- Gun violence
Gun violence is the broadly defined category of
violence andcrime committed with the use of afirearm ; it does not include the safe lawful use of firearms for sport, hunting, target practice, law enforcement, or actions ruled as self-defense. [http://www.mppgv.org/facts&stats_content.htm Michigan Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence: Statistics] ] Gun violence encompasses intentional crime characterized ashomicide (although not all homicide is automatically a crime) andassault with a deadly weapon , as well as unintentional injury and death resulting from the misuse of firearms, particularly bychildren andadolescents . [http://health.enotes.com/public-health-encyclopedia/gun-control Encyclopedia of Public Health: Gun Control] ]The phrase "gun violence" has been criticized as conveying policy bias, as it de-emphasizes the role of the criminal in violent attack, and instead emphasizes his chosen tool; [ [http://www.snubnose.info/wordpress/rkba/gun-violence/ "Gun Violence," Front Sight, Press; 9/24/2006] ] [ [http://www.topix.com/forum/guns/T97HQMPVNJ0BQC54B "Gun Violence," Topix; 3/3/2008] ] it is not clear, by analogy, that the discussion of traffic safety would be advanced by the term, "automobile violence." By contrast, the phrase "gun crime" is consistently used by both gun-control and gun-rights policy advocates, though with differing emphases: the former group stresses the need to remove guns from society via restrictions, while the latter group champions the need to remove criminals via increased prison terms. [ [http://www.bradycenter.org/about/ "About us," Brady Center to Prevent Violence, undated] ] [ [http://www.nraila.org/Issues/Articles/Read.aspx?id=202&issue=007 "Targeting Criminals, not Gun Owners," NRA-ILA; 8/17/06] ]
Levels of gun violence vary greatly across the
world , with very high rates inSouth Africa andColombia , as well as high levels inThailand ,Guatemala , and some other developing countries. Levels of gun violence are low inSingapore ,Chile ,New Zealand , and many other countries. The United States has the highest rates among developed countries, which some account to the loose firearm laws in the U.S. compared to other developed countries. [Cook, Philip J., Gun Violence: The Real Cost, Page 29. Oxford University Press, 2002]Homicides by country
The homicide statistics listed below are for "intentional
homicide ", which is "death deliberately inflicted on a person byanother person", [cite web |url=http://www.unodc.org/pdf/crime/seventh_survey/InstrumentE.pdf |title=Questionnaire for the Seventh United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems, covering the period 1998 - 2000 |publisher=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)] includingjustifiable homicide and criminal homicide. It should be noted that, in the US, "homicide" is a manner of death, considered separate from accident (even accident with firearm) and suicide. [ [http://co.el-dorado.ca.us/sheriff/2002%20Coroner%20Stats.pdf 2002 Manner of Death chart, Coroner's Office, El Dorado (CA) County Sheriff's Department] ] However, statistics looking at gun violence will often combine homicide, suicide, and gun accident data. For example, the CDC includes homicide, suicide, and "legal intervention" in its "Violence-related" data; [ [http://webapp.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html WISQARS Injury Mortality Reports, 1999 - 2005, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] ] other sources for statistics are often less transparent about their raw data. [ [http://www.reason.com/news/show/30225.html Henry E. Schaffer, Don Kates and William B. Waters IV: Public Health Pot Shots--How the CDC succumbed to the Gun "Epidemic." Reason Magazine] ] [ [http://www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?id=196&issue=011 Pro-Gun Groups & Anti-Gun Groups--Does Anti-Gun Researcher David Hemenway Have Something To Hide? NRA-ILA, 3/24/06] ]ee also
*
Castle Doctrine
*Duty to retreat
* Shall Issue Concealed Carry
*Gun violence in the United States References
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