The proportion of female victims increased from 30 to 42 percent between 1980 and 1991. Handguns were involved in 33 percent of the murders in 1980 and 27 percent in 1991. In both years, nearly three-quarters of the victims knew their killers. Six percent of all murder victims in 1980 and 11 percent in 1991 were married to their killer. In 1991, 36 percent of the female victims were killed by their spouses. The ages of the victims and offenders were positively correlated, indicating the tendency for younger offenders to have younger victims and older offenders to have older victims. In 1991, 18 percent of the murders were committed under unknown circumstances and 50 percent of the murders involved individuals of the same race or ethnicity. In 1991, 31 percent of the victims and 51 percent of the known offenders were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the killing. Only one victim and two offenders were under the influence of drugs at the time of the offense. Tables