Citation

Greenbaum S. Juv. Justice 1997; 3(2): 1-14.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

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Abstract

The lethal mix of children and guns has reached a crisis in the United States. Teenage boys are more likely to die of gunshot wounds than from all natural causes combined. The number of children dying from gunshot wounds and the number of children committing homicides continue to rise at alarming rates (McEnery, 1996).
Guns are now the weapon of choice for youth. As can be seen in the figure on the following page, gun homicides by juveniles have tripled since 1983, while homicides involving other weapons have declined. From 1983 through 1995, the proportion of homicides in which a juve- nile used a gun increased from 55 percent to 80 percent (Snyder and Finnegan, 1997).

Disputes that would previously have ended in fist fights are now more likely to lead to shootings. A 1993 Louis Harris poll showed that 35 percent of children ages 6 to 12 fear their lives will be cut short by gun violence (Louis Harris and Associates, Inc., 1993). A 1990 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that one in five 9th through 12th graders reported carrying a weapon in the past month; one in five of those carried a firearm (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1991).