In a study of American cities, the violent crime rate was found to be associated with the rate of use of guns in violent crime, but not to indirect measures of the availability of guns. For violent crime, the present study used the rate of murder, rape, robbery, & assault. For gun availability, the present study used both the average percentage of suicides, murders, robberies, & assaults in which a gun was used & a measure of the strictness of state gun control laws. (6 refs)