Firearm Purchasing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results From the 2021 National Firearms Survey.

BACKGROUND: The surge in background checks beginning in March 2020 suggested an acceleration in firearm purchases. Little was known about the people who bought these guns. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the number and describe characteristics of firearm purchasers over a period spanning prepandemic and pandemic time, characterize new gun owners, and estimate the number of persons newly exposed to household firearms. DESIGN: Probability-based online survey conducted in April 2021. Survey weights generated nationally representative estimates. SETTING: United States, 1 January 2019 to 26 April 2021. PARTICIPANTS: 19 049 of 29 985 (64%) English-speaking adults responded to the survey invitation; 5932 owned firearms, including 1933 who had purchased firearms since 2019, of whom 447 had become new gun owners. MEASUREMENTS: The estimated number and characteristics of adults who, since 2019, have purchased firearms, distinguishing those who became new gun owners from those who did not, and the estimated number of household members newly exposed to firearms. RESULTS: An estimated 2.9% of U.S. adults (7.5 million) became new gun owners from 1 January 2019 to 26 April 2021. Most (5.4 million) had lived in homes without guns, collectively exposing, in addition to themselves, over 11 million persons to household firearms, including more than 5 million children. Approximately half of all new gun owners were female (50% in 2019 and 47% in 2020 to 2021), 20% were Black (21% in 2019 and in 2020-2021), and 20% were Hispanic (20% in 2019 and 19% in 2020-2021). By contrast, other recent purchasers who were not new gun owners were predominantly male (70%) and White (74%), as were gun owners overall (63% male, 73% White). LIMITATIONS: Retrospective assessment of when respondents purchased firearms. National estimates about new gun owners were based on 447 respondents. CONCLUSION: Efforts to reduce firearm injury should consider the recent acceleration in firearm purchasing and the characteristics of new gun owners. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: The Joyce Foundation.

Handgun waiting periods reduce gun deaths.

Handgun waiting periods are laws that impose a delay between the initiation of a purchase and final acquisition of a firearm. We show that waiting periods, which create a "cooling off" period among buyers, significantly reduce the incidence of gun violence. We estimate the impact of waiting periods on gun deaths, exploiting all changes to state-level policies in the Unites States since 1970. We find that waiting periods reduce gun homicides by roughly 17%. We provide further support for the causal impact of waiting periods on homicides by exploiting a natural experiment resulting from a federal law in 1994 that imposed a temporary waiting period on a subset of states.

Law Enforcement and Gun Retailers as Partners for Safely Storing Guns to Prevent Suicide: A Study in 8 Mountain West States.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the extent to which law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and gun retailers are willing to offer voluntary, temporary storage as a part of an overall suicide prevention effort. METHODS: We invited all LEAs and gun retailers in 8 US states to respond to questionnaires asking about their willingness to offer temporary gun storage and their recommendations to gun owners about safe storage. RESULTS: We collected data in 2016 from 448 LEAs and 95 retailers (response rates of 53% and 25%, respectively). Three quarters of LEAs (74.8%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 72.1, 77.5) indicated they already provided temporary storage compared with 47.6% (95% CI = 39.2, 56.0) of retailers. LEAs were most willing to provide storage when a gun owner was concerned about the mental health of a family member. Retailers were more receptive than were LEAs to providing storage when visitors were coming or for people wanting storage while traveling. Both groups recommended locking devices within the home, but LEAs were slightly more favorable to storing guns away from the home. CONCLUSIONS: Law enforcement agencies and gun retailers are important resources for families concerned about suicide.

Not an 'iron pipeline', but many capillaries: regulating passive transactions in Los Angeles' secondary, illegal gun market.

OBJECTIVES: California has strict firearm-related laws and is exceptional in its regulation of firearms retailers. Though evidence suggests that these laws can reduce illegal access to guns, high levels of gun violence persist in Los Angeles (LA), California. This research seeks to describe the sources of guns accessed by active offenders in LA, California and reports offenders' motivations for obtaining guns. SETTING: Los Angeles County Jail (LACJ) system (four facilities). METHODS: Random sampling from a screened pool of eligible participants was used to conduct qualitative semistructured interviews with 140 incarcerated gun offenders in one of four (LACJ) facilities. Researchers collected data on firearm acquisition, experiences related to gun violence, and other topics, using a validated survey instrument. Grounded theory guided the collection and analysis of data. RESULTS: Respondents reported possession of 77 specific guns (79.2% handguns) collectively. Social networks facilitate access to illegal guns; the majority of interviewees acquired their illegal guns through a social connection (85.7%) versus an outside broker/unregulated retailer (8.5%). Most guns were obtained through illegal purchase (n=51) or gift (n=15). A quarter of gun purchasers report engaging in a passive transaction, or one initiated by another party. Passive gun buyers were motivated by concerns for personal safety and/or economic opportunity. CONCLUSIONS: In LA's illegal gun market, where existing social relationships facilitate access to guns across a diffuse network, individuals, influenced by both fear and economic opportunity, have frequent opportunities to illegally possess firearms through passive transactions. Gun policies should better target and minimise these transactions.

Alcohol, drug and other prior crimes and risk of arrest in handgun purchasers: protocol for a controlled observational study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Alcohol abuse is common in the USA and is a well-established risk factor for violence. Other drug use and criminal activity are risk factors as well and frequently occur together with alcohol abuse. Firearm ownership is also common; there are >50 million firearm owners in the USA. This study assesses the relationships between alcohol and drug abuse and future violence among firearm owners, which no prior research has done. DESIGN AND STUDY POPULATION: This records-based retrospective cohort study will involve all persons who legally purchased handguns in California in 2001-approximately 116 000 individuals-with follow-up through the end of 2013. METHODS: The principal exposures include prior convictions for alcohol-related and drug-related offenses. The primary outcome measure is an arrest following handgun purchase for a violent Crime Index offense: homicide, rape, robbery or aggravated assault. Subjects will be considered at risk for outcome events for only as long as their residence in California can be established independently of outcome events. Covariates include individual characteristics (eg, age, sex, criminal history, firearm purchase history) and community characteristics (eg, demographics, socioeconomic measures, firearm ownership and alcohol outlet density). We will employ survival analytic methods, expressing effects as HRs. DISCUSSION: The results of this large-scale study are likely to be generalisable and to have important implications for violence prevention policies and programmes.

Sources of guns to dangerous people: what we learn by asking them.

Gun violence exacts a lethal toll on public health. This paper focuses on reducing access to firearms by dangerous offenders, contributing original empirical data on the gun transactions that arm offenders in Chicago. Conducted in the fall of 2013, analysis of an open-ended survey of 99 inmates of Cook County Jail focuses on a subset of violence-prone individuals with the goal of improving law enforcement actions. Among our principal findings: *Our respondents (adult offenders living in Chicago or nearby) obtain most of their guns from their social network of personal connections. Rarely is the proximate source either direct purchase from a gun store, or theft. *Only about 60% of guns in the possession of respondents were obtained by purchase or trade. Other common arrangements include sharing guns and holding guns for others. *About one in seven respondents report selling guns, but in only a few cases as a regular source of income. *Gangs continue to play some role in Chicago in organizing gun buys and in distributing guns to members as needed. *The Chicago Police Department has a considerable effect on the workings of the underground gun market through deterrence. Transactions with strangers and less-trusted associates are limited by concerns over arrest risk (if the buyer should happen to be an undercover officer or a snitch), and about being caught with a "dirty" gun (one that has been fired in a crime).

Alcohol misuse, firearm violence perpetration, and public policy in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: Firearm violence is a significant public health problem in the United States, and alcohol is frequently involved. This article reviews existing research on the relationships between alcohol misuse; ownership, access to, and use of firearms; and the commission of firearm violence, and discusses the policy implications of these findings. METHOD: Narrative review augmented by new tabulations of publicly-available data. RESULTS: Acute and chronic alcohol misuse is positively associated with firearm ownership, risk behaviors involving firearms, and risk for perpetrating both interpersonal and self-directed firearm violence. In an average month, an estimated 8.9 to 11.7 million firearm owners binge drink. For men, deaths from alcohol-related firearm violence equal those from alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes. Enforceable policies restricting access to firearms for persons who misuse alcohol are uncommon. Policies that restrict access on the basis of other risk factors have been shown to reduce risk for subsequent violence. CONCLUSION: The evidence suggests that restricting access to firearms for persons with a documented history of alcohol misuse would be an effective violence prevention measure. Restrictions should rely on unambiguous definitions of alcohol misuse to facilitate enforcement and should be rigorously evaluated.

The Association Between State Minimum Wage and Firearm Homicides, 2000-2020.

INTRODUCTION: Recent research has indicated an association between both poverty and income inequality and firearm homicides. Increased minimum wages may serve as a strategy for reducing firearm violence by increasing economic security among workers earning low wages and reducing the number of families living in poverty. This study aimed to examine the association between state minimum wage and firearm homicides in the U.S. between 2000 and 2020. METHODS: State minimum wage, obtained from Temple's Law Atlas and augmented by legal research, was conceptualized using the Kaitz Index. State-level homicide counts were obtained from 2000 to 2020 multiple-cause-of death mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System. Log-linear regressions were conducted to model the associations between state minimum wage and firearm homicides, stratifying by demographic groups. Analyses were conducted in 2023. RESULTS: A 1% point increase in a state's Kaitz Index was associated with a 1.3% (95% CI: -2.1% to -0.5%) decrease in a state's firearm homicide rate. When interacted with quartile of firearm ownership, the Kaitz Index was associated with decreases in firearm homicide in all except the lowest quartile. These findings were largely consistent across stratifications. CONCLUSIONS: Changing a state's minimum wage, whereby a full-time minimum wage worker's salary is closer to a state's median income, may be an option for reducing firearm homicides.

Evaluating Firearm Violence After New Jersey's Cash Bail Reform.

Importance: Reducing the pretrial detention population has been a cornerstone of movements to end mass incarceration. Across many US cities, there are ongoing public debates on policies that would end pretrial detention due to the inability to afford bail, with some raising concerns that doing so would increase community violence. Objective: To evaluate changes in firearm violence after New Jersey's 2017 bail reform policy that eliminated financial barriers to avoiding pretrial detention. Design, Setting, and Participants: This case-control study used synthetic control methods to examine changes in firearm mortality and combined fatal and nonfatal shootings in New Jersey (2014-2019). New Jersey was chosen because it was one of the first states to systematically implement cash bail reform. Outcomes in New Jersey were compared with a weighted combination of 36 states that did not implement any kind of reform to pretrial detention during the study period. Data were analyzed from April 2023 to March 2024. Exposure: Implementation of New Jersey's cash bail reform law in 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures: Quarterly rates of fatal and nonfatal firearm assault injuries and firearm self-harm injuries per 100 000 people. Results: Although New Jersey's pretrial detention population dramatically decreased under bail reform, the study did not find evidence of increases in overall firearm mortality (average treatment effect on the treated, -0.26 deaths per 100 000) or gun violence (average treatment effect on the treated, -0.24 deaths per 100 000), or within racialized groups during the postpolicy period. Conclusions and Relevance: Incarceration and gun violence are major public health problems impacting racially and economically marginalized groups. Cash bail reform may be an important tool for reducing pretrial detention and advancing health equity without exacerbating community violence.

State background checks for gun purchase and firearm deaths: an exploratory study.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the relationship between the types of background-information check required by states prior to firearm purchases, and firearm homicide and suicide deaths. METHODS: Negative binomial models are used to analyze state-level data for homicides and suicides in the U.S. from 1996 to 2005. Data on types of background information are retrieved from the Surveys of State Procedures Related to Firearm Sales, and the violent death data are from the WISQARS. Several other state level factors were controlled for. RESULTS: More background checks are associated with fewer homicide (IRR:0.93, 95% CI:0.91-0.96) and suicide (IRR:0.98, 95% CI:0.96-1.00) deaths. Firearm homicide deaths are lower when states have checks for restraining orders (IRR:0.87, 95% CI:0.79-0.95) and fugitive status (IRR:0.79, 95% CI:0.72-0.88). Firearm suicide deaths are lower when states have background checks for mental illness (IRR:0.96, 95% CI:0.92-0.99), fugitive status (IRR:0.95, 95% CI:0.90-0.99) and misdemeanors (IRR:0.95, 95% CI:0.92-1.00). It does not appear that reductions in firearm deaths are offset by increases in non-firearm violent deaths. CONCLUSIONS: More extensive background checks prior to gun purchase are mostly associated with reductions in firearm homicide and suicide deaths. Several study limitations are acknowledged, and further research is called for to ascertain causality.

British game shooting in transition, 1900-1945.

This article explores the transformation of lowland game shooting from its heyday in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods to state-imposed rationalization during the Second World War. It evaluates the extent to which the interwar years constituted a period of depression or regeneration in the way the activity was organized and pursued, followed by an in-depth analysis of the impact of the Second World War. The study shows that the prevailing wisdom about the reasons for the decline of game shooting merits reappraisal, particularly in view of the unprecedented changes to the sport that resulted from the government's control and direction of food production during World War II.

Bang for the buck: The impact of political financial contributions on firearm law.

BACKGROUND: One hundred thousand Americans are shot annually, and 39,000 die. State laws restricting firearm sales and use have been shown to decrease firearm deaths, yet little is known about what impacts their passage or repeal. We hypothesized that spending by groups that favor firearm restrictive legislation would increase new state firearm restrictive laws (FRLs) and that states increasing these laws would endure fewer firearm deaths. METHODS: We acquired 2013 to 2018 state data on spending by groups against firearm restrictive legislation and for firearm restrictive legislation regarding lobbying, campaign, and independent and total expenditures from the National Institute on Money in State Politics. State-level political party representation data were acquired from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Mass shooting data were obtained from the Mass Shooter Database of the Violence Project, and firearm death rates were obtained from Centers for Disease Control Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research and Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reporting databases. Firearm restrictive laws were obtained from the State Firearms Law Database. A univariate panel linear regression with fixed effect for state was performed with change in FRLs from baseline as the outcome. A final multivariable panel regression with fixed effect for state was then used. Firearm death rates were compared by whether states increased, decreased, or had no change in FRLs. RESULTS: Twenty-two states gained and 13 lost FRLs, while 15 states had no net change (44%, 26%, and 30%; p = 0.484). In multivariable regression accounting for partisan control of state government, for-firearm restrictive legislation groups outspending against-firearm restrictive legislation groups had the largest association with increased FRLs (ß = 1.420; 95% confidence interval, 0.63-2.21; p < 0.001). States that gained FRLs had significantly lower firearm death rates (p < 0.001). Relative to states with no change in FRLs, states that lost FRLs had an increase in overall firearm death of 1 per 100,000 individuals. States that gained FRLs had a net decrease in median overall firearm death of 0.5 per 100,000 individuals. CONCLUSION: Higher political spending by groups in favor of restrictive firearm legislation has a powerful association with increasing and maintaining FRLs. States that increased their FRLs, in turn, showed lower firearm death rates. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Epidemiological, level I.

The Legal and Empirical Case for Firearm Purchaser Licensing.

This article argues that state government actors concerned about gun violence prevention should prioritize enactment of robust firearm purchaser regimes at the state level. First, the article outlines the empirical evidence base for purchaser licensing. Then, the article describes how state governments can design this policy. Next, the article assesses the likelihood that purchaser licensing legislation will continue to be upheld by federal courts. Finally, the article addresses the implications of this policy, aimed at curbing gun deaths, for equally important racial justice priorities. Taken together, these various considerations indicate that purchaser licensing policies are among the most effective firearm-focused laws state governments can enact to reduce gun deaths within the existing federal legislative and legal frameworks.

Firearm laws and illegal firearm flow between US states.

BACKGROUND: Considerable variation in firearm legislation exists. Prior studies show an association between stronger state laws and fewer firearm deaths. We hypothesized that firearms would flow from states with weaker laws to states with stronger laws based on proximity and population. METHODS: Crime gun trace data from 2015 to 2017 was accessed from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and compared with the count and composition of firearm legislation in 2015 among the contiguous 48 states. Additional independent variables included population, median household income, distance, and presence or absence of a shared border. We used Exponential Random Graph Models to identify predictors of traced firearm transfers between origin and destination states. RESULTS: After controlling for network structure, firearm laws in origin states were associated with fewer traced firearm transfers (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.83-0.93; p < 0.001). Conversely, more firearm laws in destination states were associated with more traced firearm transfers (IRR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.06-1.15; p < 0.001). Larger population at the origin was associated with increased transfers (IRR, 1.38; 95%CI, 1.27-1.50; p < 0.001), as was larger population at the destination state (IRR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.35-1.56; p < 0.001). Greater distance was associated with fewer transfers (for each 1,000 km; IRR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.27-0.46; p < 0.001), and transfers were greater between adjacent states (IRR, 2.49; 95% CI, 1.90-3.27; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: State firearm legislation has a significant impact on gun trafficking even after controlling for network structure. States with stricter firearm legislation are negatively impacted by states with weaker regulations, as crime guns flow from out-of-state. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Epidemiologic, level III.

Association of Prior Convictions for Driving Under the Influence With Risk of Subsequent Arrest for Violent Crimes Among Handgun Purchasers.

Importance: Alcohol use is a risk factor for firearm-related violence, and firearm owners are more likely than others to report risky drinking behaviors. Objective: To study the association between prior convictions for driving under the influence (DUI) and risk of subsequent arrest for violent crimes among handgun purchasers. Design: In this retrospective, longitudinal cohort study, 79 678 individuals were followed up from their first handgun purchase in 2001 through 2013. The study cohort included all legally authorized handgun purchasers in California aged 21 to 49 years at the time of purchase in 2001. Individuals were identified using the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) Dealer's Record of Sale (DROS) database, which retains information on all legal handgun transfers in the state. Exposures: The primary exposure was DUI conviction prior to the first handgun purchase in 2001, as recorded in the CA DOJ Criminal History Information System. Main Outcomes and Measures: Prespecified outcomes included arrests for violent crimes listed in the Crime Index published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault), firearm-related violent crimes, and any violent crimes. Results: Of the study population (N=79 678), 91.0% were males and 68.9% were white individuals; the median age was 34 (range, 21-49) years. The analytic sample for multivariable models included 78 878 purchasers after exclusions. Compared with purchasers who had no prior criminal history, those with prior DUI convictions and no other criminal history were at increased risk of arrest for a Crime Index-listed violent crime (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR], 2.6; 95% CI, 1.7-4.1), a firearm-related violent crime (AHR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.3-6.4), and any violent crime (AHR, 3.3; 95% CI, 2.4-4.5). Among purchasers with a history of arrests or convictions for crimes other than DUI, associations specifically with DUI conviction remained. Conclusions and Relevance: This study's findings suggest that prior DUI convictions may be associated with the risk of subsequent violence, including firearm-related violence, among legal purchasers of handguns. Although the magnitude was diminished, the risk associated with DUI conviction remained elevated even among those with a history of arrests or convictions for crimes of other types.

State handgun purchase age minimums in the US and adolescent suicide rates: regression discontinuity and difference-in-differences analyses.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between US state policies that establish age 18 or 21 years as the minimum purchaser age for the sale of handguns and adolescent suicide rate. DESIGN: Regression discontinuity and difference-in-differences analyses. SETTING: 46 US states without policy changes between 2001 and 2017; Missouri and South Carolina, which lowered the age for handgun sales in 2007 and 2008, respectively; and West Virginia and Wyoming, which increased the age for handgun sales in 2010. PARTICIPANTS: Adolescents aged 13 to 20 years(554 461 961 from 2001 to 2017) in the regression discontinuity analysis, and adolescents aged 18 to 20 years (168 934 041 from 2002 to 2014) in the main difference-in-differences analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Suicide rate per 100 000 adolescents. RESULTS: In the regression discontinuity analysis, state policies that limited the sale of handguns to those aged 18 or older (relative to 21 or older) were associated with an increase in suicide rate among adolescents aged 18 to 20 years equivalent to 344 additional suicides in each state where they were in place between 2001 and 2017. In the difference-in-differences analysis, state policies that limited the sale of handguns to those aged 21 or older were associated with 1.91 fewer suicides per 100 000 adolescents aged 18 to 20 years (95% confidence interval -3.13 to -0.70, permutation adjusted P=0.025). In the difference-in-differences analysis, there were 1.83 fewer firearm related suicides per 100 000 adolescents (-2.66 to -1.00, permutation adjusted P=0.002), with no association between age 21 handgun sales policies and non-firearm related suicides. Separate event study estimates indicated increases in suicide rates in states that lowered the age of handgun sales, with no association in states that increased the age of handgun sales. CONCLUSIONS: A clear discontinuity was shown in the suicide rate by age at age 18 in states that limited the sale of handguns to individuals aged 18 or older. State policies to limit the sale of handguns to individuals aged 21 or older were associated with a reduction in suicide rates among adolescents. Increases in suicide rates were observed after states lowered the age of handgun sales, but no effect was found in states that increased the age of handgun sales.

Gun Regulation Exceptionalism and Adolescent Violence: A Comparison to Tobacco.

This article compares the landscape of tobacco regulations to the landscape of gun regulations, with a focus on regulations that target youth. This article argues that guns are significantly less regulated compared to tobacco, despite the frequency with which each product causes significant harm to both self and other.Many of the specific ways tobacco is regulated can be applied analogously to firearms while plausibly surviving potential Second Amendment challenges. This article compares the regulatory landscape of tobacco and firearms across six categories: (a) minimum age for purchase, (b) sale by unlicensed individuals, (c) taxation, (d) advertising, (e) graphic warning labels, and (f) zoning.At one time, tobacco was as central - or more so - to American culture as guns are today. However, many decades of public health advocacy led to historic tobacco regulations. Tobacco's regulatory history provides a valuable blueprint for gun regulation, despite Constitutional differences.

Alcohol consumption, alcohol outlets, and the risk of being assaulted with a gun.

BACKGROUND: We conducted a population-based case-control study to better delineate the relationship between individual alcohol consumption, alcohol outlets in the surrounding environment, and being assaulted with a gun. METHODS: An incidence density sampled case-control study was conducted in the entire city of Philadelphia from 2003 to 2006. We enrolled 677 cases that had been shot in an assault and 684 population-based controls. The relationships between 2 independent variables of interest, alcohol consumption and alcohol outlet availability, and the outcome of being assaulted with a gun were analyzed. Conditional logistic regression was used to adjust for numerous confounding variables. RESULTS: After adjustment, heavy drinkers were 2.67 times as likely to be shot in an assault when compared with nondrinkers (p < 0.10) while light drinkers were not at significantly greater risk of being shot in an assault when compared with nondrinkers. Regression-adjusted analyses also demonstrated that being in an area of high off-premise alcohol outlet availability significantly increased the risk of being shot in an assault by 2.00 times (p < 0.05). Being in an area of high on-premise alcohol outlet availability did not significantly change this risk. Heavy drinkers in areas of high off-premise alcohol outlet availability were 9.34 times (p < 0.05) as likely to be shot in an assault. CONCLUSIONS: This study finds that the gun assault risk to individuals who are near off-premise alcohol outlets is about the same as or statistically greater than the risk they incur from heavy drinking. The combination of heavy drinking and being near off-premise outlets resulted in greater risk than either factor alone. By comparison, light drinking and being near on-premise alcohol outlets were not associated with increased risks for gun assault. Cities should consider addressing alcohol-related factors, especially off-premise outlets, as highly modifiable and politically feasible approaches to reducing gun violence.