Houseless and Armed: How the Vulnerability of Houselessness Has Contributed to the Rise in Gun Violence

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Houseless and Armed: How the Vulnerability of Houselessness Has Contributed to the Rise in 

Gun Violence 

 

Over the last two years, gun violence has been on the rise across the city of Portland. This is,

 of course, a serious issue that must be addressed. However, it is important to note the impact that

 this has on the rather large number of houseless individuals in our city. 

 

It has been reported that there have been nearly a dozen fatal shooting in Portland over the last

twelve that involved houseless individuals or have taken place near camps. Since this is a relatively

new issue, there is no hard data.

 

The rise in the presence of firearms among the houseless is fairly new and is a result of the vulnerable

arming themselves for protection. Those living on the streets are very vulnerable to violence, either

from those within thier own community or those who see them as a bother. the rates of viloence

committed toward houseless individuals are very high, so it's not surprising that they would

feel the need to arm themselves. Every day they are forced to live in fear of being attacked, harassed, 

or having what little they own stolen or tossed away.

 

it is imperative that the city of Portland find solutions to the housing crisis in order to solve other issues

hurting our city. And as we can see, the rise in gun violence is one of them. 

 

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/investigations/portland-gun-violence-increasingly-impacting-h omeless/283-22837453-80bf-4d99-927e-6ec07469af5b 

https://www.gov1.com/public-safety/articles/rates-of-violence-against-the-homeless-are-worse-than-you-think-PZ7QgDNA4F2MXDwf/ 

post by Viviana 

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