Researchers across California are concerned as aggravated assaults continue to rise, driven by what they say is an increase in crimes involving guns.
Although some kinds of violent crime — including rape and homicide — are trending down, aggravated assault numbers are up, outpacing the nationwide average, according to data from the FBI.
From 2013 to 2022, aggravated assaults using firearms in Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties nearly doubled, with more than 14,000 crimes reported, according to the California Department of Justice.
“When we consider where the biggest increases are, it’s in instances that involve firearms and guns,” said Magnus Lofstrom, policy director at the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonprofit think tank. “Guns are a major part of the story here, but we don’t know to what extent it’s driving that increase.”
Fully piecing together what has led to this trend will take several years, researchers say.
The pandemic is a likely culprit, according to Steve Lindley, a senior program manager at Brady, a nonprofit organization focused on gun violence prevention.
“Like a lot of states, California saw a large increase in purchases of firearms because people were frenetically scared of the end of the world,” Lindley said. “When people get scared, they arm themselves, especially in the United States.”
California Department of Justice data shows:
- In 2022, 73% of homicides involved the use of a firearm, up by more than 20% since 2017.
- In Southern California, aggravated assaults have increased by 22% since 2019, and the share of aggravated assaults involving firearms went up by 52% including increases in Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, and Los Angeles counties. In 2022, 24% of all aggravated assaults in Southern California involved the use of a gun.
- From 2016 to 2021, 49% of all fatal and non-fatal gunshot injuries stemmed from assaults. The rest were the result of suicide,…
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