Effects of limiting handgun purchases on interstate transfer of firearms
Article Abstract:
Limiting the sale of guns to one per person per month could substantially reduce interstate gun trafficking. Many traffickers can buy guns cheaply in states with liberal gun laws and sell them at a higher price in states with more restrictive gun laws. Researchers used a firearms trace database compiled by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to estimate the odds that a firearm used in a crime in the Northeast could be traced to Virginia before and after a law was passed in Virginia limiting the sale of guns to one per person per month. Virginia and other Southeastern states are the principal supplier of weapons to the Northeast. Before the law was passed, 27% of the weapons used nationwide could be traced to Virginia. After the law took effect in July, 1993, that percentage dropped to 19%. This represents a 36% drop in nationwide gun trafficking originating in Virginia. Within the Northeast, gun trafficking originating in Virginia was reduced 66%.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1996
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Loaded guns in the home: analysis of a national random survey of gun owners
Article Abstract:
People who own handguns and who bought those guns to protect themselves are more likely to keep the gun loaded than people who own other types of firearms. A survey of 605 registered gun owners over the age of 18 found that more than one third kept the gun loaded all or part of the time. Over half did not keep the gun locked up. Those who bought handguns for protection and those who did not have children were more likely to keep the guns loaded. Southerners and members of minorities were also more likely to keep their guns loaded. The US General Accounting Office reports that 1,501 unintentional deaths from firearms occurred in 1988, and 277 of these were children. Most of the deaths occurred in or near the home, and handguns were involved in over 70% of the incidents. Many handgun owners do not follow important safety procedures, and easy access to a loaded gun may be a factor in many unintentional deaths, suicides and homicides.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1992
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Firearm training and storage
Article Abstract:
Many gun owners who participate in formal firearm training programs may store loaded guns in unlocked locations in their homes. Between May and June of 1994, researchers surveyed 800 adult gun owners to determine the owners' participation rate in firearm training programs, current methods of weapons storage, and the relationship between these variables. Fifty-six percent of gun owners had participated in a formal firearm training course. Twenty-one percent kept a loaded firearm unlocked in their home. Those who owned a gun for protection, handgun owners, and those who participated in a firearms training program were most likely to store a loaded firearm in an unlocked location in the home. Neither the recency of participation in a gun training program, the type of program, nor the program's duration had a significant effect on gun storage practices.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1995
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