Guns Used in 13% of Violent Crimes in 10-Year Period

Guns were involved in 13% of the estimated 65.3 million rapes, robberies and assaults that occurred from 1973 through 1982, the Justice Department said Sunday.

The department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics also found that knives were used in 11% of the attacks, other weapons such as sticks and stones in 13% and unknown types of weapons in 2%.

In about 5% of the violent crimes by armed offenders, the bureau said, the assailant had more than one type of weapon.

The bureau found that offenders armed with guns completed 79% of all robberies attempted between 1973 and 1982, compared to a 57% completion rate by unarmed criminals.

Statistics on Rape

Nearly half of the rapes by offenders with guns were completed, it said, while only 28% of the rapes attempted by the unarmed were consummated.

The bureau’s findings, based on its National Crime Survey, did not take into account homicides because the interviews were based on victims of violent crimes. The report draws information about crime “victimizations” based on interviews conducted twice a year with about 128,000 randomly selected Americans age 12 and above.

Among the conclusions drawn from an analysis of crime victimization statistics over the 10-year period were these:

--Victims of offenders armed with guns were less likely to be injured than were the victims of offenders armed with other weapons.

Armed Assailants

--Armed assailants were responsible for an estimated 24 million violent crimes during the period, amounting to about 37% of all victimizations.

--Half of all the robberies, a third of all the assaults and a fourth of all the rapes that occurred or were attempted were committed by criminals carrying some kind of weapon.

Steven R. Schlesinger, the bureau’s director, said that the study did not seek to evaluate the effect of various gun control laws, determine the desirability of people’s arming themselves in their own defense or get into means by which people can defend themselves.