more complex and ambiguous, and would be virtually impossible to classify rigorously enough), it is more directly a study of domestic violence than of gun ownership. Kellermann does in fact include in the conclusion of his 1993 paper several paragraphs referring to the need for further study of domestic violence and its causes and prevention. Researchers John Lott, Gary Kleck and many others dispute Kellermann's work.

Kleck showed that no more than a handful of the homicides that Kellermann studied were committed with guns belonging to the victim or members of his or her household, and thus it was implausible that victim household gun ownership contributed to their homicide. Instead, the association that Kellermann found between gun ownership and victimization merely reflected the widely accepted notion that people who live in more dangerous circumstances are more likely to be murdered, but also were more likely to have acquired guns for self-protection prior to their death Kleck and others argue that guns being used to protect property, save lives, and deter crime without killing the criminal accounts for the large majority of defensive gun uses.

Robbery and assault

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime defines robbery as the theft of property by force or threat of force. Assault is defined as a physical attack against the body of another person resulting in serious bodily injury. In the case of gun violence, the definitions become more specific and include only robbery and assault committed with the use of a firearm. Firearms are used in this threatening capacity four to six times more than firearms used as a means of protection in fighting crime. Hemenway's figures are widely disputed by other academics, who assert there are many more defensive uses of firearms than criminal uses. See John Lott's "More Guns, Less Crime".

In terms of occurrence, developed countries have similar rates of assaults and robberies with firearms, which is a different trend than homicides by firearms.

Costs of gun violence

Violence committed with guns leads to significant monetary costs. Phillip J. Cook estimated that such violence costs the USA $100 billion annually. Emergency medical care is a major contributor to the monetary costs of such violence. It was determined in a study that for every firearm death in the USA for one year from 1 June 1992, an average of three firearm-related injuries were treated in hospital emergency departments.

Psychological costs of violence committed with guns are also clearly documented. James Garbarino found that individuals who experience violence are prone to mental and other health problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep deprivation. These problems increase for those who experience violence as children.

See also

• Armed violence reduction
• Global gun cultures
• Gunfire locator
• Gun violence in the United States

References

1. Alpers, Philip; Wilson, Marcus (2013). "Global Impact of Gun Violence". gunpolicy.org. Sydney School of Public Health, The University of Sydney. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
2. ^ "Global Study on Homicide 2011". United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Retrieved December 18, 2012.
3. Cook, Philip J.; Ludwig, Jens (2000). Gun Violence: The Real Cost. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195137934. OCLC 45580985.
4. Krause, Keith; Muggah, Robert (2007). "Background Note 1: Measuring the Scale and Distribution of Armed Violence" (PDF). genevadeclaration.org. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
5. "Targeting Criminals, not Gun Owners". nraila.org. National Rifle Association of America. August 17, 2006.
6. "About Brady". bradycampaign.org. Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. 2013.
7. Committee on Law and Justice (2004). "Executive Summary". Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review. National Academy of Science. ISBN 0-309-09124-1.
8. Kellermann, A.L., F.P. Rivara, G. Somes; et al. (1992). "Suicide in the home in relation to gun ownership". New England Journal of Medicine. 327 (7): pp. 467–472. doi:10.1056/NEJM199208133270705. PMID 1308093. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
9. Kellermann, AL, Rivara FP, et al. "Suicide in the Home in Relation to Gun Ownership." NEJM 327:7 (1992):467-472.
10. Miller, Matthew and Hemenway, David (2001). Firearm Prevalence and the Risk of Suicide: A Review. Harvard Health Policy Review. p. 2. One study found a statistically significant relationship between gun ownership levels and suicide rate across 14 developed nations (e.g. where survey data on gun ownership levels were available), but the association lost its statistical significance when additional countries were included.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
11. Cook, Philip J., Jens Ludwig (2000). "Chapter 2". Gun Violence: The Real Costs. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513793-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
12. Ikeda, Robin M., Rachel Gorwitz, Stephen P. James, Kenneth E. Powell, James A. Mercy (1997). Fatal Firearm Injuries in the United States, 1962-1994: Violence Surveillance Summary Series, No. 3. National Center for Injury and Prevention Control.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
13. "Twenty Leading Causes of Death Among Persons Ages 10 Years and Older, United States". ”National Suicide Statistics at a Glance”. Centers for Disease Control. 2009. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
14. "Suicide in the U.S.A" (PDF). American Association of Suicidology.
15. Kleck, Gary (2004). "Measures of Gun Ownership Levels of Macro-Level Crime and Violence Research" (PDF). Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. 41 (1): pp. 3–36. doi:10.1177/0022427803256229. NCJ 203876. Studies that attempt to link the gun ownership of individuals to their experiences as victims (e.g., Kellermann, et al. 1993) do not effectively determine how an individual's risk of victimization is affected by gun ownership by other people, especially those not living in the gun owner's own household. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
16. Lott, John, John E. Whitley (2001). "Safe-Storage Gun Laws: Accidental Deaths, Suicides, and Crime" (PDF). Journal of Law and Economics. 44 (2): pp. 659–689. doi:10.1086/338346. It is frequently assumed that safe-storage laws reduce accidental gun deaths and total suicides. We find no support that safe-storage laws reduce either juvenile accidental gun deaths or suicides. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
17. United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime. "Global Burden of Armed Violence" (PDF).
18. Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Guns are the weapon of choice", Associated Press, 2011.
19. Kellermann AL, Rivara FP, Rushforth NB, et al. Gun ownership as a risk factor for homicide in the home. N Engl J Med 1993;329(15):1084-1091.
20. Suter, Edgar A, Guns in the Medical Literature-- A Failure of Peer Review, Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia;83:133-152, March 1994. url =http://rkba.org/research/suter/med-lit.html
21. Kates DB, Schaffer HE, Lattimer JK, Murray GB, Cassem EH. Bad Medicine: Doctors and Guns in Guns– Who Should Have Them? (Ed., Kopel DB), New York, NY, Prometheus Books, 1995, pp. 233-308.
22. Kates DB, Schaffer HE, Lattimer JK, Murray GB, Cassem EH. Guns and public health: epidemic of violence or pandemic of propaganda? Tennessee Law Review 1995;62:513-596.
23. Kleck, Homicide Studies, February 2001.
24. Suter E, Waters WC, Murray GB, et al. Violence in America-- effective solutions. J Med Assoc Ga 1995;84(6):253-264. url =http://rkba.org/research/suter/violence.html
25. Lott, John JR. More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws. Chicago, IL, University of Chicago Press, 1998.
26. Kleck G. Targeting Guns-- Firearms and Their Control. New York, NY, Aldine De Gruyter, 1997.
27. "United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Crime Data".
28. Hemenway, D (2000). "The Relative Frequency of Offensive and Defensive Gun Uses: Results from a National Survey". Violence and Victims. 15 (3): 257–272. PMID 11200101. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
29. ^ Cook, Philip J. (2000). Gun Violence: The Real Costs. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513793-0.
30. Crime Is Not the Problem: Lethal Violence in America. Oxford University Press. 1997. ISBN 0-19-513105-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
31. Annest JL, Mercy JA, et al. "National Estimates of Nonfatal Firearm-Related Injuries: Beyond the Tip of the Iceberg." JAMA 273:22 (1995):1749-1754.
32. Garbarino, James. "Children, Youth, and Gun Violence: Analysis and Recommendations". Princeton-Brookings.

Further reading

• Resources in your library
• Resources in other libraries

External links

• Firearm-related deaths in the United States and 35 other high- and upper-middle-income countries Krug, Powell, and Dahlberg (1998)
• Gun ownership, suicide and homicide: An international perspective Killias (1992)
• GunPolicy.org Armed violence and gun laws, country by country
• Guns and suicide: Possible effects of some specific legislation Rich, Young, Fowler et al. (1990)
• Guns, Violent Crime, and Suicide in 21 Countries Killias, van Kesteren, Rindlisbacher (2001)

• Crime
• Gun politics
• Violence