NCJ Number
190682
Journal
Injury Prevention Volume: 7 Dated: 2001 Pages: 184-189
Date Published
2001
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This study examined the association between licensing and registration of firearm sales and an indicator of gun availability to criminals.
Abstract
The study used data for 27 cities in 23 States that participated in a federally funded program called the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative. Data were available for all 27 cities for all crime guns recovered by police from August 1, 1997, through July 31, 1998. For 17 of the 27 cities, data were also available for guns recovered from July 1, 1996, through April 30, 1997. To increase the reliability and sample size, the study combined data from the two reporting periods for those cities that had such data. The study found that in cities located in States with both mandatory registration and licensing systems (5 cities), a mean of 33.7 percent of crime guns were first sold by in-State gun dealers, compared with 72.7 percent in cities that had either registration or licensing but not both (7 cities), and 84.2 percent in cities without registration or licensing (13 cities). Little of the difference between cities with both licensing and registration and cities with neither licensing nor registration was explained by potential confounders. The share of the population near a city that resided in a neighboring State without licensing or registration laws was negatively associated with the outcome. Thus, States with registration and licensing systems apparently did a better job than other States of keeping guns initially sold within the State from being recovered in crimes. Proximity to States without these laws, however, may limit their impact. 1 table, 1 figure, and 30 references