Gun violence

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This special collection brings together evidence and insights from nonprofits, foundations, and research organizations working to understand the full impact of firearm use and gun violence in the US. By providing us with analyses of current state and federal laws as well as valuable data on suicides, homicides, accidents, and mass shootings, these organizations seek to inform sound public policy and to curb this ongoing public health epidemic.

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When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2011 Homicide Data

September 1, 2013

This is the 2013 edition of an annual report prepared by the Violence Policy Center detailing the reality of homicides committed against females by single male offenders. The study analyzes the most recent Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) data submitted to the FederalBureau of Investigation (FBI). The information used for this report is for the year 2011. Once again, this is the most recent data available. This is the first analysis of the 2011 data on female homicide victims to offer breakdowns of cases in the 10 states with the highest female victim/male offender homicide rates, and the first to rank the states by the rate of female homicides.

Statistics & Surveys

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

April 1, 2013

Guns are rarely used to kill criminals or stop crimes.In 2010, across the nation there were only 230 justifiable homicides involving a private citizen using a firearm reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program as detailed in its Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR).That same year, there were 8,275 criminal gun homicides tallied in the SHR. In 2010, for every justifiable homicide in the United Statesinvolving a gun, guns were used in 36 criminal homicides.3 And this ratio, of course, does not take into account the thousands of livesended in gun suicides (19,392) or unintentional shootings (606) that year.This report analyzes, on both the national and state levels, the use of firearms in justifiable homicides. It also details, using the best data available on the national level, the total number of times guns are used for self-defense by the victims of both attempted andcompleted violent crimes and property crimes -- whether or not the use of the gun by the victim resulted in a fatality.

Statistics & Surveys

Model Laws for a Safer America: Seven Regulations to Promote Responsible Gun Ownership and Sales

September 1, 2011

Legal Community Against Violence (LCAV) has published this report to assist elected officials and activists seeking to address our nation's deadly epidemic of gun violence. As discussed in the paper, although guns kill or injure more than 100,000 Americans every year, our federal gun laws are incredibly weak -- weaker than those of any other industrialized nation. This publication provides model laws for state or local governments seeking to fill these deadly gaps in our federal regulatory system.

Policy Recommendations & Models

The Militarization of the U.S. Civilian Firearms Market

June 1, 2011

This study surveys the rise of the militarized civilian gun market, examines its impact on public health, safety, and crime in the United States and the world, and refutes the gun lobby's recent attempt to "rebrand" semiautomatic assault weapons as "modern sporting rifles."

Purchasing Firearms

Regulating Guns in America -- An Evaluation and Comparative Analysis of Federal, State and Selected Local Gun Laws

August 1, 2006

Regulating Guns in America is designed for use by state and local officials, law enforcement, and gun violence prevention advocates. It provides a comprehensive, national review of existing federal and state laws on more than twenty topics covering all major areas of gun policy. It also includes a discussion of local laws in ten major U.S. cities. In addition to identifying existing laws in each jurisdiction, the report compares and contrasts different policy approaches used to address each topic, and offers a list of features that characterize the most comprehensive legislative solution in each area.

Policy Recommendations & Models

American Roulette: Murder-Suicide in the United States

May 1, 2006

More than 10 murder-suicides, almost all by gun, occur each week in the United States, according to "American Roulette: Murder-Suicide in the United States", a new study by the Violence Policy Center (VPC). The study used a national news clipping service and Internet survey tools to collect incidents nationwide from January 1, 2005, through June 30, 2005, and is one of the largest and most comprehensive studies ever conducted on murder-suicide. During this six-month period, at least 591 Americans died in 264 murder-suicides, and almost all murder-suicides (92 percent) involved a firearm. Using these figures, the VPC estimates that nearly 1,200 Americans die each year in murder-suicides.VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand states, "Murder-suicide wreaks havoc on hundreds of American families each year. Much more needs to be done to understand and prevent murder-suicide. One key aspect of prevention is reducing access to firearms, by far the weapon of choice in murder-suicide."

Statistics & Surveys