Nature+of+American+violence

Among homicide victims ages 10 to 24 years-old, 81% were killed with a firearm (CDC 2007a). The FBI's Crime in the United States estimated that 66% of the 15,517 murders in 2000 were committed with firearms.

Germany- A number of criteria must be met before a firearms ownership license is issued: Persons who are are barred from obtaining a firearms ownership license.
 * According to the 1997 Survey of State Prison Inmates, among those possessing a gun, the source of the gun was from -
 * a flea market or gun show for fewer than 2%
 * a retail store or pawnshop for about 12%
 * family, friends, a street buy, or an illegal source for 80%
 * age of consent (18 years for rimfire calibers/21 years for higher calibers) (§ 4 WaffG)
 * trustworthiness (§ 5 WaffG)
 * personal adequacy (§ 6 WaffG)
 * expert knowledge (§ 7 WaffG) and
 * necessity (§ 8 WaffG) (Necessity is automatically assumed present for [|licensed] [|hunters] and owners of a carry permits (//Waffenschein//)).
 * convicted felons
 * have a record of mental disorder or
 * are deemed unreliable (which includes people with drug or alcohol addiction histories and known violent or aggressive persons)

China- Gun ownership in the [|People's Republic of China] outside of the military, police, and paramilitary is forbidden. Possession or sale of firearms results in a minimum punishment of 3 years in prison, with the maximum being the death penalty.


 * Why is America so much more violent than any other country?**

What are some factors that you think cause violence?

Aren't these factors relevant in other countries?

Charlton Heston-“I intend to dedicate my remaining time as president of the NRA to ensure that the Second Amendment is safe from Al Gore and all those who threaten it,”

Al Gore- All my proposals are focused on that problem: gun safety. None of my proposals would have any effect on hunters or sportsmen or people who use rifles. They’re aimed at the real problem. Let’s have a three-day waiting period, A cooling off, so we can have a background check to make sure that criminals and people who really shouldn’t have guns don’t get them.

http://www.haciendapub.com/stolinsky.html

[|http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita]

[|http://www.alternet.org/story/15665]


 * //"The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic and a killer."//** **//-- D.H. Lawrence

//** http://www.howardsmead.com/amviol.htm

Info from:

http://www.violencepreventioninstitute.org/gangs.html


 * GUN VIOLENCE: THE STAGGERING STATISTICS**

> > (Cook & Ludwig) **__Breakdown in Cost by Incident__** > > (Ted R. Miller & Mark A. Cohen ;The Cost of Gunshot & Stab wounds’’ Accident analysis and Prevention 1997) > > **__Indirect Cost: (re: lost of productivity, mental healthcare__, __emergency transport, and__ __insurance administration)__** > $2.8 Million per firearm fatality $249,000 per hospitalization for gunshot victim > > (Phillip J. Cook, Gun Violence, ;The Real Cost;   Oxford University Press 2000) > **__Estimated Annual Treatments for Gunshot Victims:__** > > **__Children and Firearms:__** > > **MORE SOBERING FACTS;** 39,024,786 handguns 26,651,062 rifles 39% of teens know someone who has been shot before 37% of teens know someone they can get guns from (US Dept. of Education 1998-1999) · During 1999 52% of all murder victims younger than the age of 18 were killed by firearms, and 82% of these victims were between the ages of 13-19 years old. (FBI Uniform Crime Report)
 * __Economic Cost of Gun Violence:__** $100 Billion annual overall cost
 * Most victims are uninsured (debts are paid by public taxpayers)
 * $22,400 each for unintentional shooting $18,400 each for gun assault injuries
 * $5,400 each by suicide
 * $73,000 per emergency room visit for released gunshot victims
 * $100-$126 billion per year (Miller & Cohen) (Linda Gunderson, ;The Financial Cost of Gun Violence; Annals of Internal Medicine 1999)
 * More than 10 children, and teenagers 19 and under, are killed by guns **EVERYDAY,** and many more are wounded.
 * 77% of murdered juveniles 13-19 are killed by firearms 39% of households have a gun, 24% are handguns Annually 1,409 children and teenagers have taken their own lives with guns
 * Guns kept in the home for self protection are 22x’s more likely to kill a family member or friend than to kill in self defense (Facts For Families; July 2004) **__The Comparison of Gun Violence in the  US and other countries -- the total of murders by handguns__:**  11,789 United States
 * 373  Germany
 * 151  Canada
 * 57  Australia 54 England &   Wales (total)
 * 19  Japan ***These numbers only account for homicides, does not include suicides;**  (The Brady Campaign to prevent Gun Violence)
 * Among 26 industrialized nations, 86% of gun deaths among children under the age of 15 occurred in the  United States . (The Brady Campaign to prevent Gun Violence)
 * Contrary to beliefs young children possess the physical strength to fire a gun 25% 3-4 year olds, 70% 5-6 year olds, 90% 7-8 year olds including most semi- automatic handguns. (Christoffel Naurecka, Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 1995)
 * Taxpayers pay more than 85% of medical cost for treatment of firearm related injuries. (The Cost of Hospitalization for Firearm Injuries; Jama vol.260 November 25,1998, Abstract Journal of Trauma February 1995)
 * In a 10-year span, 633 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed by firearms in the  US ; a handgun was the murder weapon in78% (492 victims) of those murders; of the remainder, rifles killed 106 officers and shotguns killed 35. In total 253 slained officers were equipped with armor as well. (US Dept. of Justice)
 * In a 19 year time span (1977-1996) the firearm industry produced 85,644,715 firearms.
 * 19,969,867 shotguns *These are reflections of the numbers produced in the  US alone.(Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms)
 * While handguns account for only 1/3 of all firearms owned in the US, they account for more than 2/3 of all firearm related deaths each year. (Lee Kellerman ;The Epidemiology Basis for Prevention of Firearm Injuries 1991)
 * Every 2 years more Americans die from firearm injuries than the total number of American soldiers killed during the 8 year Vietnam War. (CDC National Center for Health Statistics Report 1999)
 * **Teens & Easy Access to Guns**
 * 27% of teens know a gun is kept in their house, apartment, or car (Teenage Research Unlimited 2003) More than 3,500 students were expelled from school in 1998-1999 for bringing a gun to school, 43% of them were in elementary or junior high school. This means that in a 40 week period an average of 88 children per week nationwide are expelled for having guns at school.
 * These figures only include those students who were caught.
 * 59% of students in grades 6-12 know where to get a gun and 2/3 of these students say they can acquire a gun within 24hours. (    Harvard   University )
 * Most Murder Victims ages 12-17 are Black:
 * Of the 24,950 juveniles ages 12-17 who were murdered annually between 1980-2000 12,880 were black 52%) and 11,270 were white (42%). The remaining 620 murdered were combined as American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian, or Pacific Islanders. (Trends in the Murder of Juveniles; 1980-2000)