‘Wrong place at the wrong time’: Gun Violence experts share types of guns used and where violence takes place

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - As NewsChannel 10 continues the series on gun violence trends in Amarillo, today we debunk myths over the types of guns used in cases and misunderstandings about where gun violence occurs.

“Well certainly a large capacity weapons or or high caliber weapons can do a lot of damage and the potential is there in the wrong hands to to create havoc,” says Chief of Police, Martin Birkenfeld.

A lot of people think that larger guns are most used in gun violence cases. However, experts say it’s actually hand guns used most often.

“For example, a hand gun you can conceal within your person fairly easy. It is a lot easier to conceal whenever you think of ‘drive-by’s’ and every other type of homicide. It’s almost always hand guns that are the problem,” says West Texas A&M University’s Jeanette Arpero, Instructor of Criminal Justice.

Many believe specific areas of town are prone to random acts of gun violence. Chief Birkenfeld says random acts of violence have happened before, however, they are not at all common.

“That’s not the norm but it’s certainly disturbing when that occurs. Most people don’t have to worry about walking out of their house and getting shot randomly. You can’t say that it’ll never happen, but Amarillo is a pretty safe place overall,” says Birkenfeld.

“You typically have to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, or in the wrong area in a specific hotspot or something like that to be victimized,” says Arpero.

NewsChannel 10 will continue to bring you the facts and debunk the myths involving guns and gun violence.

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