Youth, Guns, and Violent Crime

Author: Blumstein, Alfred
Publication: The Future of Children
Topics: Age Group Crime Gun Carrying Homicide Law Enforcement U.S./National
Keywords: Firearms Youth Violence guns juvenile delinquency violent crime
Bibliographic information +

The author examines the trends of homicide and robbery violence in the United States during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He notes that the increase in violence over that period was mostly because of increased violence by people aged 20 years and younger. Similarly, recent decreases in overall rates were fueled by decreases in youth violence rates. Youth homicide increased mostly because of increased use of handguns, which increased the likelihood that a violent encounter would result in fatalities. The author suggests that as law enforcement tried to control youth access to guns, gun carrying and use in violent events declined.