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OCR Page 1 of 51YOUTH VIOLENCE IN BOSTON: GUN
MARKETS, SERIOUS YOUTH
OFFENDERS, AND A USE-REDUCTION
STRATEGY*
DAVID M. KENNEDY," ANNE M. PIEHL," AND ANTHONY A. BRAGA
I
INTRODUCTION
Since the mid-1980s, there has been a dramatic increase in youth gun
violence.¹ In most areas, juveniles and many other youth are legally prohibited
from purchasing firearms, especially handguns. As a result, many firearms
utilized in youth crimes are obtained through active and pervasive illicit gun
markets. There is currently very little being done to address these illicit
markets,² while at the same time the capacity of police departments to design
and implement creative new operational strategies (through "community" and
"problem-solving" policing) is increasing. Approaches focusing on illicit
firearms markets thus seem a logical and potentially productive strategy.
Finally, while enforcement and prevention efforts have so far paid relatively
small dividends in reducing youth gun violence, attacking illicit gun markets is
an idea which at least has not yet failed.³
Copyright © 1996 by Law and Contemporary Problems
*
The research described herein was supported under award #94-IJ-CX-0056 from the National
Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in this
document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the U.S.
Department of Justice.
Senior Researcher, Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management, John F. Kennedy
School of Government, Harvard University.
Assistant Professor, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Research A ssociate, Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management, John F. Kennedy
School of Government, Harvard University.
1. Between 1984 and 1994, juvenile (under 18) homicide victimizations committed with handguns
increased by 418%, and juvenile homicide victimizations committed with other guns increased by 125%.
During this time period, black males ages 14 through 24 have remained at approximately 1% of the
population, but have increased from 9 to 17% of homicide victims and from 17 to 30% of homicide
offenders. See JAMES A. Fox, U.S. DEP'T OF JUSTICE, TRENDS IN JUVENILE VIOLENCE: A REPORT
TO THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL ON CURRENT AND FUTURE RATES OF JUVENILE
OFFENDING (1996). From 1979 through 1989, the firearm homicide rate for persons 15 through 19 years
of age increased 61% from 6.1 to 11.1 deaths per 100,000; during the same period, the non-firearm
homicide rate decreased 29%, from 3.4 to 2.4 deaths per 100,000. Rates for black males were higher
than for any other race-sex group regardless of degree of urbanization. See Lois A. Fingerhut et al.,
Firearm and Nonfirearm Homicide Among Persons 15 Through 19 Years of Age, 267 JAMA 3048
(1992).
2. For more on these points, see David M. Kennedy, Can We Keep Guns Away From Kids?, 18
AM. PROSPECT 74, 76 (1994).
3. The idea of attacking illicit firearms markets is not a new one, although it has received little
attention relative to other gun control and gun crime reduction approaches and has been little explored
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