Thanks to tight restrictions and a wealth of resources, Boston has among the fewest shootings in the country for a city its size. Still, more than 60 percent of shooting victims this year are Black.

by Ivy Scott
Boston Globe
July 1, 2022

… When predicting urban gun violence trends, academics also underscore the strong connection between gun violence and racial and economic segregation.

…Jeffrey Butts, research director at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, explained that in communities with limited economic opportunity, selling drugs or other illegal goods can become “so attractive that people forgo traditional work to participate in the underground economy … using firearms to protect themselves and their turf.”

“No one likes to be the second person to pull their gun out,” he said. “So the fear of getting shot turns into an incentive for people to arm themselves, and that can also increase violence.”

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