State report highlights gun crime in the High Desert

Rene Ray De La Cruz, Victorville Daily Press
·6 min read
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Victorville has the fifth-highest number of seized untraceable guns in California, a recent crime data survey found.

The findings come from California Department of Justice's first annual Crime Gun in California Report. The report provides insights on patterns and trends relating to recovered firearms that have been illegally possessed, used in a crime, or suspected to have been used in a crime.

The report was part of the state's annual Homicide in California, Crime in California, Use of Force Incident Reporting, and Juvenile Justice in California statistic reports.

“Having access to good data is a cornerstone of responsible public policy. The data released today is essential for understanding, preventing, and combating crime,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said on June 30. “In 2022, California made significant progress towards reducing its homicide rates, but more remains to be done.”

Crime guns in the High Desert

A “crime gun,” as defined in the report, is a firearm that was recovered by a law enforcement agency after it was used in a crime, suspected to have been used in a crime, or illegally possessed.

The DOJ reviewed all crime gun data submitted to the agency between Jan. 1, 2010, and Dec. 31, 2022.

The agency identified 39,945 crime guns without serial numbers across 813 cities.

Over the past decade, California experienced a significant increase in the number of crimes committed using untraceable guns. In 2022, there was a 7% drop in crimes committed using guns without serial numbers, the first decrease recorded since 2013.

The cities with the highest crimes committed using untraceable guns were Los Angeles with 4,968, or 12.44%, San Diego with 1,562, or 3.91%, San Francisco with 1,132, or 2.83%, Sacramento with 1,088 or 2.72%, and Victorville with 923 or 2.31%.

The number of guns without serial numbers in Victorville relative to the population is 10 per 1,000 people, far higher than almost any city, according to the report.

The top 10 cities account for roughly one-third of crime guns without serial numbers, 33.73%. Consistent with the county-level statistics, Los Angeles contained 10% of untraceable crime guns, three times that of San Diego, the next highest city on the list.

Crime gun data estimates show Victorville with 923 untraceable guns and 6.94 crimes committed per 1,000 people, Phelan 127 firearms and 6.83, Barstow 147 and 5.85, Apple Valley 286 and 3.77, Hesperia 356 firearms and 3.59, and Adelanto 143 and 3.84.

City crime gun data estimates show Victorville with 2,958 gun crimes with 22.25 committed per 1,000 people, Hesperia 1,185 with 11.94, Barstow 915 with 36.42, Adelanto 469 with 12.60, Phelan 1903 with 354 and Apple Valley 876 with 11.54.

Crime guns in San Bernardino County

Los Angeles County, the most populous in the state, reported the most crime guns with 140,799. San Bernardino County recorded the second-highest number of crime guns with 33,518.

Counties with higher populations tended to have higher numbers of crime guns, according to the DOJ.

Sacramento recorded 24,953, San Diego, with 22,076 and Riverside with 20,536. These five counties accounted for 59.81% of all California crime guns in 2022.

The counties with the fewest number of crime guns are Del Norte with two, Alpine with 16, Sierra with 18, Inyo with 22 and Modoc with 24.

Crime guns were recovered by law enforcement in all 58 California counties.

A look at California's gun crime

Approximately 545,946 unique crime guns with identifiable serial numbers were recovered by law enforcement agencies in California and entered into the Automated Firearm System between Jan. 1, 2010, and Dec. 31, 2022.

Roughly 85,402 crime guns were entered without any recorded serial number over this period.

Of the serialized crime guns entered, 76,135 (13.94%) were traced back to 1,929 California firearm dealers.

While all the identified dealers sold or transferred at least one firearm that was later recovered as a crime gun, 344 dealers were associated with only one crime gun and 82 dealers were associated with roughly half of all crime guns (38,230 firearms).

On average, each licensed dealer sold or transferred 39 firearms that were later identified as a crime gun. The highest number of crime guns associated with one dealer was 1,652.

The manufacturers associated with the most crime gun records included:

  • Smith & Wesson

  • Glock

  • Sturm

  • Ruger, & Co.

  • Taurus Forjas

  • Remington

Statewide homicides decline

Despite having a gun death rate significantly below the national average, gun violence accounted for nearly three-fourths of all California homicides in 2022, which is "unacceptable," Bonta said.

The homicide rate, the number of homicides per 100,000 people in the state, decreased by 5% in 2022 (from 6 per 100,000 in 2021 to 5.7 per 100,000 in 2022), which remains below California’s historical high of 12.9 per 100,000 in 1993.

The number of homicides in 2022 remains roughly half of the number of homicides in 1993, despite the population swelling from 31 million in 1993 to more than 39 million in 2022.

Additionally, there was a 4.2% decrease in total homicide arrests from 1,550 in 2021 to 1,485 in 2022.

Firearms continue to be the most common weapon used in homicides. In 2022, 73.6% of California homicides involved a firearm.

The scope of crime in California

The crime report presents statewide statistics for reported crimes, arrests, dispositions of adult felony arrests, adult probation, criminal justice personnel, civilians’ complaints against peace officers, domestic violence-related calls for assistance, anti-reproductive-rights crimes, and law enforcement officers killed or assaulted.

Some of the key findings include:

  • The violent crime rate — the number of violent crimes per 100,000 people — increased 6.1% from 466.2 in 2021 to 494.6 in 2022, remaining significantly below California’s historical high of 1,103.9 in 1992.

  • The property crime rate increased 6.2% from 2,178.4 in 2021 to 2,313.6 in 2022, remaining significantly below California’s historical high of 6,880.6 in 1980.

  • The total arrest rate decreased 2.7% from 2,606.3 in 2021 to 2,535.2 in 2022, continuing an ongoing year-to-year downward trend that began in 2004 when the total arrest rate was 5,385.5.

  • In 2022, the total number of adults on active probation reached its lowest level since 1980 at 151,402.

“While crime rates remain significantly below their historical highs, property and violent crimes continue to have devastating consequences for communities across the state, and gun violence remains a major threat to public safety,” Bonta said.

To read the full report, visit oag.ca.gov.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: State report highlights gun crime in the High Desert