39,595 -- 15.4 gun
deaths per 100,000 people -- in 1993, to 32,436_ 12.1 per 100,000 -- in 1997.
The rate "is the lowest it's been since the mid-60s," said J. Lee Annest, a
CDC statistician. "This progress is really encouraging and really says that
joint prevention efforts of public health officials, legislators and law
enforcement should continue."
The drop was not unexpected: Homicide rates in the 1990s have fallen to
levels not seen since the 1960s, and about two-thirds of all homicides are
committed with guns. But the latest figures also include suicides and accidental
deaths.
Moreover, nonfatal shootings fell from 104,390 to 64,207 in the same period,
or from 40.5 per 100,000 to 24.0.
Bill Manown, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association, said the numbers
prove that more gun laws aren't needed; the laws on the books need to be
enforced.
"It is a fact that this substantial drop in gun violence directly correlated
to a big increase in gun enforcement by police," said Lawrence Sherman, a
University of Pennsylvania professor who has studied gun policy. "Police were
not treating guns in a preventive sense prior to 1993, and now they are."
Some experts also credit a strong economy that has helped reduce overall
crime and suicide attempts. Margaret Zahn, a North Carolina State University
criminology professor, said prosperity has also allowed governments to spend
more on services that prevent gun violence, such as domestic-violence shelters
and youth recreation programs.
The CDC also listed such possible factors as an aging population, increased
gun safety measures and the waning of the crack trade.
Gun control advocates said they are encouraged but pointed out that even so,
an average of 265 people a day were shot in 1997.
"People shouldn't be satisfied," said Nancy Hwa, spokeswoman for Handgun
Control and the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. "Everybody is still at risk,
and the presence of guns should still be a major concern."