Rise in US gang killings linked to 9mm pistol

AS PRESIDENT Bill Clinton signed the Brady Bill yesterday - the most significant gun control measure to pass into federal law - new studies show that increased use of semi-automatic weapons is the main reason for the rise in gang murders over the past five years.

In Chicago, where there are 38,000 gang members, the number of homicides carried out by gangs increased from 50 in 1987 to 133 in 1992. In Washington DC detectives say that today gunshot victims have been hit by 8 or 10 bullets while in 1987 they would have been hit once or twice.

The reason for this is that the weapon of choice for the US gang member is now the 'nine', the 9mm semi-automatic, which has displaced the .38 revolver. In some models 17 bullets can be fired in 10 seconds. In Texas in 1991, one man with two 9mm pistols entered a cafeteria and killed 23 people and wounded 17 in a few minutes.

Although the increased use of assault rifles and heavy calibre weapons also has put up the murder rate, they are often too bulky and visible to attract gang members. 'Right now, the 9mm is the weapon the bad guy wants to have in his waistband,' says the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Doctors say that victims hit by more than one bullet seldom make it to hospital.

In a survey of street gang crime in Chicago for the Justice Department, Carolyn and Richard Block say: 'Virtually the entire increase in the number of street gang-motivated homicides seems attributable to an increase in the use of high-calibre, automatic or semi-automatic weapons.' In Washington and Chicago the number of violent incidents has actually gone down, while murders have gone up.

Chicago is peculiar in that its biggest gangs were, for a long time, strong enough to keep crack cocaine out of the city. In Washington, police say it was the simultaneous spread of crack cocaine and the use of semi-automatics that led to the number of murders more than doubling from 194 in 1986 to 443 last year. 'A lot of turf battles are driven by drug markets,' police said.

The police have followed the criminals in going over to semi-automatic weapons such as the Glock 17 - firing 17 bullets - which has become the standard firearm of the Washington police.