gun crime

What is gun crime?

Gun crime includes any offence that involves the use of a gun or other firearm.
This includes:

• a murder where the victim was shot
• any situation where a gun was fired, even if nobody was injured
• any robbery or burglary where the thieves carried a gun
• any case in which people were intimidated with a weapon
• anybody found carrying a banned gun, such as a handgun
• anyone found carrying or using an imitation gun

Gun violence defined literally means the use of a firearm to threaten or inflict violence or harm. Gun violence may be broadly defined as a category of violence and crime committed with the use of a firearm; it may or may not include actions ruled as self-defense, actions for law enforcement, or the safe lawful use of firearms for sport, hunting, and target practice. Gun violence encompasses intentional crime characterized as homicide (although not all homicide is automatically a crime) and assault with a deadly weapon, as well as unintentional injury and death resulting from the misuse of firearms, sometimes by children and adolescents.Gun violence statistics also may include self-inflicted gunshot wounds (both suicide, attempted suicide and suicide/homicide combinations sometimes seen within families).
The phrase "gun crime" is consistently used by both gun-control and gun-rights policy advocates, with differing emphases: the former group advocates reducing gun violence by enacting and enforcing "sensible regulations" on guns, while the latter group advocates controlling criminals via increased prison terms or other methods.
Levels of gun violence vary greatly across the world, with very high rates in South Africa and Colombia, as well as high levels in Thailand, Guatemala, and some other developing countries. Levels of gun violence are low in Singapore, Chile, New Zealand, and many other countries. The United States has the highest rate among developed countries.