The costs of gun violence against children

Future of Children

Volumn 12, Issue 2, 2002, Pages 87-99

  Cook, Philip J ^a   Ludwig, Jens ^b,c  

^a DUKE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c BROOKINGS INSTITUTION   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ACCIDENT; CHILD; CHILD CARE; COST EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS; CRIME; DECISION MAKING; FEAR; FREEDOM; GUNSHOT INJURY; HEALTH CARE COST; HEALTH SURVEY; HUMAN; PUBLIC HEALTH; QUALITY OF LIFE; RACE; REVIEW; RISK FACTOR; SAFETY; SOCIOECONOMICS; TAX; THREAT; UNITED STATES; VICTIM; VIOLENCE; ADOLESCENT; ADULT; ARTICLE; CHILD WELFARE; COST; ECONOMICS; FEMALE; FIREARM; INFANT; MALE; MORTALITY; NEWBORN; PRESCHOOL CHILD;

ADOLESCENT; ADULT; CHILD; CHILD WELFARE; CHILD, PRESCHOOL; COSTS AND COST ANALYSIS; FEMALE; FIREARMS; HUMANS; INFANT; INFANT, NEWBORN; MALE; QUALITY OF LIFE; UNITED STATES; VIOLENCE; WOUNDS, GUNSHOT;

EID: 0036598196     PISSN: 10548289     EISSN: 15501558     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/1602740     Document Type: Review

References (39)

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7. This estimate comes from self-reported victimization reports to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which suggests almost three million crimes of violence against people ages 12 to 20. The actual number of violent crimes is higher than three million because some children under age 12 are victimized but are not included in the NCVS sampling frame, and the youth who are at greatest risk for criminal victimization appear to be underrepresented in the NCVS sample. See Cook, P.J. The case of the missing victims: Gunshot woundings in the National Crime Survey. Journal of Quantitative Criminology (March 1985) 1 (1):91-102.
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10. The "instrumentality" effect has been debated for both homicide and suicide, on the grounds that the high case-fatality rates for gun violence simply indicate seriousness of purpose, and that those perpetrators would have found another way to kill if they had not had access to a gun. However, the evidence is very strong that the type of weapon has an independent, causal effect on the outcome for both assault and suicide. See Zimring, F.E. Is gun control likely to reduce violent killings? University of Chicago Law Review (1968) 35:21-37;
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16. To see how this figure is derived, consider the effects of an intervention that results in 100 fewer gunshot injuries. Previous studies suggest that, on average, every 100 assault-related gunshot injuries will result in 20 deaths. To be conservative, assume that all of the 100 gunshot injuries that are prevented are replaced by 100 nongun injuries, of which approximately 7 will be fatal. See Cook, P.J., and Leitzel, J. Perversity, futility, jeopardy: An economic analysis of the attack on gun control. Law and Contemporary Problems (Winter 1996) 59(1):91-118.
17. The savings to the criminal justice system from eliminating 100 gunshot injuries equal the difference between the criminal justice costs of 13 homicide cases (13 times $243,960 = $3.2 million) and the costs of 13 nonfatal aggravated assaults (13 times $6,200 = $80,600). The costs associated with all gunshot injuries thus equal the costs per injury ($31,000) times the number of crime-related gunshot injuries, equal to around 78,000 in 1997. See note no. 5, Cook and Ludwig, pp. 86-87.
18. The Head Start program, administered by the Head Start Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, was appropriated $6.2 billion during the 2001 federal fiscal year. See White House Office of Management and Budget. Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2002. Appendix. Washington, DC: OMB, 2001, p. 470. Downloaded from http://www.whitehouse.gov/ omb/budget/fy2002/hhs.pdf on November 12, 2001.
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38. The authors' contingent valuation estimates suggest that the costs to society are on the order of $1 million per crime-related gunshot injury. Thus, if every group of 10,000 guns sold with personalized technology prevents one shooting, the personalization technology will be cost effective so long as it costs no more than $100 per gun ($1 million/10,000 units).
39. Roth, J.A., and Koper, C.S. Impact evaluation of the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act of 1994. Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 1997.