Weapon Choice and American Political Violence: A Comparison of Terrorist and Other Felons in Federal Custody

• NCJ Number: 228409
• Journal: Criminology and Public Policy Volume: 8 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2009 Pages: 531-559
• Author(s): Richard L. Legault; James C. Hendrickson
• Date Published: August 2009
• Length: 29 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Special issue on Homeland Security and Terrorism for additional articles see NCJ-228405-08, and NCJ-228410.

Annotation

This comparative analysis study examined the firearm-offending characteristics of a sample of Federal felons and terrorists using data from the American Terrorism Study and the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Abstract

Study findings indicate that many systematic differences exist between terrorists and other types of Federal felons and that terrorists were more likely than other felons to be convicted of firearm-related crimes. It is recommended that efforts to monitor weapons sales continue to include those named on the terrorist watch list, and Federal law-enforcement agencies should coordinates these efforts. Recent policy debates regarding the terrorism-crime nexus have focused on firearms. However, most research on terrorism has focused on terrorist groups or incidents, not on individuals who have participated in terrorism; therefore, little research has examined terrorist weapon choice or any individual-level characteristic of terrorists. Using data from the American Terrorism Study and the U.S. Sentencing Commission, this study examined the firearm-offending characteristics of 923 Federal felons and 336 terrorists. Figure, tables, references, and appendix