The Relationship Between Guns and Poverty

In light of the Supreme Court's recent decision to declare Washington DC's handgun ban unconstitutional, I've done some research on the issue. As opposed to arguing the effectiveness of ineffectiveness of such bans, I decided to take a more proactive approach and went looking for the cause of gun-related homicides in my home state (Michigan) at the local library. Here's what I found -

According to the "2001 Uniform Crime Report" compiled by the Michigan State Police Criminal Justice Information Center, in Michigan, among a population of 10,079,985, there were:

-661 murder offenses committed(with estimates)

• 32 offenses using a rifle
• 28 with a shotgun
• 346 with handguns
• 69 with unknown gun type

Therefore, 71.9% of homicides in Michigan were caused by firearms. However, to truly analyze this data I compared these statistics to a particular region. And so, I examined the city of Detroit, which is unfortunately known for its violence. After reading through the same Crime Report and also statistics from the US Census Bureau spanning 1999, 2000, and 2003, I found that 59% of the homicides of 2001* were committed in a city with only 9.4% of the state's population**.
Nevertheless, Detroit is also known its "other" characteristics." In addition to its gun-related infamy, Detroit often brings the image of poverty to mind as these statistics show**-

• 69.6% of Detroiters, age 25+, have a high school degree and only 11.0% have Bachelor's degrees or higher, compared to 83.4% and 21.8% of Michiganders
• Detroit's homeowner rate is 54.9% compared to the state's 73.8%
• The Median Household income is $29,526 to the state's $44,667
• The Median Value of owner-occupied housing units is $63,600 to the state's $115,600
• The percent of persons below poverty was 26.1% compared to the state's 10.5%

After reviewing all of this data, it's reasonable to say that Poverty, a lack of Education, and Gun Violence are intertwined. While the effectiveness of gun bans is still under scrutiny, the causes of most Gun Violence is known. America needs to look at their poor and uneducated intercity areas and identify the reasons behind them. For Detroit we must regain a solid base of taxpayers by getting jobs for Detroiters. Due to the mass exodus from this city following the riots and the recent recession, many remaining people are destitute. Moreover, fewer people can contribute much tax money, leaving the education system underfunded. Thus, Detroit has become a horrible cycle that entails problems like Gun Violence.

In closing - fellow Americans, we must turn our troubled inner cities into strong economic areas. Then we can see the decline of gun violence.

*"2001 Uniform Crime Report", Michigan State Police Criminal Justice Information Center.

**1999, 2000, 2003 housing, demographic, income, and population estimates from U.S. Census Bureau ,(http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/26/2622000.html).