Juvenile Gun Violence and Gun Markets in Boston

Like other major cities in the United States, Boston is grappling with the problem of youth violence in certain of its poor minority neighborhoods. Over the past 5 years, the city has experienced 155 youth homicides by gun and knife—most of which were gun victimizations of young black men. Although gun violence began when youths started selling crack cocaine in the 1980s, today youths in Boston's high-risk neighborhoods frequently carry and use guns out of fear and as part of a larger dynamic of gang activity. Juvenile Gun Violence and Gun Markets in Boston discusses an National Institute of Justice-supported "problem-solving" project to contain gun violence in Boston that was launched to devise and implement strategic interventions and evaluate their effectiveness. Its unique approach focused on first analyzing the supply and demand for guns and then trying unorthodox methods both to disrupt illicit firearms markets and deter serious youth violence.