How to use site:

Welcome to GVPedia, a project created to provide ready access to academic research and high quality data on gun violence. GVPedia is currently comprised of two main features:

The Study Database

The Database is a compendium of more than 700 academic studies analyzing a wide range of gun violence subjects. This collection of research can be searched by topic, author, journal, and year of publication. Each study is accompanied by an abstract, and hundreds of studies have the full text available for you to read.

GVP University

GVP University is an ever growing collection of white papers and fact sheets that will eventually cover every major topic in gun violence. Each white paper succinctly summarizes critical information on a subject, and each fact sheet highlights 5 salient facts. Combined, each white paper and fact sheet duo provide a jumping-off point to then explore each topic in greater detail with our Study Database.

White Paper: Gun Ownership and Homicide

By: GVP Admin | Posted on: Categories Guns and Homicide

  • There were 14,415 firearm homicides in the US in 2016
  • Firearms make violent crime more lethal
  • The US has significantly higher rates of homicide than other developed nations
  • High gun ownership states have significantly higher firearm and overall homicide rates
  • The presence of firearms increases the non-stranger homicide rate, but not the stranger homicide rate
  • Police officers are at greater danger of homicide in states with higher gun ownership

 

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White Paper: The Frequency of Defensive Gun Use

By: GVP Admin | Posted on: Categories Defensive Gun Use

  • There are 3 major estimates of Defensive Gun Use (DGU) frequency per year:
    • Gary Kleck and private surveys: approximately 2.5 million.
    • National Crime Victimization Survey: approximately 100,000.
    • Gun Violence Archive (based on police and media reports): less than 2,000.
  • Surveys of rare events such as DGUs exaggerate their frequency due to false positives.
  • While methodologically better, the NCVS estimate also suffers from false positives and is therefore likely an overestimate as well.
  • Several of the crime predictions from Kleck’s survey are mathematically impossible, such as DGUs during burglaries and criminals being shot.
  • Comprehensive empirical data (such as GVA’s) trumps survey data when they provide conflicting results.

 

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