JJIE Hub: The Problem — Youth Gun Violence Prevention

Firearm Justifiable Homicides and Non-Fatal Self-Defense Gun Use: An Analysis of Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Crime Victimization Survey Data

This report from The Violence Policy Center (VPC) analyzes data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Crime Victimization Survey which shows relatively low numbers of justifiable homicides between the years 2013 and 2017. The report presents the use of firearms in justifiable homicide data at both the national and state level, and the sum total of times firearms were used in self-defense by victims involved in attempted and completed violent crimes and property crimes. It also includes information on the relationship of the person killed to the shooter, the sex and race of both shooter and the person killed, and the types of firearms used. The data and conclusions presented in the report directly challenge the claims of the gun lobby and gun industry regarding firearms and self-defense.

Gun Violence and Youth

This literature review from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) focuses primarily on intentional gun violence pertaining to youths (ages 10-24), which includes homicides, nonfatal injuries, suicides, community violence, and school violence. It explores the scope of the problem, protective factors against youth gun violence, policy research on firearms, and the outcome evidence of programs. The review points to promising strategies to reduce gun violence, such as community interventions, hot spot policing practices, and weapon ban laws.

Suicide By Firearm Fact Sheet

Youth Violence: What We Know and What We Need to Know

In this review from the American Psychologist, Bushman and colleagues systematically investigate existing research on youth gun violence to determine what is known about the causes and characteristics of violent acts among youth. Using data gathered from a comprehensive analysis of rampage shootings between 1974 and 2011, the authors present a framework of characteristics for rampage shooters and incidences. They also outline characteristics of street shooters and incidences using a decades-long database of social science research on street shootings.

The authors note that youth violence is a complex issue with many causes that can differ in salience depending on the context and youth involved. While there are both risk factors and protective influences throughout a child’s life, the research is more extensive on the influence of risk factors. This article analyzes and outlines both risk factors and protective influences that involve family life, neurobiology, school life, personality traits, exposure to violence, access to guns, substance abuse, social rejection, poverty, and mental illness; both protective influences and risk factors are affected by these parts of a child’s life.

A review of research on prevention initiatives and strategies includes using social data-mining algorithms to monitor those children who are at risk of violent behavior; although, this method could raise privacy concerns. The use of student tip lines have been effective in preventing rampage shootings. Preventing street shootings takes a coordinated effort between community leaders, law enforcement, and role models to be most effective.

In conclusion, the authors discuss directions for future research and the effects on society from both kinds of shootings; rampage shootings are rare, but highly publicized events that shake society. Street shootings are much more common but isolated to specific types of environments. The authors declare that preventing both types of youth violence through scientific investigation of causes and solutions is a national priority.

Childhood Firearm Injuries in the United States

This article appearing in the American Academy of Pediatrics journal Pediatrics presents the most recent and comprehensive analysis of firearm-related injuries and deaths of US children to date. Using data from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS), the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), and the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), Katherine Fowler and colleagues measured patterns of firearm-related death and injury (including suicide) by type, trends over time, circumstance and incident characteristics, and state-level data for the years 2002-2014.

Their results show firearm violence as the third-leading cause of death among children aged 0-17 years old, and the second-leading cause of injury-related death in the same age range (surpassed only by motor vehicle accidents). During the years 2002-2014, 19 children died from or were treated for gunshot wounds in an emergency room. Of all high-income countries in the world, the United States is responsible for 91% of childhood firearm deaths. Further, an average of 8 out of 100,000 children were injured every year by firearms in the US during the years 2002-2014. These results clearly illustrate the growing public health concern for youth gun violence in the United States.

Firearm Homicides and Suicides in Major Metropolitan Areas — United States: 2012–2013 and 2015–2016

Firearm-related homicide and suicide rates are on the rise according to this report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) series. Analyzing recent data from the 50 most populated metropolitan areas of the US, the report finds that 3224 youth between the ages of 10 and 19 were killed in a firearm-related homicide and 2118 died in a firearm-related suicide in 2015-2016, with 87% of all youth homicides and 42% of all youth suicides involving a gun.

Contrary to a previous trend, firearm-related homicide and suicide rates are now increasing. The youth firearm-related homicide is up from a combined rate of 4.3 in the metropolitan areas measured in 2012-2013 to 4.7 in 2015-2016. The youth firearm-related suicide rate is up from 1.5 to 1.9. The authors say it is too soon to say if this is a short-term fluctuation or the beginning of a longer trend.

The report concludes by stressing the importance of ongoing tracking of gun violence rates as a way of supporting prevention efforts. For instance, safe gun storage is key to limiting children’s access to guns. Research has also shown that initiatives for housing and preventive policies in schools have reduced youth suicide rates. Further, rebuilding and improving the physical and social environments of urban areas has been shown to significantly reduce firearm-related homicides.

Household Gun Ownership and Youth Suicide Rates at the State Level, 2005−2015

In this article from Michael Siegel and colleagues in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the authors find empirical evidence that household gun ownership is a significant factor contributing to youth suicide rates. According to the data analyzed in the study, 55% of the variation in youth suicide rates from state to state is explained by the variation in household gun ownership. The authors find that in states with the highest youth suicide rates, 52.5% of households had firearms; while in states with the lowest youth suicide rates, just 20% of households had firearms.

Suicide is the most common type of firearm-related death in the US, and an average of three children commit suicide daily. Previous research has reported a positive relationship between household gun ownership and suicide rates at the state level, but until now, none have examined youth suicide rates in relation to household gun ownership by controlling for state differences.

Drawing on household gun ownership data from a nationally representative sample of over 300,000 adults, the authors compare household gun ownership at the state level with data on youth suicide rates and self-reported youth suicide attempts at the state level. The study controlled for the known risks and socioeconomic factors that have been shown to affect youth suicide rates. In other words, the study presents convincing evidence that household gun ownership is an important factor contributing to youth suicides.

High School Youths, Weapons, and Violence: A National Survey

This research brief from the National Institute of Justice presents results from a national survey conducted in 1996 by Joseph Sheley and James Wright investigating the firearm and crime-related activities of 734 male sophomores and juniors from 53 high schools nationwide. This survey was unique for its time because it asked questions specific to weapon exposure among non-delinquent American high schoolers in an effort to get closer to the experience of the “average” American juvenile with respect to firearms.

Among the youth sampled, only 29% had possession of at least one gun, and only 6% carried a gun outside of the home. Of this 6%, the majority carried their gun in a car, and half were automatic or semi-automatic handguns. The recreational use of guns was linked with possession of all kinds of firearms, but not related to status enhancement, criminality, or high-risk environments. Half the youth who responded believed it would be easy to obtain a gun. 48% of these were gifted or loaned a gun by friends and/or family. Of the 35% who had bought a gun, 53% bought one from a family member or friend.

While criminality was only characteristic of a small percentage of the sample, it was positively correlated with youth who possessed and carried automatic or semi-automatic handguns. Possession of automatic or semi-automatic handguns and carrying guns outside the home were positively correlated with youth who experienced all of the nine dangerous environment items in the survey. Of the youth who had carried guns, 43% felt they needed them for protection. The authors note that the majority of the students surveyed did not live in ‘truly’ unsafe conditions, but the fear of these conditions was present. The data indicate a stronger link between dangerous firearm-related activity and firearm possession in dangerous environments than it does for firearm possession alone.

How Youthful Offenders Perceive Gun Violence

In this briefing from 1999, the National Institute of Justice funded RAND to conduct interviews with 34 incarcerated youth from the Los Angeles Juvenile Hall to determine their perceptions surrounding their use of firearms. The main focus of this study was to measure youth perception about their future and their choices in reference to gun violence in order to identify deterrence strategies. Interviewers presented the youth with a hypothetical scenario including an opportunity to shoot someone to explore the context and rationale behind their decisions.

The report finds a positive correlation between gang membership and gun use among the youth interviewed. 76% of the youth had been involved in gangs; however, 52% expressed the desire to leave them. 75% had fired a gun, and 85% of the youth had previously been in Juvenile Hall. Six of these youths had been charged with gun possession, four had committed murder, and five had shot at people without getting caught. About half of these juveniles thought their future survival was left to chance. 40% of the youth believed that neither police nor their gang could protect them on the streets like a gun could, and most perceived the world outside their neighborhood to be even more dangerous.

Despite these figures, the youth interviewed still tended to believe they had a choice to carry and/or use a gun. They also had positive expectations about their future education and employment, which was recognized as a way to get out of their neighborhood and into a better life. The study identified two common perceptions relevant to deterring gun violence among LA youth 1)that shooting is a choice and 2) that shooting results in negative consequences such as arrest, imprisonment, and death. Based on this, the report concludes that points of influence for reducing gun violence include changing norms concerning gun violence and building on the youth’s strengths to offer education and other resources they need.

The Epidemiology of Firearm Violence in the Twenty-First Century United States.

The total cost of firearm violence to US society was 174 billion dollars in 2010. In this brief from the Annual Review of Public Health, the basic epidemiology of firearm violence in the US is presented. Using data from the CDC’s Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System, Garen Wintemute breaks down the statistics by trends, current status, and geography.
In 2012, the risk of firearm death was shown to be substantially higher for adolescents by homicide and the elderly by suicide. Firearm homicide risk is greatest for Black males, with Black females experiencing a higher rate of homicide than White and Hispanic males. Firearm suicide risk is greatest for White males, with White females experiencing a higher rate of suicide than both Black and Hispanic males. In 2004 there was little difference in overall firearm fatality between rural and urban areas; however, the rate of homicide was 90% higher in urban than rural areas, and the rate of suicide was 54% higher in rural than urban areas.

Wintemute discusses further how the epidemiology of firearm violence exposes misconceptions that hinder policy efforts to address this public health issue. For instance, mental illness by itself does not significantly contribute to interpersonal firearm violence; other factors, such as substance abuse or a history of violence are usually present along with a mental illness. Following the epidemiology of firearm violence can focus national efforts toward interventions with more effective results. Research funding is increasing, and evidence-based interventions are sorely needed; firearm-related deaths in the US from 2003-2012 outnumber the US combat fatalities from World War II, and the combined combat fatalities from all other wars in the nation’s history. Scientific inquiry, in-line with modern disease control methods, is necessary if the nation is going to curb this crisis.

Gun Violence and Youth Literature Review 

A 2016 literature review finds there are around 7,920 gun-related deaths involving youths every year in the United States. The review, compiled as part of the OJJDP Model Programs Guide, focuses on intentional gun violence involving youths ages 10-24 and draws from a variety of scholarly sources. The literature review examines federal and state laws, youth gun suicide, and school shootings among other areas.