Abstract
BackgroundThe prevalence and characteristics of handgun purchasers’ criminal charge histories have never been described for a large population of firearm owners, but such information is critical to understanding risk factors for subsequent violence in this population. We sought to characterize legal handgun purchasers in California and compare this group to the state population, to quantify the proportion with a criminal charge history at purchase, and to identify modifiable factors associated with of having such a history.MethodsThis cross-sectional study of all 79,927 legal handgun purchasers aged 21–49 years in California in 2001 used log-linear generalized additive models to identify factors associated with having a criminal charge history at purchase. Subjects are from a longitudinal study of incident criminal activity among handgun purchasers.ResultsThe majority (91.03%) of purchasers were male; whites were overrepresented and Hispanics were underrepresented relative to their population size. At the time of purchase, 16.68% had a criminal charge history and 10.71% had a criminal conviction. Among men with such a history, 31.28% had been charged with a violent crime and 16.54% had been charged with a firearm-related crime. The strongest factor associated with having a criminal charge history was redeeming a pawned handgun (prevalence ratio: 1.82; 95% confidence interval: 1.71, 1.93).ConclusionsDespite California’s stringent firearm purchase laws, more than 1-in-6 handgun purchasers had a criminal charge history at purchase. This proportion may be higher in states with less restrictive firearm purchasing eligibility criteria.
Highlights
The prevalence and characteristics of handgun purchasers’ criminal charge histories have never been described for a large population of firearm owners, but such information is critical to understanding risk factors for subsequent violence in this population
Our aims are: 1) to characterize the population of legal handgun purchasers in California and compare them to the adult population of the state, 2) to determine the prevalence of criminal charges and convictions among purchasers at the time of purchase, and 3) to determine what modifiable characteristics are associated with having a history of any criminal charges or of specific charge types known to be risk factors for violence at the time of purchase among legal handgun purchasers
There were 110,729 handgun purchasers aged 21 years and older in California in 2001, and 79,927 (72.18%) of these purchasers were between the ages of 21 and 49
Summary
The prevalence and characteristics of handgun purchasers’ criminal charge histories have never been described for a large population of firearm owners, but such information is critical to understanding risk factors for subsequent violence in this population. We sought to characterize legal handgun purchasers in California and compare this group to the state population, to quantify the proportion with a criminal charge history at purchase, and to identify modifiable factors associated with of having such a history. Firearm violence, both self- and other-directed, is a major threat to public health and was responsible for nearly 40, 000 deaths in 2018 alone (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control 2020). A history of alcohol or drug related offenses may indicate an underlying substance use disorder, which is associated with an increased risk for self-harm (Conner et al 2019; Anglemyer et al 2014), including with a firearm (Branas et al 2016)
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