Gun Deaths of Children Rise

While gun-related deaths in Los Angeles County dropped 14% in 1997, the number of children under the age of 10 who died by gunfire doubled to 10, according to a detailed survey of gun violence released Wednesday by a pro-gun-control organization.

The survey, compiled by the Los Angeles-based Women Against Gun Violence, found that six of those children were caught in gang cross-fire as they went about innocent pursuits: playing at home, joining youth sports programs, riding on their father’s shoulders.

The other four were killed by their own fathers who then committed suicide, the report found.

“Although gun deaths are down, for children, particularly, the numbers are still staggering,” said the group’s chairwoman, Ann Reiss Lane, a former commissioner for the Los Angeles police and fire departments. “It’s outrageous the number of children who are killed.”

A total of 864 Los Angeles County residents were killed by guns in 1997, and 334 more shot themselves to death--in all, more than three gun-related deaths per day, according to the report. Five of the deaths were accidental.

Women Against Gun Violence issued the report--a repeat of a study it first made last year--as part of its campaign in favor of legislation to ban the sale of inexpensive handguns and assault rifles and to require trigger locks on every gun.

The study, compiled from various public records, including death certificates filed with the county Department of Health Services, came out the same day that key legislative committees in Sacramento endorsed a bill to ban the sale and manufacture of inexpensive guns, known as Saturday night specials, and legislation to strengthen a ban on the sale of assault rifles.

Lane noted that two of the slain children under 10 were killed by a 9-millimeter Bryco 59--a Saturday night special--and one was killed with an assault rifle, a MAC 90.

Other findings from 1997:

* One of every six gunshot victims in the county--187 in all--was 18 years or younger. The report listed each victim by name.

* Each of the county’s 236 ZIP Codes lost at least one resident to a gun-related homicide, suicide or accidental shooting.

* A disproportionate number of victims of homicides were concentrated in a small number of southern Los Angeles ZIP Codes. Twenty ZIP Codes--fewer than 10% of the total--accounted for 35% of the deaths by homicides.

* The greatest number of deaths were among Latinos, but African American residents died in gun violence at more than twice their rate of the population. Latinos, who represent 42% of the county’s population, accounted for 44% of the gun deaths. African Americans, who represent about 10% of the county’s population, accounted for 25% of the gun deaths.

* The rate of gun homicides among African American males ages 20 to 24 was more than 10 times that of whites and more than twice that of Latinos.

* Nearly 91% of all the county’s gunshot victims were men.

* Los Angeles County males under the age of 19 cqdied in firearm homicides at nearly 3 1/2 times the rate of the county’s overall population.

* More than twice as many white residents committed suicide with guns than were killed in gun-related homicides.

In recent years, experts have charted a decrease in violent crime, attributing it to causes ranging from an aging population to tougher sentencing laws and improving economic conditions. Lane and other leaders of Women Against Gun Violence attribute the drop in part to new local restrictions on ammunition sales and tougher record-keeping requirements for gun dealers. But they say the increase in shooting deaths among children under 10 shows that more restrictions are needed.

Susan Shaw, the group’s executive director, said the report was intended to portray the human toll of gun violence and pressure lawmakers to favor the group’s causes.

“We are putting a human face on gun deaths in Los Angeles County,” she said. “We are saying these are our neighbors.”

Luis Tolley, western director of Handgun Control Inc., a national group led by former presidential press secretary James Brady and his wife, Sarah, lauded the effort. But a spokesman for the most influential gun owners group in the nation dismissed the significance of the report.

Paul Blackman, research coordinator for the National Rifle Assn., said Women Against Gun Violence should concentrate on eliminating the causes of crime--such as poverty and unemployment--instead of trying to make an emotional appeal to impose new restrictions on gun ownership.

“Putting a face on something, you can do that with any unpleasantness in society but it doesn’t solve it,” he said. “You can put a human face on AIDS victims, but it doesn’t solve it.”

He said the drop in gun deaths was the result of the national drop in crime and an increase in gun safety training.

Shaw countered that the report draws attention by demonstrating the broad reach of gun violence. Of the 10 slain children under the age of 10, two were African American, two were white and six were Latino, she said.

“Gun violence in Los Angeles County has no boundaries,” Shaw said. “It’s all ages; it’s all genders.”

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The Deadliest Addresses

Shows below are Los Angeles County ZIP codes with the highest number of residents killed by gunfire in 1997. Here are the 20 worst ZIP codes--fewer than 10% of the county’s 236 ZIP codes--accounted for 35% of the gun-related homicides.

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Rank ZIP code Community Deaths 1. 90044 South-Central L.A.-Athens 24 2. 90220 South Compton and Rancho Dominguez 24 3. 90221 East Compton and Southeast Rancho Dominguez 24 4. 90262 Lynwood 21 5. 90011 South-Central* 20 6. 90059 South-Central L.A., Watts and Willowbrook 20 7. 90201 Bell, Bell Gardens and Cudahy 19 8. 91766 South Pomona 17 9. 90047 South-Central* 15 10. 90250 Hawthorne 14 11. 90222 North Compton and Willowbrook 12 12. 90813 South Long Beach 12 13. 90660 Pico Rivera 11 14. 90805 North Long Beach 11 15. 90255 Huntington Park 11 16. 90019 Mid-City L.A. 11 17. 90062 Southeast L.A.* 11 18. 90063 East L.A., City Terrace 10 19. 90001 Florence-Firestone 10 20. 90061 South L.A.* 10

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*5. Bound by Washington Boulevard, Slauson and Long Beach avenues and Main Street; 9. Bound by Slauson, Normandie and Van Ness avenues and El Segundo Boulevard; 17. Bound by Normandie, Slauson and Van Ness avenues and Exposition Boulevard; 20. Bound by Rosecrans Avenue, Avalon Boulevard, Figueroa and 108th streets.

Source: Women Against Gun Violence

10 Under 10

The youngest victims of gun violence in Los Angeles County in 1997.

Jesse Velasquez, 6, and his sister Vanessa, 2, were both killed by their father Jan. 10 in Northeast Los Angeles before he committed suicide. He used a 9-millimeter semiautomatic Bryco 59.

Alexandra and Daniel Brand Billick, 18-month-old twins, were killed by their father Feb. 23 in West Los Angeles before he committed suicide. He used a 9-millimeter semiautomatic Browning.

Priscilla Monique Gutierrez, 3, was killed March 14 in gang cross-fire as she sat in her family’s car between Carson and Gardena. The type of handgun used is unknown.

Celeste Elizabeth Reyes, 3, was killed May 9 in gang cross-fire as she played in her living room in Rancho Dominguez. She was killed with a 45-caliber rifle.

Erick Rodolfo Jimenez, 2, was killed July 26 in gang cross-fire as he rode on his father’s shoulders in Inglewood. He was killed with a 9-millimeter semiautomatic Browning.

Selwyn Bernard Leflore Jr., 9, was killed Oct. 6 in gang cross-fire as he waited to catch a bus in Compton. He was shot with a .357 Magnum revolver.

Evan Leigh Foster, 7, was killed Dec. 8 in gang cross-fire after signing up for youth basketball in Inglewood. He was killed by a Mac 90.

Karina Gomez, 6, was killed Dec. 30 in gang cross-fire as she sat in her father’s car in Hollywood. The type of handgun used is unknown.