Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
From: [r--s] at [cbnewsc.cb.att.com] (Morris the Cat)
Subject: Guns in home increase homicides three-fold
Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1993 21:29:56 GMT

Reposted with permission.
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From: [c--i--s] at [clarinet.com] (KAREN KLINGER, UPI Science Writer)
Newsgroups: clari.tw.health,clari.news.issues,clari.news.issues.family
Subject: Guns in home increase homicides three-fold
Date: 6 Oct 93 18:21:21 GMT

	BOSTON (UPI) -- Rather than offering protection, the presence of a gun
in a home boosts the chance of a homicide happening by nearly three
times, researchers said Wednesday.
	``When guns are present, the risk to a family is increased, rather
than decreased,'' said Dr. Arthur Kellermann of Emory University in
Atlanta, who led a study comparing homicide rates in households with,
and without, firearms.
	Investigators found that one-quarter of all homicides took place in
the victim's home. Three-quarter of victims were spouses, relatives or
close friends of the killer, rather than strangers, they said.
	``Many people say they keep guns to protect themselves against
intruders. But those types of cases happen only rarely,'' said
Kellermann, whose report appeared in The New England Journal of
Medicine.
	In addition to guns, researchers said factors that increase domestic
homicide rates include the use of alcohol and illicit drugs, and a
history of violence within the home.
	``Guns make it easier for people who are angry, or drunk, to kill
someone. You might think that if guns are not available, would-be
murderers simply substitute other weapons. But we did not find that to
be true,'' said Kellermann.
	He and co-researchers studied all homicides occurring in a victim's
home over a five-year period in the counties where Seattle and Memphis,
Tennessee, are located. They also looked at homicides that happened over
2 1/2 years in homes in and around Cleveland.
	When they compared 388 households where homicides had taken place to
an equal number in the same neighborhoods, they found that guns and
domestic violence often constituted a lethal combination.
	``Efforts to increase home security have largely focused on
preventing unwanted entry, but the greatest threat to the lives of
household members appears to come from within,'' they concluded.
	Kellermann, who launched the study when he was at the University of
Tennessee in Memphis, said gun control foes ``often say that 'Guns don't
kill people -- people do.' But we're saying it is really people with guns
who kill people.''
	Although the study included all types of firearms, Kellermann said 
``shotguns and rifle were much less of a problem than handguns. In the
United States, handguns make up only 30 percent of all guns, but account
for 80 percent of homicides.''
	He said he hoped the findings would encourage Congress and state
legislatures to pass more stringent gun control measures. But he
acknowleged that the report is likely to generate controversy.
	``I certainly don't expect the research director of the National
Rifle Association to stand up and say, 'Gee, I guess you're right,' ''
he said.
	In an accompanying editorial, journal editor Dr. Jerome Kassirer
called the Brady bill, which would require Congress to mandate a five-
day waiting period for purchase of a gun, a ``reasonable beginning'' to
efforts to exert greater control over guns in the United States.