A review of crime rates over the past few decades shows that they have generally been flat, with the exception of a sharp increase in violent juvenile crime from 1985 into the late 1980s. This escalation in violent crime committed with handguns was particularly strong among young black males in inner cities. Blumstein associates this trend in handgun violence in the inner city with an increase in drug dealing. He hypothesizes that with the drug demand there was a major recruitment of inner-city youth for the drug trade. The drug-dealing kids then acquired guns as part of their trade, which began a "snowball" effect of gun ownership among juveniles in the inner city, both as a status symbol and as a means of protection. In time, guns became a standard tool for expressing anger and dealing with conflicts among young blacks in the inner city. Blumstein advises that since gun-purchasing and gun-carrying by juveniles is illegal in every jurisdiction, police agencies should focus their resources on enforcing these laws. Such enforcement efforts should help to curtail the epidemic of juvenile handgun violence.