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.

Effects of Wisconsin's handgun waiting period repeal on suicide rates.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the effect of a handgun purchase waiting period repeal on handgun and firearm suicides in Wisconsin. METHODS: Data for outcome and predictor variables were obtained for the 1999-2020 study period. Synthetic controls were used to assess the impact of Wisconsin's waiting period repeal on mean-centred suicide rates. Placebo tests, difference-in-differences regression and augmented synthetic controls supplemented the synthetic control analyses. RESULTS: Postrepeal suicides were more likely to involve handguns than those in the 5 years immediately preceding the repeal (χ² (1, N=8269) = 49.25, p<0.001). The waiting period repeal resulted in an estimated annual increase of 1.1 handgun suicides per 100 000, or roughly 65 handgun suicide deaths per year. Estimates from difference-in-differences regression and augmented synthetic control analyses indicated similar treatment effects. Relative to the synthetic control, firearm suicides increased 6.5% following the repeal. CONCLUSION: The waiting period repeal in Wisconsin was associated with increases in both handgun and firearm suicides. The findings suggest that waiting periods may be effective means restriction policies to reduce suicide. Additionally, the synthetic control's ability to closely approximate preintervention handgun suicide trends despite a limited donor pool has implications for future policy analyses.

Examining Time-Variant Spatial Dependence of Urban Places and Shootings.

Place-based interventions are increasingly implemented to address firearm violence. While research on the social determinants of health and criminological theories suggest that the built environment significantly influences health outcomes and the spatial distribution of crime, little is known about the attraction between urban places and shootings. The present study adds to the literature on firearm violence and micro-place research by exploring the spatial dependence in a Midwest metropolitan area between shootings and bus stops, vacant properties, alcohol outlets, and other locations that have been theoretically or empirically linked to firearm violence. The G-function and Cross-K function are used to characterize the univariate clustering of shootings and bivariate attraction with other locations, respectively. Bus stops, blighted vacant properties, alcohol outlets, and businesses/residential locations participating in a public-private-community initiative to reduce crime exhibited significant locational dependence with shootings at short distances. Attraction between on-premises alcohol outlets and shootings was observed only during the night. No attraction was found between schools and shootings. The findings reaffirm the importance of place-based research-especially at the micro-place level-and suggest that certain urban places may be appropriate targets for interventions that modify existing physical and/or social structures.

A scoping review of patterns, motives, and risk and protective factors for adolescent firearm carriage.

Firearm carriage is a key risk factor for interpersonal firearm violence, a leading cause of adolescent (age < 18) mortality. However, the epidemiology of adolescent firearm carriage has not been well characterized. This scoping review examined four databases (PubMed; Scopus; EMBASE; Criminal Justice Abstracts) to summarize research on patterns, motives, and underlying risk/protective factors for adolescent firearm carriage. Of 6156 unique titles, 53 peer-reviewed articles met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. These studies mostly examined urban Black youth, finding that adolescents typically carry firearms intermittently throughout adolescence and primarily for self-defense/protection. Seven future research priorities were identified, including: (1) examining adolescent carriage across age, gender, and racial/ethnic subgroups; (2) improving on methodological limitations of prior research, including disaggregating firearm from other weapon carriage and using more rigorous methodology (e.g., random/systematic sampling; broader population samples); (3) conducting longitudinal analyses that establish temporal causality for patterns, motives, and risk/protective factors; (4) capitalizing on m-health to develop more nuanced characterizations of underlying motives; (5) increasing the study of precursors for first-time carriage; (6) examining risk and protective factors beyond the individual-level; and, (7) enhancing the theoretical foundation for firearm carriage within future investigations.