News: Firearm Acquisition and Ownership

Numbers at a crime scene

How firearms move from legal purchase to criminal use

“Tracking the movement of firearms from legal purchase to use in crimes can help inform prevention of firearm injuries and deaths,” explained Hannah S. Laqueur, senior author of the study. Laqueur is an associate professor in the UC Davis Health Department of Emergency Medicine.

Gun characteristics associated with weapons being recovered at a crime include:

Firearm Acquisition and Ownership
Guns on display

Can records of firearm purchases help prevent mass shootings?

A first-of-its-kind study examining records of gun purchases in California found that mass and active shooters have distinct patterns of buying guns compared to other legal purchasers. The UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program (VPRP) research was published in the Journal of Criminal Justice.

Firearm Acquisition and Ownership
Artistic depiction of machine learning

Machine learning identifies gun buyers at risk of suicide

A study from the Violence Prevention Research Program (VPRP) at UC Davis suggests machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence, may help identify handgun purchasers who are at high risk of suicide. It also identified individual and community characteristics that are predictive of firearm suicide.

Firearm Acquisition and Ownership
CVP logo placeholder image

Gun owner perceptions about actual firearm dangers suggest opportunities for improving gun safety

People who own guns and those living with gun owners are substantially less worried about the risk of firearm injuries than individuals living in homes without guns, says a new study by violence prevention experts at UC Davis Health.

Firearm Acquisition and Ownership
CVP logo placeholder image

Insights about firearm ownership and opinion may help advance gun violence prevention policy

Patterns in gun ownership-related characteristics and motivations, such as the types and number of firearms owned and reasons for ownership, offer insights into how those owners might view proposals designed to prevent firearm-related harm.

Firearm Acquisition and Ownership
CVP logo placeholder image

Surge in firearm purchasing during pandemic’s onset linked to higher rates of firearm violence in U.S.

A surge in firearm purchasing in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic – estimated to be over 2.1 million excess purchases – is linked to a significant increase in firearm violence. 

The study findings are consistent with the significant body of research linking greater firearm access with increased rates of firearm violence at the population, household and individual levels.

Firearm Acquisition and Ownership
CVP logo placeholder image

Handgun purchasers with a prior DUI have a greater risk for serious violence, study finds

Legal purchasers of handguns with a prior DUI conviction have a greater risk of a future arrest for a violent offense -- including murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault and for firearm-related violent crimes.

Firearm Acquisition and OwnershipHomicide