Overall crime in the United States has been . But the same cannot be said for gun violence, which has seen a in recent years. A found that uptick has been led by an increase in homicides of young people 鈥� particularly of young black and Hispanic men.
Gun Violence Is A 鈥楥omplicated Problem鈥�
Researchers at Boston University, led by Dr. Bindu Kalesan, looked at national gun violence data from 1999 to 2016. From 1999 to 2014, gun violence rates stayed steady. But after 2014, there were increases in rates of both fatal and non-fatal firearm related injuries.
The research showed many differences in how gun violence affected communities. For example, the rates of suicide were high for white men, .
Kalesan believes the problem of gun violence is a complicated one and can鈥檛 be solved with sweeping legislation.
She says it鈥檚 key we 鈥渦nderstand the communities and provide interventions, which are specific for that community,鈥� Kalesan said, 鈥渞ather than passing some strange law like a
A Patchwork Of Laws
Kalesan found that even in states that had passed gun control legislation, mortality rates kept rising. She believes this is partially due to a lack of community resources but also because states across the country have different gun control laws.
鈥淲e need something at the national level 鈥� the federal level 鈥� which is very restrictive to be able to make anything effective in any state,鈥� Kalesan said. 鈥淎nd we haven鈥檛 done that yet!鈥�
Kalesan argues that a law like a would address some of the problems that affect homicide rates and the trafficking of illegal guns. But without it, background checks in states don鈥檛 make much of a difference to homicide rates because guns can be trafficked from states with less restrictive gun laws into states with more restrictive laws.
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