Robberies
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33
34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67
68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84
85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101
102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115
In 2000, the NCVS and the UCR provided similar estimates for 157,623
firearm-related robberies in the United States—157,623 (NCVS) and
166,807 (UCR)—remarkably consistent estimates given the methodological
and coverage differences between the two data sources. For all weapon
categories besides firearms the NCVS reports higher estimates than the
UCR. The close correspondence on firearms therefore suggests that most
firearm-related robberies are reported to the police. The NCVS data indicate
that 90 percent of firearm-related robberies in 2000 were committed
with a handgun.
Figure 3-5 presents rates of robbery stratified by firearm involvement
for the years 1974 to 2000. The robbery rate rose and fell several times
before reaching its peak of 271.9 per 100,000 in 1991; the rate then decreased
by nearly half to 144.6 per 100,000 in 2000. Firearms robberies
accounted for 24 percent of the rise from 1974 to 1991 and 39 percent of
the decline from 1991 to 2000. Like the trends for aggravated assault and
in contrast to the trends for murder, the robbery rate was not much influenced
by the rates of offenses committed with firearms.
1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000
Rate per 100,000
500
400
300
200
100
0
Total
Nonfirearm
Firearm
FIGURE 3-4 Rates of aggravated assault by firearm involvement.
SOURCES: Calculated from Zawitz (2001); Maguire and Pastore (2002).