Missing the Mark? A Typology of Lethal and Non-Lethal Firearm Violence in the Netherlands

Abstract

Firearm violence in Europe is a complex phenomenon; it manifests itself in various contexts and circumstances, involving different types of victims and perpetrators. Yet, previous research does not account for this complexity and focuses mainly on lethal firearm violence alone. In this study, we use 243 cases of lethal shootings (2015–2021) and 807 cases of non-lethal shootings in the Netherlands (2018–2021) to build a typology of firearm violence using agglomerative hierarchical clustering. The analysis results show five distinct types: urban lethal shootings, urban injurious shootings, and urban non-injurious shootings, as well as suburban and rural shootings. Those categories differ mainly in the lethality, urbanity, context, and location of the shootings. We conclude that the inclusion of non-lethal firearm violence is necessary in understanding and act upon this multifaceted problem.