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Guns and crime in the United States
compiled by GunSAFE
(www.gunsafe.org)
(Gunsafe: Connecticut
residents committed to the preservation of the Second Amendment and the right of
self-defense.)
Sources of information are shown
in brackets. Large figures have been rounded for simplicity.
Firearms ownership
United States population...273,000,000
[U.S. Census Bureau]
Firearms (handguns, rifles, and
shotguns) owned by civilians...235,000,000
[Industry and other estimates]
How much has this increased in the past
40 years?...tripled
[Combination of sources cited by Kleck in Targeting
Guns (1997)]
What fraction of U.S. households owns
firearms?...42%
What fraction of U.S. residents owns
firearms?...28%
[Davis and Smith, General Social Surveys,
1972-1993, all figures]
Accidental, suicide, and homicide
deaths by firearm
Total accidental deaths per year (all
causes), U.S....96,000
Motor vehicle accidental deaths per
year...43,000
Fatal firearms accidents per
year...1,100
(The firearms accidents figure is an
all-time low, even though the U.S. population is at an all-time high, and gun ownership is
at an all-time high.)
Fatal firearms accidents age 0-5...17
Fatal firearms accidents age 5-14...121
Fatal firearms accidents age 15-24...401
Fraction of all Emergency Room visits that involve
firearms accidents...0.2%
[Centers for Disease Control, all figures]
Accidents of all kinds (not just firearms) constitute
the fifth leading cause of death in the United States, but the other four leading causes
combined account for 16 times as many deaths as accidents. Accidents constitute a
relatively small but easily prevented cause of death.
Suicides by firearm, per year...18.000
Murders by firearm, per year...14,000
[Centers for Disease Control, both figures]
Researchers have studied the figures on firearms
ownership, firearms accidents, suicides, and murders, during the period from 1959 to the
present. Purpose: To find out whether accidents, suicides, or murders by firearm increase
or decrease as the supply of firearms increases or decreases. Result: The rates of
accidents and murders by firearms do not show any relationship to the number of guns owned
by civilians. The gun supply has increased and decreased without affecting the accident or
murder rates. Suicides by firearms have increased when more guns have been available, but
the total suicide rate hasn’t changed; when guns are less available, people
find other ways to commit suicide.
Positive side of civilian firearms ownership
Defensive gun uses (DGUs) by civilians, per
year...2,500,000 to 3,500,000
Fraction of DGUs in which no shot is fired...92%
In most DGUs, a firearm is merely displayed by the
intended victim, and the criminal flees. No one is injured. Civilian gun ownership clearly
gives the edge to the law-abiding defender, because in 82 percent of DGU situations, the
criminal has no gun.
[Combination of sources cited by Kleck in Targeting
Guns (1997), all figures]
Crimes committed with guns, per year...1,000,000
About three times as many DGUs occur per year.
[Combination of sources cited by Kleck in Targeting
Guns (1997)]
What can be done about guns and violent crime?
Taking all guns away from the entire U.S. population
would be:
 | Unconstitutional under the Second Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution and under many state constitutions |
| Unfeasible (too many guns owned by too many people;
guns are easily hidden or smuggled; guns last a very long time) |
| Politically impossible (almost half the households own
guns) |
| Futile (crime rates don’t show correlation to the
gun supply) |
The practical answer is to try to keep guns away from
criminals and children.
| Instant background check at gun dealer for all gun
sales |
| Permit to carry handgun (background check and safety
course required) outside home or place of business |
| Instant background check for private sales of guns
(between friends, neighbors, etc.) |
| Laws requiring guns be stored inaccessible to children |
What doesn’t work?
- Ban certain types of guns (e.g., "assault
weapons")
Doesn't work, because:
| "Assault weapons" are about 1 percent of the
guns used in crime |
| Criminals want the same guns as law-abiding
people—handguns that are small, concealable, reliable, and affordable |
| Criminals use whatever guns are available; if one type
is banned, criminals will switch to whatever they can get |
- Ban inexpensive handguns
Doesn't work, because:
| Criminals prefer reliable, middle-priced guns; 80
percent of the handguns used in crime do NOT fall under the government definition of
"Saturday night special" [BATF definition of "Saturday Night
Special"; statistic from Kleck's Targeting Guns] |
| Criminals use whatever guns are available; if one type
is banned, criminals switch to whatever they can get |
| This type of ban merely keeps poor people from buying
guns for self protection |
| This type of ban dates to the post-Civil War
"Black Codes," laws intended to keep blacks down after they were freed from
slavery |
- "Smart" guns
Doesn't work, because:
| If computer inside gun mechanism "crashes,"
gun may not work when needed; for this reason police don’t want "smart"
guns |
| "Smart" gun is likely to
tempt owner to leave gun accessible to children on the assumption that the internal
computer is foolproof and will prevent children from firing gun; "smart" gun is
not a substitute for standard safety practices (like safe storage)
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- Suing gun manufacturers
Doesn't work, because:
| Increases in gun supply don’t cause increases in
crime |
| Lawsuits ask courts to ban products that are made
legally under laws passed by Congress and state legislatures |
| Lawsuits ask courts to blame manufacturers for
behavior of criminals who misuse the products |
| If gun lawsuits succeed, the next targets may be
producers of cars, prescription drugs, alcoholic beverages, and red meat; all these
products may be misused by a few but are actually used correctly and safely by millions of
people every day |
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