Despite reductions in crime and gun violence, people who receive housing assistance remain twice as likely to be victims of gun violence. Nearly one person is killed each day by gunfire in the nation s largest 100 public housing communities. More than 2.6 million residents live in public and assisted housing, including one million children and 360,000 elderly residents. Despite this progress, in 1998, there were an estimated 360 gun-related homicides, an average of nearly one per day, in the nation s 100 largest public housing authorities.
Persons receiving housing assistance are over twice as likely to be victims of gun violence.
Based on data from the National Crime Victimization Survey, the report shows that between 1995 and 1997, the rate of victimization for residents of public and assisted housing was 10 per 1,000 persons, as compared to 4 per 1,000 for persons not receiving housing assistance. Gun violence poses a threat to public housing residents in cities of all sizes, with the highest gun violence rates for those in mid-sized metropolitan areas. The damage imposed by gun violence goes beyond the lives lost and injuries inflicted. In large public housing communities, one in five residents reported feeling unsafe in their neighborhood, a higher rate than the general population. The President will highlight additional proposals to keep guns out of the wrong hands, including the Administration s proposal to create a state-based licensing system for all handgun purchasers to ensure that all buyers have passed a background check and know how to safely handle and store their gun.