Crime Stats in US for 2002

So I'm taking Criminal Law this year and I thought these stats from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports for the US (UCR) were intersting.  These statitstics excludes negligent homicide or acts of justifiable or excusable homicide:

1.  The American murder rate peaked in 1980 and again in 1990 at about 10 murders per 100,000 people.  A slow decline occurred, and in the mid-1990s, there were about 22,000 homicides per year, or a rate of about 7.5 (still by far the highest rate among large industrialized democracies).  2002 saw about 16,000 murders, for a rate of 5.6 per 100,000 people (over a 40% percent drop from 1990). 

2.  The most homicidal month in 2002 was July, the least February.

3.  The South has by a slight margin the highest rate, and the Northeast the lowest, with the Weat and Midwest in between.

4.  In terms of victims, 77% were males, 10% under the age of 18, 25% were under 22 y/o; approx. half were Black, and almost half White, w/ other racial categories making up the small remainder.

5.   In terms of offenders, 90% were male, 5% were under 18 y/o, and 22% were under 22; among these offenders identified by race, approx. 50% were Black, and 48% White (but 29% off all offenders were not id by race).

6.  Homicide is typically interracial.  85% of Whilte victims were killed by White offenders; 91% of Black victims were killed by Black offenders.

7.  Approx. 90% of male victims and 90% of female victims are killed by male offenders.

8.  Firearms (most often handguns) were used in 67% of the homicides.

9.  About 34% of the murders appeared to result from arguments, 17% were caused by or associated w/ some independent felonious activity, 7% (and increasing markedly) were juvenile gang killings. 

Kaplan, John, Robert Weisberg, Guyora Binder, "Criminal Law, Cases and Materials," 5th Ed. Aspen Publishers, Inc. 2004, pp. 304-305.