Criminal Acquisition and Use of Firearms (From Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms, P 1-20, 1986, James D Wright and Peter H Rossi, -- See NCJ-118888)

• NCJ Number: 118889
• Author(s): J D Wright; P H Rossi
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 20 pages
• Grant Number(s): 82-NIJ-CX-0001
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Sale Source: Aldine de Gruyter Publishing Co
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

A survey of inmate felons questioned their acquisition and use of guns in the period before their imprisonment.

Abstract

Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 1,874 felons in State prisons in Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, and Massachusetts. The sample closely resembled the State prisoner population as a whole. Most in the sample had grown up around guns and had owned and used guns for most of their lives. Approximately 40 percent of the sample claimed never to have committed any crime armed with any kind of weapon. When asked what kinds of traits would be important to them in a handgun, accuracy, untraceability, and construction quality were the factors mentioned most often. Forty percent of the sample's most recent handguns were obtained from friends. Thirty-one percent of the directly stolen handguns were reported to have been stolen from friends or family members. Another 30 percent were stolen from various gray-market and black-market sources. Policy implications pertain to the reduction of violence in impoverished urban neighborhoods, reduction in firearms thefts, and the effectiveness of handgun control laws and the enhancement of penalties for using a firearm in the commission of a felony.