Strategies for reducing gun violence : Stratégie de rďuction de la violence armée : le rôle des gangs, de la drogue et de l'accessibilité des armes à feu

Furthermore, within the sample of individuals who did join a gang, the association with firearms was highest when the youth was active in the gang and retreated during periods of non-gang membership.2 The above finding has implications for patterns and levels of firearm violence at the community level. [...] By mapping and classifying events according to the location of the incident, the residence of the offender, and the residence of the victim, Tita and Griffiths (2005)10 find that more than one-third of all gang homicides occurred in areas where neither the victim nor offender resided. [...] The other important information to emerge from the data analysis pertains to the identification of the most violent groups, and the members within those groups with the highest likelihood of committing violent acts. [...] In addition to helping define the problem, such meetings also help in the investigation of the specific crime as it provides a forum for the participants to share information that otherwise might not have come to the attention of the lead investigator. [...] On the positive side of the ledger, Canadian gun policy should provide many more opportunities for the study of the effects of, and interdiction into, the illegal gun market.