DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03145
title: Gun Density, Gun Type, and the Dallas Homicide Rate, 1980-1992
title: Archival Version

description: This study examined the relationships among trends in
deadly gun violence, overall gun availability, and the availability of
more lethal types of guns. Using firearms confiscated by the Dallas,
Texas, police department from 1980 to 1992 as indicators of the types
of guns circulating among criminal/high-risk groups, the project
examined changes over time in Dallas' street gun arsenal and assessed
the impact these changes had upon gun violence mortality in
Dallas. The focus of the project was on the characteristics of the
guns rather than their numbers. All confiscated firearms were analyzed
and characterized according to basic weapon type and caliber
groupings. Dates of confiscation were missing from the majority of the
pre-1988 records, but by aggregating the gun data into bimonthly (Part
1) and quarterly (Part 2) time series databases, it was possible to
estimate the bimonthly and quarterly periods of confiscation for most
of the 1980-1992 records. Records that could not be assigned to
bimonthly or quarterly periods were dropped. Confiscated firearms were
grouped into basic categories based on stopping power (i.e., wounding
potential), rate of fire, and ammunition capacity. The following
measures were created for each bimonthly and quarterly period: (1)
weapons with high stopping power (large guns), (2) semiautomatic
weaponry (semis), (3) weapons combining high stopping power and a
semiautomatic firing mechanism (large semis), (4) handguns with high
stopping power (large handguns), (5) semiautomatic handguns (semi
handguns), and (6) handguns combining high stopping power and
semiautomatic firing (large semi handguns). Several violence measures
were obtained from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Uniform
Crime Reports Supplemental Homicide Reports and Return A (or Offenses
Known and Clearances by Arrest) data files (see UNIFORM CRIME
REPORTING PROGRAM DATA [UNITED STATES]: 1975-1997 [ICPSR 9028]). These
measures were also aggregated at bimonthly and quarterly levels. Data
from the Dallas Police Department master gun property file include
total handguns, total semiautomatic handguns, total large-caliber
handguns, total large-caliber semiautomatic handguns, total shotguns,
total semiautomatic shotguns, total rifles, total semiautomatic
rifles, and total counts and total semiautomatic counts for various
calibers of handguns, shotguns, and rifles. Data that were aggregated
using the FBI data include total homicides, gun homicides, total
robberies, gun robberies, and gun aggravated assaults. The data file
also includes the year and the bimonthly or quarterly period counter.
description: Social scientists have rarely examined
 consequences stemming from the availability and use of differentially
 lethal guns, despite empirical and theoretical grounds for believing
 that some guns are more lethal than others. However, a number of
 recent studies have linked increases in homicides to the growing use
 of semiautomatic and/or high-powered firearms by criminals. These
 studies imply that gun violence is becoming more deadly due to the
 substitution of more lethal firearms for less lethal firearms. Using
 data from Dallas, Texas, for the period 1980-1992, this study examined
 the relationships among trends in deadly gun violence, overall gun
 availability, and the availability of more lethal types of guns. Using
 firearms confiscated by police as indicators of the types of guns
 circulating among criminal/high-risk groups, the project examined
 changes over time in Dallas's street gun arsenal and assessed the
 impact these changes had upon gun violence mortality in Dallas. The
 project also examined whether trends in the use of different types of
 guns predicted gun homicides better than a more traditional measure of
overall gun density.
description: This study was based on information regarding
 approximately 58,000 guns confiscated by Dallas police from 1980
 through 1992. The data include guns seized in association with arrests
 or other incidents as well as guns that were found or voluntarily
 turned in by citizens. The focus of the project was on the
 characteristics of the guns rather than their numbers. All confiscated
 firearms were analyzed and characterized according to basic weapon
 type and caliber groupings. Dates of confiscation were missing from
 the majority of the pre-1988 records, but by aggregating the gun data
 into bimonthly (Part 1) and quarterly (Part 2) time-series databases,
 it was possible to estimate the bimonthly and quarterly periods of
 confiscation for most of the 1980-1992 records. Records that could not
 be assigned to bimonthly or quarterly periods were dropped.
 Confiscated firearms were grouped into basic categories based on
 stopping power (i.e., wounding potential), rate of fire, and
 ammunition capacity. The following measures were created for each
 bimonthly and quarterly period: (1) weapons with high stopping power
 (large guns), (2) semiautomatic weaponry (semis), (3) weapons
 combining high stopping power and a semiautomatic firing mechanism
 (large semis), (4) handguns with high stopping power (large handguns),
 (5) semiautomatic handguns (semi handguns), and (6) handguns combining
 high stopping power and semiautomatic firing (large semi handguns).
 Several violence measures were obtained from the Federal Bureau of
 Investigation's (FBI) Uniform Crime Reports Supplemental Homicide
 Reports and Return A (or Offenses Known and Clearances by
 Arrest) data files (see UNIFORM CRIME REPORTING PROGRAM DATA [UNITED STATES]:
 1975-1997 [ICPSR 9028]). These measures were also aggregated at
 bimonthly and quarterly levels. An added advantage to using the
 bimonthly and quarterly time points was that they provide robust gun
 measures that are less sensitive to random events that could
 conceivably distort the gun measures (such as drug busts, which might
produce large caches of weapons).
description: Data from the Dallas, Texas, police department
 master gun property file include total handguns, total semiautomatic
 handguns, total large-caliber handguns, total large-caliber
 semiautomatic handguns, total shotguns, total semiautomatic shotguns,
 total rifles, total semiautomatic rifles, and total counts and total
 semiautomatic counts for various calibers of handguns, shotguns, and
 rifles. Data aggregated using the FBI data include total homicides,
 gun homicides, total robberies, gun robberies, and gun aggravated
 assaults. The data file also includes the year and the bimonthly or
quarterly period counter.
description: Response Rates: Not applicable.
description: Presence of Common Scales: None.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Bimonthly Data
DS2: Quarterly Data
description: All guns confiscated by Dallas police from 1980 through
1992.
description: Users are encouraged to obtain a copy of the Final
Report for detailed information on the generation of these data and
the project's time-series analysis.The user guide and the
codebook are provided by ICPSR as Portable Document Format (PDF)
files. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated
and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe
Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat
Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.