• Between 1979 and 1991, firearms killed 40,000 youngsters between the ages of 15 and 19 years. (1)
  
  
• While the young are committing violent crimes at a rate similar to ten years ago, the violence has intensified and is causing more deaths. (2)
  
  
• From 1986 to 1991, the juvenile violent crime arrest rates for youths from 10 to 17 years-rose 48 percent. In 1991, 130,000 young people were arrested for rape, robbery, homicide or aggravated assault. That's 42,000 more than in 1986. (3)
  
  
• Firearm deaths among teenagers 15 to 19 rose 77 percent between 1985 and 1990 while the firearm murder rate for African American teenaged boys nearly tripled. (4)
  
  
• Youth in the United States are being killed in record numbers. Teenage boys in all racial and ethnic groups are more likely to die from gunshot wounds than from all natural deaths combined. Perhaps the single most important impact on youth violence and murder has been the increased availability of firearms. (5)
  
  
• African American males between 16 and 19 years of age face a huge risk of death by murder in comparison with African American females. African American males in this age group are killed at the rate of 54.3 per 100,000 while African American females in this age group are killed at the rate of 12.6 per 100,000. (6)
  
  
• Teenagers are the group most often victimized by crime in the US. Although teens aged 14 to 19 comprise just 14 percent of the population aged 12 and over, they are the victims in three out of ten violent crimes and one out of four thefts. (7)
  
  
• There was a 79 percent increase in the number of 10 to 17 year olds who used guns to kill between 1980 and 1990.(8)
  
  
• Juveniles now account for a very high and growing share of homicide offenders and victims. The number of juvenile arrests for murder and non-negligent manslaughter rose 93 percent between 1982 and 1991. During a similar period, the arrests of adults for the same offenses rose just 11 percent. (9)
  
  
• Juvenile arrests for violent crimes rose five percent in 1992 but declined 1 percent in 1993. (10)
  
  
• The main reason given by adolescents for obtaining or carrying guns is self-protection. Research suggests that this explanation is an oversimplification. Additional motivational factors for carrying a gun include involvement in delinquent activities, such as drug dealing, and a propensity for aggressive behavior. (11)
  
  

(1-3) Kids Count Data Book. Annie E. Casey Foundation. Greenwich, CT, 1994.

(4) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Department of Health and Human Services, 1993.

(5) Images and Reality. National Center on Crime and Delinquency. San Francisco, CA, 1994.

(6-7) Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice, 1991.

(9) The State of America's Children Yearbook 1994, Children's Defense Fund, Washington, DC.

(10) Federal Bureau of Investigation. Crime in the United States 1992 and 1993, Uniform Crime Reports. US Department of Justice, 1993 and 1994.

(11) Webster, D.W., Gainer, P.S., and Champion, H.R. (1993). Weapon Carrying Among Inner-City Junior High School Students: Defensive Behavior Versus Aggressive Delinquency. American Journal of Public Health, 83, 1604 - 1608.