Country-level firearm availability and terrorism: A new approach to examining the gun-crime relationship

Objectives: This study examines the association between a country's gun availability and firearm-related terrorism. Methods: Employing data from 140 countries, we assess the possible relationship between a country's rate of suicide by firearm and their count of terrorist attacks involving a firearm through a series of structural equation models. Results: Collectively, we find that there is a positive relationship between gun availability and firearm-related terrorism in 2016 and 2017. However, this result fails our robustness check and is sensitive to the inclusion of the U.S. Conclusion: With important caveats, we believe the U.S. to be unique in terms of both gun availability and terrorism.

Firearm Availability, Homicide, and the Context of Structural Disadvantage

This study examines how legal and illegal firearm availability correspond to subsequent rates of firearm and non-firearm homicide in 226 U.S. cities from 2010 through 2017. We also assess how city-level economic disadvantage conditions this relationship. Results show that greater availability of illegal guns corresponds to future rates of firearm homicide while the rate of legal firearms dealers does not significantly influence firearm homicide. The association between firearm availability and homicide is conditional upon level of structural economic disadvantage. Our findings support efforts to decrease access to illegal firearms to reduce gun violence, especially among vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.

Firearms and violence in Europe–A systematic review

Background Higher availability of firearms has been connected to higher rates of interpersonal violence in previous studies. Yet, those studies have focused mainly on the United States, or used aggregated international data to study firearm violence. Whether those aggregated findings are applicable to understanding the phenomenon in continental Europe specifically remains unclear. The aim of this systematic review is to bring together all studies that exclusively use European data. Methods Nine databases were searched, resulting in more than 1900 individual studies. These studies were assessed on relevance and eligibility for this study, based on their title, abstract and full text. Information on study characteristics, operationalizations of main concepts and study results were extracted from the six eligible studies. Results Four studies assessed the impact of firearm restrictive regulations on the rate of firearm homicides. Two other studies correlated rates of firearm availability and -violence. Results vary: some studies show a clear decline once availability of firearms is restricted, while others indicate a limited effect on only a very specific subgroup, such as female victims, or national guards with weapons at home. Moreover, studies used various operationalizations for firearm availability, thereby decreasing the comparability of findings. Conclusion Empirical research exclusively using European data is still lacking. To increase comparability of future studies, methodological inconsistencies and regional gaps need to be overcome. Assessing how firearm availability can be measured with reliable and valid proxies across countries will be a crucial first step to improve future research on the link between firearms and firearm violence.

Trends in method-specific suicide in Brazil from 2000 to 2017

Purpose Understanding long-term patterns of suicide methods can inform public health policy and prevention strategies. In Brazil, firearm-related policies may be one salient target for suicide prevention. This study describes trends in method-specific suicide at the national and state-levels in Brazil, with a particular focus on firearm-related suicides. Methods Brazilian mortality data for suicide and undetermined intent among people aged 10 years and older between 2000 and 2017 were obtained from the National Mortality Information System. We examined national and state-level trends in age-standardised suicide rates for hanging, self-poisoning, firearms, jumping from a high place, other, and unspecified methods. We also compared total rates of mortality from suicide and undetermined intent over the period. Applying Joinpoint regression, we tested changes in trends of firearm-specific suicide rates. Results The total suicide rate increased between 2000 and 2017. Rates of hanging, self-poisoning by drugs or alcohol and jumping from a high place showed the largest increases, while firearm-specific suicide rates decreased over the study period. Trends in methods of suicide varied by sex and state. Conclusion It is of public health concern that suicide rates in Brazil have risen this millennium. Restricting access to firearms might be an effective approach for reducing firearm-specific suicides, especially in states where firearm availability remains particularly high. Treatment and management of substance misuse may also be an important target for suicide prevention policies. More work is needed to understand the causes of rising suicide rates in Brazil and to improve the mental health of the population.

Association of firearm exposure during youth with lifetime incidence of suicide ideation and suicide attempts

Background: Preliminary evidence suggests firearm availability may increase the risk for suicide ideation and attempts, two common precursors to suicide death. Little is known about which aspects of firearm availability may account for this association. The primary purpose of this study was to examine associations among multiple dimensions of firearm availability with lifetime history of suicide ideation and attempts.Methods: A cross-sectional, anonymous survey was administered to 6200 U.S. adults from March 5, 2020, to March 17, 2020. Participants were asked to report firearm availability, firearm use, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors over the lifespan. Results: Rates of lifetime suicide ideation were significantly elevated among participants reporting a firearm in their childhood home (odds ratio [OR]=1.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.1-1.5). Rates of lifetime suicide attempt were significantly elevated among participants reporting a firearm in their childhood home (OR=1.8, 95% CI=1.5-2.2) and participants who first acquired a firearm before the age of 11 (OR=3.8, 95% CI=2.6-5.8). Among participant with a lifetime history of suicide ideation, rates of lifetime suicide attempt were significantly elevated among participants who first acquired a firearm before the age of 11 (OR=3.0, 95% CI=1.4-6.4), but this relationship was no longer significant when adjusting for demographics and negative affectivity (OR=2.4, 95% CI=0.96-6.0). Conclusions: Adults who were raised in a home with a firearm and/or first acquired a firearm were significantly more likely to have attempted suicide during their lives. Additional research examining the mechanisms by which early life firearm exposure might increase suicide risk across the lifespan is warranted.

Race–gender bias in white Americans’ preferences for gun availability

We argue that Americans’ policy attitudes on firearm availability are influenced by the identity of the prospective owner. We use an experiment to demonstrate that attitudes towards gun control/availability are influenced by both race and gender; whether subjects are primed to think of African-Americans versus whites or men versus women has a substantial impact on the degree to which they support firearm access. We find that for many white Americans, Black men and white women stand on opposite poles – priming white Americans with the thought of a Black man decreases support for gun availability, whereas priming the thought of a white woman increases support for gun availability. Further, the magnitude of this effect is quite large – comparable to the difference between Democrats and Republicans. These findings underscore the importance of thinking about the complicated role identity groups play in understanding Americans’ preferences for government (in)action, even in policy areas with explicit Constitutional mandates.

Firearm Instrumentality: Do Guns Make Violent Situations More Lethal?

One of the central debates animating the interpretation of gun research for public policy is the question of whether the presence of firearms independently makes violent situations more lethal, known as an instrumentality effect, or whether determined offenders will simply substitute other weapons to affect fatalities in the absence of guns. The latter position assumes sufficient intentionality among homicide assailants to kill their victims, irrespective of the tools available to do so. Studies on the lethality of guns, the likelihood of injury by weapon type, offender intent, and firearm availability provide considerable evidence that guns contribute to fatalities that would otherwise have been nonfatal assaults. The increasing lethality of guns, based on size and technology, and identifiable gaps in existing gun control policies mean that new and innovative policy interventions are required to reduce firearm fatalities and to alleviate the substantial economic and social costs associated with gun violence. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Criminology, Volume 4 is January 13, 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Firearm Availability and Fatal Police Shootings

Do states with more guns have higher rates of fatal police shootings? This article uses a validated measure of firearm availability (the percentage of suicides committed with a firearm) to examine the relationship between gun proliferation and fatal police shootings. It expands on existing research to include (1) measures of access to Level I and II trauma centers, (2) interpretation of the findings from the lenses of “statistical prediction,” and (3) tests for structural differences between models for black decedents versus nonblack decedents. Findings confirm the correlation between statewide prevalence of gun ownership and fatal police shootings for both all decedents and unarmed decedents. It provides partial support for “statistical prediction” by police and finds that greater access to trauma centers is associated with lower rates of citizen deaths. The analysis suggests a far broader range of policy options for saving lives, such as better enforcement of legal restrictions on firearm possession, than focusing solely on policing systems.