MORE GUNS AND YOUNGER ASSAILANTS - A COMBINED POLICE AND TRAUMA CENTER STUDY

Objective: To test the hypothesis that guns have become the weapon of choice for assaults and that both assailants and victims have become p rogressively younger. Design: Retrospective review of trauma center an d police department data sources. Setting: Regional trauma center with university affiliation; municipal police department. Subject: Victims of assault with a deadly weapon from 3 discontiguous years. Main Outc ome Measures: Age of assailant and victim, type of injury, frequency o f blunt vs penetrating injury. Results: From June 1991 to May 1992 and June 1993 to May 1994, the incidence of penetrating trauma increased from 27% to 35% of trauma center admissions (chi(2) test; P<.001). Dur ing the period from June 1985 to May 1994, assault with a deadly weapo n increased by 220% and firearms became the most common assault mechan ism (from 32% to 54%; chi(2) test; P<.001). Assailants using guns beca me significantly younger, with the percentage of assailants aged 11 to 20 years increasing from 24% to 47% (chi(2) test; P=.001), The ages o f assault victims also decreased (P<.003), but were more evenly distri buted across age categories. Conclusions: The incidence of penetrating trauma has increased in both absolute numbers and in relative proport ion to blunt trauma. Firearms have become the weapon of choice and the single largest group of assailants are 11 to 20 years of age, The use of concurrent po lice and trauma center databases provides a more cog ent basis for developing effective violence prevention strategies.