Improving how we handle gun crimes, protecting victims’ rights, and getting help for those with mental health issues are all steps we can take in the right direction to try and reduce the number of gun related crimes and victims.
Gun violence is a problem that still plagues millions of people in America every year. Even though gun rights and gun control are a sensitive and complex issue, there is very little data on the number of people dramatically affected by gun violence. That is until now. The law firm of Mickelsen Dalton LLC recently conducted a study that examines the number of adults directly connected to someone who has been a victim of gun violence.
The purpose of this study was to take a more detailed look at the scope of gun violence in America and how it affects victims and others in their community. In the study, information was requested about the number (if any) gunshot victims the respondent knew, the identity of the victim, and the circumstances of the shooting. This has helped shed some light on the rate of gun violence versus other types of shootings, like accidents. While the insight gained from the study doesn’t tell us how to fix the issue, it can help us to understand the relationship of gun violence in our everyday lives.
The Findings
First we’re going to review what the data found about people who know victims of gun violence, then we’ll explore the circumstances of those shootings. According to the study, 57% of respondents know someone who has been a victim of gun violence, with 40% reporting knowing one victim and the other 17% knowing two or more. The data shows that the number of people who know a victim of gun violence is fairly low compared to the number of violent crimes that involve guns, such as armed robbery, shooting, suicides, and mass casualty events.
One important part of the findings that is worth noting, is that among the 17% that reported knowing more than one gun violence victim, some of those respondents reported knowing upwards of three or four victims. This could point to an increase in clusters of gun violence or a more spatial relationship to gun violence.
The Causality
The report also explores the cause of the gun violence that people experience. One of the most interesting facts uncovered is that the majority of people know someone who experienced gun violence, but only 9% reported being a victim of gun violence themselves. Most reports involved a friend or loved one, with a co-worker or classmate being much less likely.
The data breaks these incidents down further. While crime was the dominant reason for gun violence, accidents and self-harm were remarkably more common than other evidence would seem to suggest. When we look at who committed the violence, the numbers were fairly evenly split between strangers and a friend or loved one.
Conclusion
While we can’t solve the gun rights debate overnight, this report has given us a great deal of insight into the causes of gun violence and the relationship of attacker to victim. What we see from this data is that gun violence is not always as simple as a person committing a crime against another with a gun; some gun violence may be related to interpersonal issues, as well as mental health issues that cause a person to commit the crime or to harm themselves.
Improving how we handle gun crimes, protecting victims’ rights, and getting help for those with mental health issues are all steps we can take in the right direction to try and reduce the number of gun related crimes and victims.
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