Between 2010 and 2021, the rate of homicides involving firearms against US men over age 50 increased 87 percent, according to the CDC. Despite this trend, little is known about the older men who are killed in these incidents or the characteristics of their deaths. Research emphasizes younger male victims, as they have the highest homicide rates in the US. Even when older homicide victims are considered, women garner more attention than men, despite men making up the majority of older victims.
Our understanding of the characteristics of older homicide victims is also challenged by how they are often studied. Researchers typically group a larger range of ages together into a single category such as “50 plus,” and differences across age subgroups are disregarded. This practice may imply that older adults face similar risks whether they are in their 50s or 80s and can often reinforce stereotypes of “elderly” victims as homebound, frail, and isolated. These overgeneralizations can result in crime prevention efforts for older adults that emphasize home-based strategies and do not account for variations in age or activity.
In our recent study, we looked at how firearm-involved homicide characteristics and contexts might vary across older men of different ages who are victims. We were motivated by the lack of research and policy work in this area despite an older adult population that is significantly changing in terms of population size and lifestyle. The number of older adults in the US has increased by 34 percent since 2012 and is expected to keep growing. Today, more than one in six people in the US are aged 65 or older. Recent statistics also indicate that these older adults are more likely to maintain active lifestyles than prior generations in the same age groups. More US adults over 65 continue to work as compared to previous decades, with those over 75 making up the fastest-growing age group in the workforce. Older adults are increasingly interested in remaining engaged in their communities and social networks outside the home. These trends are consistent with the improving health of older adults in the US and their ability to continue living independently longer than in prior generations.
New Research on Older Male Victims of Firearm-Involved Homicides
To study firearm-involved homicides against older men, we used two recent years (2022–23) of homicide data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and the Gun Violence Archive (GVA). The quantitative NIBRS data identified characteristics of firearm homicides against men aged 50 or older, and the qualitative GVA cases provided contextual incident details. Using NIBRS and the GVA together gave us insights into the characteristics of firearm-involved homicides that neither one alone could offer.
In our study, we defined “older men” as those over age 50. Currently, there is no consensus on how best to identify older adults, with ages 50, 60, and 65 being the most common demarcations. We opted to use age 50 as it is used to study violence in other contexts, such as abuse, in later life. It also is the most inclusive measure, which supports our interest in studying homicide variation across victim age groups. We then grouped victims’ ages by decade (50s, 60s, 70s, and 80 plus) for the purpose of our analysis. Victims in their 50s and 60s accounted for the vast majority of homicides against older men (62.5 percent and 29.3 percent, respectively) in contrast to those in their 70s (6.1 percent of homicides) and over 80 (2.2 percent).
Characteristics Across Age
The main pattern we observed (in both NIBRS and GVA data) was a distinct difference in the characteristics of firearm-involved homicides between men in their 50s and 60s as compared to those over age 70 with respect to race, relationship, and location.
For victim race, victims in their 50s and 60s were more frequently Black as compared to victims who were 70 and older. Specifically, about half of victims in their 50s (52.7 percent) and 60s (48.9 percent) were Black, yet less than a third of victims in their 70s (30.8 percent) and over 80 (27.3 percent) were Black. Conversely, victims over 70 were more likely to be white than those in their 50s and 60s. For offender demographics, firearm-involved homicides against older men across all age groups were primarily committed by men and those under age 50. For victims in their 50s and 60s, offenders tended to be Black as compared to those over 70, whose perpetrators were mainly white.
Home was the most common location across all age groups; the proportion of firearm-involved homicides occurring at home steadily increased with victim age, going from less than half of homicides for victims in their 50s to almost 85 percent of homicides for victims over 80.
Patterns of victim-offender relationships also varied by victim age groups. The proportion of victims killed by an intimate partner or family member increased with age, increasing from almost 16 percent of victims in their 50s to around 55 percent of victims over 80 years old. Homicides against victims in their 50s and 60s tended to involve friends and acquaintances. Victims in their 50s also had the largest proportion across all age groups of victim-offender relationships that were strangers. This proportion steadily dropped as victims aged, going from 8 percent for victims in their 50s to 3 percent for victims over 80 years old.
In addition, the location for these homicides varied across victim age groups. Home was the most common location across all age groups; the proportion of firearm-involved homicides occurring at home steadily increased with victim age, going from less than half of homicides for victims in their 50s to almost 85 percent of homicides for victims over 80. Our findings, however, highlighted the importance of considering locations beyond the home, especially for the victims in their 50s and 60s, as their homicides occur in a greater variety of locations, including roads and commercial spaces, in comparison to victims over 70.
Homicide Situational Contexts
From our qualitative review of the GVA case data, we found distinct situational contexts for firearm-involved homicides against older men that varied by age groups. For example, while home locations are common across all older age groups, the underlying situations differ. For victims in their 50s, homicides that occurred at home could arise from escalating disputes with neighbors. This pattern was not observed for other age groups. Conversely, home-based contexts for victims over 70 included crimes such as burglary that do not tend to appear for victims in their 50s and 60s. While homicides that occurred at home for all age groups tended to involve intimate partners and adult sons, the situations varied. For victims in their 50s and 60s, more of these incidents arose from escalating disputes, while for victims over 70, the situations were not limited to arguments.
The GVA case data also helped us explore the contexts for the firearm-involved homicides that occurred outside the home and that previous research had not considered. We found these contexts could be grouped into work and leisure activities and were the most common for victims in their 50s and 60s. Our study identified various leisure activities that preceded firearm-involved homicides. Those activities ranged from road rage incidents to good Samaritans trying to assist others who were being harassed or victimized. Activities in public spaces also appeared to expose victims to violent crimes that turned deadly, such as robberies, carjackings, and drive-by shootings. Firearm homicides also sometimes occurred while older men were at work, which largely appeared to be associated with risky attributes of jobs such as those of police officers or ride-share drivers. And, we found certain risky behaviors were associated with firearm homicide victimization for men in their 50s and 60s, such as engaging in criminal behavior.
Potential Prevention Policy Implications
We found that using NIBRS and GVA data together gave us nuanced insights into firearm-involved homicides against older men that can support future work to explore prevention strategies.
We observed certain clear distinctions between victims in their 50s and 60s as compared to those over 70, which highlights the importance of disaggregating older adults into narrower age groups. Future discussions to reduce lethal violence against older men need to consider possible variation in homicide risk between older men of different age groups in order to tailor prevention efforts.
The Continued Relevance of Leisure and Work Risks for Older Men
Our findings on homicide context challenged the previous explanations that characterized older adults as being homebound and isolated. We discovered the need for prevention strategies to account for active lifestyles in older men. For men in their 50s and 60s, in particular, prevention efforts must consider their continued participation in the workforce and leisure activities outside the home. These lifestyle factors appear to expose older men to a range of risks for victimization. Our identification of these characteristics and potential factors underscores the importance of ensuring workplace and public violence prevention efforts extend to older adults. Limiting prevention efforts to home-focused safety protocols misses the additional risks faced by men in their 50s and 60s.
Variation in Risk of Firearm Homicides at Home Across Age Groups
We also identified the need for a more nuanced understanding of firearm-involved homicides that occur at home. While home is a common location across all age groups, home-based activities associated with firearm-involved homicides differ by age. These differences suggest not only that risk factors appear to vary by age, but prevention strategies also need to be adapted. For example, our findings indicated that long-standing neighbor disputes and arguments with adult male relatives often preceded firearm homicides for victims in their 50s and 60s. Prevention strategies for these situations would likely differ from domestic situations involving victims over 70 and may need to focus on conflict de-escalation. For victims over 70, current prevention efforts may be more applicable to address homicides that arise from home-based crimes such as burglaries. Overall, our study highlights the need for continued work to address firearm violence across the lifespan, especially for older men who face an increasing risk of firearm homicide. Research and policy that ignore older men or only consider them as a uniform “over 50” category miss key distinctions that can help reduce this lethal violence. Ultimately, our findings underscore the need to refocus homicide prevention efforts toward the contemporary realities of older men and the lives they actually live as opposed to outdated stereotypes about aging.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Lynn A. Addington is a professor in the Department of Justice, Law & Criminolgy at the American University and an affiliate scholar with the RGVRC.
Wendy C. Regoeczi is a professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina and an affiliate scholar at the RGVRC.