Associations Between Perceived Threats and Firearm Behaviors Among U.S. Adults.

INTRODUCTION: The number of U.S. adults who own and carry a firearm for self-defense is rising. Research has established that owning or carrying a firearm increases the risk of injury and death for firearm owners and the people in their lives. This study sought to better understand this paradox by estimating associations of perceived specific and diffuse threats with firearm behaviors among U.S. adults. METHODS: The authors used data from the 2023 National Firearm Attitudes and Behaviors Study, a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of U.S. adults. Binary and ordinal logistic regression estimated associations of perceived specific (fear of attack in the community, fear of someone breaking into the home) and diffuse threats (belief in a dangerous world) with firearm ownership and carriage frequency, overall and stratified by gender. Adjusted models controlled for violence exposures and demographic characteristics. The authors conducted analyses in 2024. RESULTS: Among all U.S. adults, the perceived specific threat of someone breaking into the home was associated with firearm ownership (AOR: 1.09 [0.98, 1.23]). Among firearm-owning adults, the diffuse threat of belief in a dangerous world was associated with firearm carriage frequency (1.11 [0.98, 1.25]). Both the associations persisted among men (AORs = 1.27 [1.05-1.52] and 1.15 [1.01-1.31], respectively), but analyses found no associations between perceived threats and firearm behaviors among women. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived threats are associated with firearm behaviors among U.S. men, even after accounting for the actual violence they report experiencing or witnessing.

Examining the role of firearm involvement in repeat intimate partner violence assaults.

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) remains a pervasive and complex issue with significant social and public health implications. The nexus of firearms and intimate partner violence (IPV) is an especially dangerous one. However, little is known about how firearm involvement can influence the risk of repeat IPV assaults. METHODS: We use data from 346 male perpetrated IPV incidents reported to the Detroit Police Department between December 2016 and April 2017 to examine the role of firearm involvement in IPV recidivism during a 5 and half year follow up period. Employing a conditional gap-time frailty model that accommodates heterogeneity among individuals through a frailty term, we analyze time to multiple IPV assaults that occur over the follow up period. We identify various pathways through which firearms impact the likelihood of subsequent IPV incidents, including intimidation, threats, and use of firearms, while controlling for observable perpetrator characteristics to understand the explicit roles of firearms. RESULTS: Firearm involvement at the index assault was not associated with IPV recidivism. However, involvement of firearms in past IPV assaults significantly increased the risk of subsequent physical IPV. The discrepancy is likely arising from a high degree of censoring among individuals who were armed with a firearm during the index assault. CONCLUSION: Our research reveals a nuanced relationship between firearm involvement and IPV recidivism, shedding light on the multifaceted dynamics at play. By elucidating the intricate dynamics at the intersection of firearms and intimate partner violence, our study underscores the need for targeted policy interventions and preventative measures aimed at reducing IPV recidivism.

Firearm manufacturing and imports in the USA and their association to firearm homicides in Central America and the Caribbean, 1991-2019.

BACKGROUND: Firearm manufacturing and imports grew in the US during the mid-2000s. We hypothesise those increases corresponded to increased international firearms trafficking and in turn were associated with increases in firearm homicides abroad. METHODS: We used the Global Burden of Disease database to quantify annual firearm and non-firearm homicide rates in Central American and Caribbean countries, 1991-2019. We obtained US firearm manufacturing and import data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. We used two-way fixed effects regressions to estimate within-country associations between homicide rates (firearm and non-firearm) and US firearm manufacturing and imports. FINDINGS: Firearm homicide rates in Central American and Caribbean countries increased from 8.38/100K population in 2004 to 17.55/100 K in 2012 and remained steady thereafter. Those surges coincided with increases in US firearm manufacturing/imports (from 4.99 million in 2004 to 13.12 million in 2012). Non-firearm homicides remained roughly constant from 1991 to 2019. Adjusted analysis showed that an annual increase of one million firearms manufactured/imported in the US corresponded to an annual increase of 1.42 (95% CI 0.62 to 2.21) firearm homicides per 100 K in Central American and Caribbean countries. The corresponding change for non-firearm homicides was -0.18 (95% CI -1.46 to 1.11). We found country-to-country variability in these effects. INTERPRETATION: Increases in US firearm manufacturing/imports were associated with increases in firearm homicide rates in Central American and Caribbean countries but not associated with non-firearm homicides. The specificity to firearm homicides suggests possible international repercussions of increased firearm manufacturing and imports in the US implications are discussed.

Gender Wage Gap and Male Perpetrated Child Sexual Abuse.

Given the fact that child abuse and intimate partner violence often co-occur, intra-household bargaining models provide a useful framework to investigate the relationship between macro-economic factors and child sexual abuse (CSA). Non-cooperative bargaining models predict that labor market opportunities that benefit women improve their bargaining power and lead to lower levels of intimate partner violence against them. We posit that this protective effect extends to children as well, and exploit exogenous variation in macro-economic factors to examine the impact of gender specific wages and employment on police reported CSA in South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia from 2006 to 2019. The empirical analysis provides evidence that narrowing the gender wage gap leads to a decline in police reported CSA incidents perpetrated by mothers' intimate partners, whereas improvements in relative employment opportunities do not yield any such effects. Consistent with previous literature, our results show that wages, not employment, determine bargaining power. The findings also underscore important spillover benefits of policy solutions directed towards narrowing the gender wage gap.