Report: Louisiana has 3rd highest firearm homicide rate
9th March 2020 · 0 Comments
By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer
A new report published by the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, titled “Gun Violence in America: An Analysis of 2018 CDC Data,” revealed that Louisiana had the third highest firearm homicide rate in the country in 2018.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Louisiana saw 497 firearm homicides (11.16 per 100,000 people) and 467 suicides by firearm in 2018. These numbers include 92 total children and teens.
The per capita numbers in the New Orleans area were worse, as it ranked 5th out of all parishes/counties in the United States for firearm homicides. The CDC reported 106 homicides by firearm in Orleans Parish in 2018, a rate of 27.72 per 100,000 people. Black men accounted for 86 of the deaths. Orleans Parish had the 10th highest overall gun death rate among all American parishes/counties (132 deaths, 33.96 per 100,000).
In Jefferson Parish in 2018, there were 37 total homicides by firearm, a rate of 9.26 per 100,000 people. Black men accounted for 25 of the deaths.
The nationwide 2018 numbers indicated a slight decrease in overall firearm deaths for the first time since 2014. However, Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, does not feel this is enough.
“While overall firearm homicide deaths decreased, the data continues to show the epidemic of firearm homicide,” Horwitz said in a press release. “This is especially true within communities of color. Black males ages 20-34 are 17 times more likely to die from firearm homicide than white males of the same age…Officials at all levels of government should commit to addressing firearm homicide by investing in and providing resources for violence intervention programs and funding to combat deep-seated social inequities.”
Among women, Black women ages 20-34 had a firearm homicide rate more than 5.5 times higher than their white female counterparts.
While firearm homicides are down, suicides by firearm reached a record high of 24,432 in 2018. It’s an average of 67 Americans a day, more than the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Louisiana had the 21st highest firearm suicide rate in the country in 2018 (467, including 19 children and teens). Sixty-four percent of all suicides in the states were by firearm.
“This number (24,432) is more than twice the number of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities we saw in 2018, but firearm suicide does not receive the same amount of attention to prevention strategies,” said Dakota Jablon, director of federal affairs for the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence. “Firearm suicide is preventable. Our elected officials must act to address this disturbing upward trend by passing evidence-based policies like Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) laws in every state.”
An ERPO is also known as a red flag law. It would permit police or family members to petition a state court for the temporary removal of firearms from a person who may be a danger to themselves or others. A judge must make the determination based on statements and actions by the gun owner. Refusal to comply would be a criminal offense. After a certain amount of time, the firearms would be returned to the owner unless the order is extended.
Jablon noted that a measure like ERPOs might work well for suicides but not be as successful for homicides.
“A lot of people, especially policy makers, want that one special fix…For homicides, there isn’t one quick solution,” Jablon said. “There are a lot of root factors contributing to homicides.”
Jablon said added green space in neighborhoods, more employment opportunities, and cognitive behavioral therapy can reduce homicide rates.
Another measure Jablon feels can help is licensing laws, also known as “permit to purchase” laws. There, people who want to own guns essentially have to apply for a license to own one. She said the waiting period alone will help reduce suicides, as some people will reconsider their decision to end their lives if they have to think about it.
Jablon said Missouri enacted one of these laws and saw a 14 percent reduction of firearm homicides in large urban counties. When the law was overturned, there was a 25 percent increase in firearm homicide rates the following year.
LaTonya Norton, press secretary for New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell, said the administration is taking steps to reduce gun violence. The mayor announced a Generational Gun Violence Reduction Plan in fall 2019 with a three-part strategy. The first was to create a body responsible for identifying those at risk, partnering with nonprofits to deliver interventions, and evaluating those interventions.
Two interventions have been piloted with the Mayor’s Office of Youth and Families. The Summer Success program targeted youths who had been arrested three or more times in 18 months and offered them paid summer jobs. Only four percent of participants were re-arrested during the course of the five-week program.
The second intervention is a partnership with the Center for Employment Opportunities to offer transitional employment opportunities for recently incarcerated individuals. Over 40 individuals have been served in four months.
Norton said elements listed in the mayor’s plan will be rolled out in the coming year to continue the fight against firearm violence.
“One murder is too many,” Norton said.
The CDC’s report is available for download online at http://efsgv.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Gun-Violence-in-America_An-Analysis-of-2018-CDC-Data_February-2020.pdf.
This article originally published in the March 9, 2020 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
