Southern California’s Shooting War

In Southern California, death by gunfire took a surreal turn last year when a school bus carrying 28 students was strafed by a passing car. Although no one was seriously hurt, the incident ominously suggests that the only grace that saves us from becoming shooting victims is the will of the gunman.

Gun-related violence in 1991 was more indiscriminate--and frequent--than ever. It recognized no boundary (see map). Los Angeles was well on its way to matching its previous record, if not exceeding it. In Orange and San Diego counties, gun-related homicides continue to climb at an unprecedented rate.

But numbers don’t begin to tell the stories of people caught in the cross-fire of grudges they know nothing about. The Gulf War veteran on leave. The guest at a family wedding reception. The athletes competing on a football field.

Explanations for the upsurge in gun violence vary. The war for drug turf. Feuding gangs. But whatever a shooter’s reason for killing, the power of his increasingly sophisticated weaponry makes it all the easier. More restrictive gun laws might help. But law-enforcement officials fret, waiting for politicians.

Meantime, more and more people die by gunfire. On these two pages are some of the families whose histories were dramatically altered during The Year of the Gun.