Arrestees and Guns:  Monitoring the Illegal Firearms Market.

NIJ Research Preview
Published: 9/95
4 pages
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Firearms are plentiful, easily obtained, and
regularly used by offenders in major urban areas,
according to interim findings from a study
conducted for the National Institute of Justice
(NIJ). Thirty-nine percent of arrestees reported
ever owning a firearm--a rate higher than the
general population's self-reported ownership rates
and lower than rates for more serious offenders.
Most troubling is that 40 percent of juvenile
males--for whom the possession of most firearms is
by statute illegal--reported ever possessing a
firearm. Just over a third of the juveniles
admitted to owning a firearm in the previous 30
days.

The findings are based on data collected by
researchers in interviews with more than 4,000
recent arrestees in 11 cities (Atlanta, Denver,
Detroit, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Los Angeles,
Miami, Phoenix, San Diego, St. Louis, and
Washington, D.C.) during the first 3 months of
1995. These cities were chosen because they
participated in NIJ's Drug Use Forecasting (DUF)
program and have high crime rates. Most provide
data on juveniles as well as adults. The DUF
program, on a quarterly basis, conducts urinalysis
tests and interviews with recent arrestees. Six of
the cities--Atlanta, Detroit, New Orleans, Miami,
St. Louis, and Washington, D.C.--were among the
U.S. cities with the highest levels of violent
crime in 1993.

Interim findings

The wide availability of firearms and the increase
in firearm violence among young people provided the
impetus for this study. The ongoing study is
focused on learning how offenders obtain firearms,
their motives in obtaining them, their patterns of
firearm use, and their experiences as victims of
firearms. Interim findings are based on interviews
with 2,343 adult males, 942 adult females, 753
juvenile males, and 103 juvenile females. Overall,
admitted gang membership and involvement in drug
sales appear to be most associated with gun
ownership. Highlights of the findings to date
include:

o  Fifteen percent of the total sample of arrestees
reported that they carried a gun all or most of the
time. (Among juvenile male arrestees, 22 percent
reported carrying a gun all or most of the time.)
For arrestees who admitted selling illegal drugs in
the past year, this figure jumps to 25 percent, and
for those who admit gang membership, it jumps to 36
percent.

o  Interestingly, those who tested positive (via
urinalysis) for illegal drugs were no more likely
to report possession or use of a firearm than those
whose test results were negative.

o  As might be expected, the illegal firearms
market has played a large role in providing
arrestees with access to weapons; 45 percent of
those interviewed said this was how they obtained
their guns.

o  A strong association was found between carrying
a gun and gang membership and carrying a gun and
illicit drug-selling. Of the total sample, 7
percent reported that they were current members of
a gang, and 19 percent reported having sold drugs
within the past year. Among those reporting gang
membership, 36 percent stated that they carried a
gun all or most of the time. Among respondents
reporting drug sales in the previous year, 25
percent indicated that they carried a gun all or
most of the time.

o  A similar association was found between illegal
gun procurement and gang membership or illicit drug
sales. Sixty percent of those who admitted to gang
membership reported having obtained their most
recently acquired gun through illegal means, and 60
percent of those who reported having sold illegal
drugs in the last year made a similar claim.

o  The majority of the sample (55 percent) reported
that it was easy to get firearms illegally, and
one-third of the sample (34 percent) said they
could get a gun in less than a week.

o  Twenty-four percent of the arrestees interviewed
admitted using a gun in a crime (32 percent of the
juvenile males), and one-third of that group said
they fired the gun during the crime. Considerably
higher figures were reported for gang members and
those who sold illegal drugs in the preceding year.

o  Thirteen percent of interviewed offenders
indicated that they had stolen a gun.

o  Arrestees have experienced high levels of
firearm victimization. Fifty-six percent had been
threatened with a gun (60 percent among adult male
arrestees and 55 percent among juvenile male
arrestees), 42 percent had been shot at (48 percent
among adult male arrestees and 50 percent among
juvenile male arrestees), and 16 percent had been
injured by gunshot (21 percent among adult male
arrestees and 11 percent among juvenile male
arrestees). Exposure to violence through
victimization was associated with the likelihood of
owning or possessing firearms. That is, arrestees
who reported being threatened or shot at were more
likely to admit gun ownership than those who had
not been victimized.

o  Arrestees' beliefs about firearm use suggest a
series of norms that support and encourage the use
of firearms to settle disputes. For example, 9
percent agreed with the statement, "It is OK to
shoot someone who has disrespected you," and 28
percent agreed that "It is OK to shoot someone who
hurt you." Among juvenile males, 38 percent held
this view.

Additional data for this project will be collected
through summer 1995, and a final report on the
project is expected to be available in late fall.

This study is being conducted under NIJ grant 95-
IJ-R014 by Scott Decker, Ph.D., Department of
Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of
Missouri-St. Louis, and Susan Pennell, Criminal
Justice Research Division, San Diego Association of
Governments. For further information on the
project, please contact Dr. Thomas Feucht, Program
Manager, Office of Research and Evaluation, NIJ, at
202-307-2949. Inquiries may also be made to Dr.
Decker at 314-516-5038 or Ms. Pennell at 619-595-
5383.

As part of NIJ's Research in Progress Seminar
Series, Dr. Decker and Ms. Pennell discussed this
study with an audience of researchers and criminal
justice professionals and practitioners. A 60-
minute VHS videotape Monitoring the Illegal
Firearms Market is available for $19.00 ($24.00 in
Canada and other countries). Please ask for NCJ
153850.

To order this tape, send cash, check, or money
order to National Criminal Justice Reference
Service, P.O. Box 6000, Rockville, MD 20849-6000.
Call 800-851-3420, or e-mail
askncjrs@ncjrs.aspensys.com if you have any
questions.