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Guns once again played a deadly and significant role in the number of homicides in the Albuquerque metro area this year, but this time it was not always the "bad guy" who fired.

As of Friday, the number of men, women and children who died violently in Albuquerque, Bernalillo County and Rio Rancho stands at 53.

That's one of the lowest homicide totals in the last nine years, according to figures compiled annually by The Tribune.

Sixty-two percent of this year's homicide victims were killed with a gun in cases in which the cause of death was known.

Guns have always been the weapon of choice in homicides, but this year's figure marks an even higher percentage than in the past nine years.

This year, self-defense was listed by law enforcement as the motive for five homicides - the most in nine years. In three of those cases, homeowners told authorities they shot intruders in their homes.

Ron Peterson, owner of Ron Peterson Guns in Albuquerque, said it's not surprising that homeowners are taking matters into their own hands, sometimes with deadly consequences.

"The majority of the homes in this state I guarantee you have a weapon in the home," Peterson said. "This is a very gun-friendly state."

Sixty percent of Peterson's business is selling guns to homeowners, he said. Seventy-five percent are one-time buyers.

The recent spate of self-defense shootings - three this month alone - are good for business, if just barely, he said.

"When a homeowner shoots someone we see a slight rise in our business," he said. "Those are mostly people who were thinking of buying a gun for protection already."

Perhaps most disturbing this year is the high number of juvenile deaths. Fifteen of the dead - more than a fourth of all homicide victims - were not yet 20.

The youngest was 7 weeks old.

Half of these juvenile deaths involved a firearm. Of those, four died by foolish negligence or accidental use of firearms.

Overall, however, the same deadly mix of anger, drugs, alcohol and gangs as in years past contributed to the causes behind a majority of the homicides.

"It's still relatively safe in the county if you are making good non-criminal choices that do not elevate your own risk for violence," said Bernalillo County sheriff's Lt. Gregg Marcantel, whose detectives investigated 15 homicides this year, four more than the year before.

Albuquerque police investigated 36 homicides this year, significantly lower than the 55 cases last year. Rio Rancho posted two homicides, down one from 2005.

Local statistics also show:

Eighteen percent of homicide victims were stabbed; 14 percent were beaten or shaken to death.

July was the deadliest month, with nearly a fifth of all homicides occurring that month.

Two cases involved murder-suicides.

Twice as many homicides occurred between people who knew each other, in cases where relationship could be determined.

Four homicides occurred between father and child.

Two homicides occurred between brothers.

Forty-six homicide victims were men.

Of the seven women victims, three were believed to have been killed by the men they had once loved.

But for the second year, none of those domestic violence cases occurred in the jurisdiction of the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department, a fact Marcantel credits to its Intimate Partner Violence Initiative, which coordinates efforts between Violent Crimes Unit detectives and the Victim Liaison Unit.

This year, solving cases proved to be tougher for Marcantel's detectives, who posted a clearance rate of about 50 percent, down from its usual 80 percent or higher clearance rate.

"As you well may note, cases involving gang or drug motivations have been and remain the most difficult to solve as the `fear factor' for those who possess guilty knowledge runs high," he said.

The Sheriff's Department was also rocked this year with the death of one of its own. Deputy James McGrane Jr. was killed in March while making a traffic stop in the East Mountains. An intensive 13-day manhunt resulted in the arrest of suspect Michael Paul Astorga, 29, who detectives say may have shot McGrane because he was wanted on previous murder charges.

The Sheriff's Department clearance rate also does not take into account the arrest this year of a suspect in the long-unsolved 1999 East Mountain triple homicide, the high-profile case involving three teenagers gunned down in the East Mountains.

Detectives arrested former East Mountains resident Brandon Craig, 27, in November.

Albuquerque police have cleared about 83 percent of their cases, with six left to be solved, one case pending further investigation and another in which an arrest warrant has been issued.

Rio Rancho has made arrests in one of its two cases.