Unlicensed guns used in 92% of firearm deaths

[Sakobav]

Just read this article in The Tribune so posting it -- nice talking point reinforces the premise that unlicensed weapons are used majority of the time..no idea whether the organization is anti or pro guess probably anti
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110922/main8.htm
Firearms behind 12% of murders in India
UP, Bihar, Jharkhand most unsafe; unlicensed weapons used in 92% of killings
Aditi Tandon/TNS

New Delhi, September 21
The easy availability of illegal firearms made Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand witness to two-thirds of all murders committed using firearms in 2008, the latest year for which the related data is available.

India, as a whole, witnessed 4,101 gunshot murders during the period. These accounted for 12.2 per cent of the 33,727 murders reported during the year. Overall, the country lost 6,219 persons to gunshots - 66 pc of them were murdered, 26.3 pc killed accidentally while 7.7 pc committed suicide using weapons.

These and many more revealing facts form part of the India Armed Violence Assessment, a UN Information Centre and UNODC-supported first-ever study of firearm crimes in India.

Conducted by Delhi University’s Anil Kohli for the Small Arms Survey, a global project on armed violence assessment, the research reveals that most of the victims of firearm murders in India were killed using unlicensed firearms. Such arms were used in 86 to 92 per cent of all arms-related murders committed from 1999 to 2008. Further, out of 650 million civilian-owned guns in the world, 40 million were in India. Of these, just 6.3 million are licensed, thereby increasing the possibility of criminals procuring unlicensed weapons for crimes.

The availability of unlicensed weapons is particularly easy in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand which accounted for 2,559 of all 4,101 firearm murders in 2008. Uttar Pradesh alone reported 1,470 murders; six of its cities figured among the eight most unsafe mega cities in India.

Picture this - in 2008, 35 Indian mega cities together reported 791 firearm fatalities. Out of these, the maximum 263 were reported in Meerut, the most dangerous city. Others in Meerut’s league are Allahabad, Patna, Varanasi, Kanpur, Agra, Indore and Delhi.

Regionally speaking, Manipur, Nagaland, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh are among the most dangerous in terms of gunshot fatalities, with Manipur reporting 6.11 firearm deaths per one lakh population, the highest for any single state in India. The figure is 1.72 for Jammu and Kashmir and 0.70 for Chhattisgarh. These figures represent the reality of Naxal violence, closeness to international borders that facilitates smuggling and separatist violence in the North-East and J&K.

“In UP, Bihar and Jharkhand, a high rate of firearm murders not only reflects easy arms availability (Meerut and Patna, for instance, have several illegal firearm factories), it also reflects political violence, caste conflicts and Naxal attacks in which gun use is common,” Kohli said at the launch of the study on the eve of International Peace Day today.Another telling finding of the study is that deaths by gunfire halved from 12,147 in 1999 to 6,219 in 2008. Out of all deaths, surprisingly, murder-related deaths declined from 77 pc in 1999 to 66 pc now while the number of accident and suicide-related incidents went up. Between 1999 and 2008, the proportion of suicides among firearm-related deaths, however, rose from 19 to 26.3 pc so also of accidents from 4.5 to 7.7 pc.

Shocked by the drop in murder-related deaths, researchers apprehend the police might be reporting murders as suicides and accidents.

The study sourced crime-related data from the National Crime Records Bureau

[nagarifle]

at last some fresh air for PC to inhale

[Priyan]

These are the real facts unlike ones presented by anti-gunners. For me, I can remember only 2 crimes committed by licensed firearms. One is is the shootout Tucson committed by Jared Lee Loughner and the other is killing of Pramod Mahajan by his own brother. Comparing very few crimes committed with legally obtained firearms to the millions of times they are used in self-defense by law-abiding citizens one can't blame guns for causing violence.
Ah! Like those First Amendment violator Brady Campaign guys would listen to this lol

-- Thu Sep 22, 2011 9:25 am --

at last some fresh air for PC to inhale

Stuffing red chillies in the fan wasn't a good idea I guess Speaking of the amaze of fresh waters, I spend the last night in poorly ventilated rooms at DFI, now it feels fresh to come back to IFG's fresh air again

[mundaire]

Did anyone notice this line?

Shocked by the drop in murder-related deaths, researchers apprehend the police might be reporting murders as suicides and accidents.

So if firearm crime goes down, it is not acceptable to these researchers preconceived notions?

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[rraju2805]

Now, the mordan firearms avilable on low price.
9mm pistol & revolbers are avilable only 20k .
Even the local criminals use 9mm pistol.
The mordern arms are bring from Munger .
In every weak the RPF recovers illegal weapons from Jamalpur express...

[winnie_the_pooh]

1.Firearms are not behind 12% of the murders-criminals are behind these murders.This is an attempt to portray firearms as 'evil'.Something that induces people to violence.The hidden message "Firearms are bad".Or in other words to show guns as living breathing things that kill.

2.The figure of 40 million is another lie.Some fellow some years ago arrived at this figure by looking at the number of guns confiscated in a year and concluded that these represented a fraction of illegal firearms.Thereafter he multiplied the figure of guns confiscated in a year by a figure that took his fancy to reach this 40 million figure.

3.The figure of 6.5 million licensed firearms in India is again at best an estimate and the worst a lie.The govt. has not collected the figure of the actual number of licensed guns in the country.

4.The 12% figure also includes murders committed by Naxals and Terrorists.

Commission of a murder requires a strong motive or an inducement to commit the crime.Guns,knives,poison etc are just then the tools to the furtherance of this.Murder in itself fits the category of rarest of rare crimes.If this were not so,there would be complete anarchy.

The agenda is to generate alarmist figures to scare people to an extent that there is a demand to strictly control guns in private hands.This is just a step towards banning guns through regulations so strict that their ownership becomes impossible.

Time for NAGRi to write to the editor.

[Priyan]

raju,
I guess by 9mm you are referring to 9x19 Parabellum pistols. I have seen many pistols chambered in 9x19 Parabellum but never saw a revolver chambered for it. Technically .357 Magnum and .38 Special is 9mm too but unlike unlike 9mm they are considered NPB (Non Prohibited Bore
BTW the price 20k for illegal weapon is alarming, as seeing the cost of legal weapons some law-abiding citizens may become frustrated purchase illegal weapons and get in trouble someday. Also guns in hands of criminals while average Joe struggles to get one is very sad situation.
BTW I've no idea what you mean by "mordern arms" I hope you'd shed some light on it.

EDIT: Someone deleted the post I was referring to I guess, soon I'll delete it too.

[goodboy_mentor]

Time for NAGRi to write to the editor.

Not just NAGRI and not just to the editor of this newspaper. Everyone including NAGRI should write to the editor with copy to the editors of all his competitors around the country. If NAGRI has the emails of various media houses around the country, it should share them somewhere so that we all can copy them to send our emails.

It is just a clever and sinister attempt to brainwash the ignorant people by hiding the complete picture. This study is surprisingly silent on the defenselessness of 100% of the victims in their so called "research" and about 78% of murders done by various kinds of weapons(other than firearms). It is of no consolation to the victims of crime that they are being assaulted by blunt edged or sharp edged arms instead of firearms. What matters to the victims of crime is whether they have the best tools to defend themselves. Hence this self declared "research" is clearly biased and prejudiced done with preconceived notions.