Access to quality data for research

In this issue: Access to quality data is vital for research, and two recent court decisions have affirmed our continued access to crucial data that isn’t available in any other state.

Since 1989, VPRP researchers have used California’s unique Dealer’s Record of Sale (DROS) data to conduct ground-breaking research on firearm-related violence that simply couldn’t be done anywhere else. Examples span the decades: 

• Importance of categories of crime for predicting future violent crime among handgun purchasers in California (2023) categorized criminal histories of legal handgun purchasers and identified eight categories of prior crimes that were most important in prediction of subsequent violent crimes. 
• Factors Affecting a Recently Purchased Handgun’s Risk for Use in Crime under Circumstances That Suggest Gun Trafficking (2010) found that handguns used in crime under circumstances indicative of firearm trafficking were more likely to: be purchased in multiple-gun, same-day transactions; cost less than $150; be bought by a woman; and be sold by a retailer with over 2% of purchasers denied due to failed background checks.
• Mortality among recent purchasers of handguns (1999) found that handgun purchase is associated with an immediate and sustained increase in suicide risk. Risk of homicide with a firearm was elevated among women. 

In 2021, Assembly Bill 173 mandated that the state Department of Justice (DOJ) provide firearms data (including DROS) with us and other qualified researchers. Lawsuits challenging the law have recently been decided in state and federal appeals courts, both upholding AB 173 protecting our data access.

These rulings are wins for science. We are glad to be continuing this work and encourage other states to develop similar datasets and access for violence prevention researchers.   

Other topics covered:

• New research on ghost guns and crime, drugs and crime, political violence, and expectations of and perceived need for a civil war. 
• VPRP team members attended the SAVIR conference in Chapel Hill, NC. 
• Dr. Shani Buggs co-authored the in-depth LISC report "Supporting the Frontline Through Community Healing."

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