Andrey Kamenov, Ph.D. Probability and Statistics
The growth in gun-related crime is becoming an issue in California. The state’s firearm homicide rate had already been rising for two years in 2016, and the data for 2017 doesn’t look very bright either.
In 2017, 2,100 gun-related incidents with victims occurred in California, excluding accidental shootings. This number is the second-highest of all states, second only to Illinois.
In this year, 1,701 people were injured and another 1,113 were killed.
Number of shootings with victims in 2017 in California
As you can see in the above chart, the months of June and July are responsible for the most incidents.
Compared to the other states, shooting incidents in California tend to be more violent — 31 percent of all gun-related incidents resulted in at least one fatality (22 percent nationwide). Additionally, more incidents tend to involve police officers.
At the same time, there were fewer of both armed robberies and gun-related home invasions.
The most dreadful shooting happened on November 14 in Corning. A man who reportedly “had problems with neighbors” went on a rampage, killing five people and injuring another 12.
Another notable incident is the San Francisco UPS shooting, which happened on June 14.
The map below shows all 39 mass shootings that occurred in California in 2017.
California mass shootings in 2017
Gun violence victims per 100,000 residents
Out of the 10 largest cities in the state, Oakland has the highest gun violence rate: 225 people were injured or killed in shootings in 2017. In comparison, Los Angeles saw 205 victims in 2017, despite being nearly 10 times larger.
Source(s):
- Gun Violence Archive reports
About Andrey Kamenov
Andrey Kamenov, Ph.D. Probability and Statistics
Andrey Kamenov is a data scientist working for Advameg Inc. His background includes teaching statistics, stochastic processes and financial mathematics in Moscow State University and working for a hedge fund. His academic interests range from statistical data analysis to optimal stopping theory. Andrey also enjoys his hobbies of photography, reading and powerlifting.
Other posts by Andrey Kamenov:
It would be interesting to correlate this trend to CA legislative measures enacted that restricted gun ownership for lawful persons that took effect during, or just prior to 2017. Is the rise in law enforcement interactions a consequence of fewer confrontations with lawful persons?
In the past, there were much more gun crime in California actually.
How can gun violence be so high as California is trying to disarm their citizens? Oh, criminals don’t obey laws and they like unarmed citizens.
What’s really interesting to me is that the greatest occurrence of gun violence happens in inner-cities. In my paper I am writing, I am finding all sorts of contradictions between gun-legislation and highly dense and ethnically diverse inner-cities, versus rural and suburban areas.
Additionally, why is it that places with less gun regulation also experience high violence rates such as Alaska and Arizona?
I do not necessarily think that gun regulation unanimously equals less gun violence. I think there are other plays at work here that are not being studied enough such as mental health correlations and cultural diversity correlations.
Thanks for sharing. In 2017, Chicago had the most gun violence related incidents among all U.S. cities. Additionally, I think it’s getting increasing. these days….