An in-depth look at causes, cultural dynamics & prevention tactics for gun violence in Savannah
In September 2021, an 18-year-old shot a 14-year-old around 10 p.m. in the Frazier Homes complex off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Neither teen lived there. The 14-year-old died after he was transported to Memorial Health University Medical Center. The 18-year-old pled guilty to second-degree murder in October 2022 and faces the next 10 years in prison followed by five years’ probation.
Similar scenarios have played out multiple times during my two years editing the public safety beat at the Savannah Morning News – so much so that I often must remind myself which case is which and go back through the archives to keep things straight as new developments occur in investigations and as cases move through the court system.
This story should be rare, but it isn’t. Not here, and not in countless communities throughout our nation.
The kids are not all right
It used to be that cars were the most dangerous weapons in the lives of children and teens.
But between 2019 and 2021, gun-related deaths became the leading cause of death in the U.S. for those age 18 and younger. These deaths encompass those involving suicide, homicide and accidents, accounting for nearly 30% of all child-adolescent deaths — twice that of the general population, according to the New England Journal of Medicine.
And while these statistics touch all demographics, gun-related deaths have been the leading cause of death for Black children since 2006.
And if you think these stats are all about crime, think again: Close to 60% of all gun deaths result from suicide. Nearly 25,000 Americans die by gun suicide annually. A quarter of those are military veterans who served this nation.
A survey of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) childhood mortality statistics reveals that between the ages of 10 and 14, suicide accounts for 10% of deaths. Between the ages of 15 and 19, 17.5%.
Mass shootings grab the headlines: Columbine, Las Vegas, El Paso, Buffalo, Uvalde, Nashville. According to a U.S. Department of Justice study, 16 of the 20 deadliest mass shootings since 1966 occurred between 1999 and 2019. Of those 16, half took place between 2014 and 2019, the end of the study period. And those shootings have become increasingly deadly because of the use of increasingly powerful firearms, specifically the AR-15-style rifles that have proliferated since the sunset of the assault weapons ban in 2004.
However, statistics bear our that handguns purchased legally are responsible for majority of the gun violence in our community and across the nation.
‘What the devil is wrong?'
While doing research for a biography I wrote about a Miami newspaper editor, I came across an editorial cartoon in the June 5, 1968, edition of the Miami News by Pulitzer Prize-winner Don Wright. A single bullet with the words “As American as Apple Pie” written beneath it.
He drew it during the early morning hours after word trickled out of California that Sen. Robert F. Kennedy had been shot in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel following that state’s Democratic presidential primary. The accompanying editorial asked, “What the devil is wrong?”
Barely two months earlier, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. had been gunned down on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.
“We can talk of the need for tighter gun laws all day long,” reads the Miami News editorial, “but the sickness that inspires these assassins goes far beyond the needs of gun laws. It requires an examination of why that sickness broods and grows in our society.”
Fifty-five years later, we still have not found an answer as to why people settle their differences and grievances with guns or why people think there is no other solution to a temporary problem than the finality of a bullet.
Here at the Savannah Morning News, we do not possess the hubris to think we will answer that question, either, but we are willing to ask a lot more questions and dig deeper into data and conversations than we ever have.
“In the Crosshairs” represents an ongoing investigative and enterprise reporting series by Savannah Morning News, examining the impacts of gun violence on Chatham County and its municipalities. This series seeks to get beyond the rhetoric around gun violence to understand root causes, cultural dynamics, and lived experiences to ultimately arrive at practical solutions. The desire is to explore the complexities of our country's and community's relationship with guns through rigorous research and objective and transparent reporting that recognizes Second Amendment rights while also illuminating the serious impacts gun violence exacts on people, communities, law enforcement, medical providers, the economy, and the very essence of what freedom really means when people live in fear.
First up, the increased federal presence in Savannah and what that tells us about where the guns are coming from.
Federal agencies turn their attention to Savannah to combat gun violence, trafficking
Part I of the Savannah Morning News series examining the impact of gun violence on the community focuses on the increased federal law enforcement presence.
Gun recoveries suggest that Georgia is one of the key suppliers to the Iron Pipeline
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Of the guns recovered from crimes in Savannah, 11% were purchased at Welsh Pawn Shop
The ATF traced 75% of the firearms it recovered in 2022 to Georgia-based Federal Firearms Licensed (FFL) dealers. The Welsh Pawn Shop was the biggest culprit, accounting for 11% of crime guns.
ATF database shows most guns used in crimes in Savannah purchased at local gun, pawn shops
As part of the CROSSHAIRS gun violence series, a review of ATF data traced 75% of firearms recovered during Savannah-area crimes in 2022 to Georgia-based licensed gun dealers.
**Gun Violence Package**Laws
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This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Analysis of gun-related crimes, prevention efforts in Savannah, Ga.
