First Monday and Every Monday
May 15, 2006

Five Iowa teens were shot to death last week in an extraordinary surge of gun violence that swept across the state. All told, three murder-suicides and an accidental shooting claimed the lives of nine Iowans in just one week.  The shooters weren’t lifelong criminals, gang members, or terrorists, but one-time spouses, parents, friends, and brothers.  These deaths paint a painfully accurate picture of the real threat from guns in Iowa – guns in the home.

On May 3rd, a 17-year-old Oskaloosa boy used a military-style assault rifle to kill his 13-year-old friend and then killed himself.  Police traced the gun back to his home. 

Just three days later in Davenport, a man was shot to death by his mentally ill ex-wife before she too turned the gun on herself. 

On May 9th, a 13-year old boy was fatally wounded when his nine-year old brother accidentally discharged their parent’s shotgun in Mediapolis, IA, north of Burlington.

One day later, in the week’s third murder-suicide a LeMars, a man used a shotgun to kill his wife and two children before killing himself. 

These incidents clearly articulate the face of gun deaths in Iowa. Most gun deaths are not the result of criminal intent by a stranger, but rather they are the result of disputes or accidents among family members, friends, and acquaintances. 

Studies have shown that guns in the home are much more likely to be used to kill a family member than an intruder. One study found that a gun kept in the home is 22 times more likely to be used in a homicide, suicide or unintentional shooting of a person living in the home than to be used in self-defense.

A gun in the home is 4 times more likely to be involved in an unintentional shooting, 7 times more likely to be used to commit a criminal assault or homicide, and 11 times more likely to be used to attempt or commit suicide than to be used in self-defense.

An analysis of gun homicides shows that three out of four murders are not crime-related.  That is they are not committed in connection with another felony such as robbery, rape, or assault.  Most gun deaths are not committed at the hand of a stranger in the heat of a crime.

The question is, what would have happened in the above incidents if the shooter hadn’t had immediate access to guns?  Gun rights advocates are quick to remind everyone that other weapons would have been available, but there are few so fatal or impersonal.  We don’t deny that without guns, these situations still could have been bad, but there’s world of difference between bad and dead. 

In order to effectively reduce gun violence in Iowa, we need to more honestly examine the source of our gun deaths.  In the end, it’s the guns that are freely and willingly brought into homes that pose the most serious threat to our families. 

Sources:

Kellerman AL, Lee RK, Mercy JA, et al. "The Epidemiological Basis for the Prevention of Firearm Injuries." Annu.Rev Public Health. 1991; 12:17-40.)