39% Drop Reported in Gunshot Wounds

The number of gunshot wounds from all types of crime fell 39% from 1993 through 1997, the Justice Department reported. The report by the department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics expanded on the widely publicized decline in gun homicides during the mid-1990s. That trend has been attributed to a drop in crack cocaine wars, the focus on illegal guns by big-city police, the aging of baby boomers past crime-prone years and longer prison sentences for violent criminals. Citing data gathered from hospital emergency departments and death certificates by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the bureau said gunshot wounds from any type of crime fell 39%, to 39,400 from 64,100, during the five-year period. Homicides involving firearms fell 27%, to 13,300 from 18,300, during the same period, the report says.