NCJ Number
180450
Journal
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology Volume: 32 Issue: 1 Dated: April 1999 Pages: 61-78
Date Published
April 1999
Length
18 pages
Annotation
A survey of 51 New Zealand inmates focused on their acquisition and use of illegal firearms to obtain information about patterns of firearms ownership within the criminal community.
Abstract
The survey took place in early 1997. The participants had all been convicted of illegal possession of a firearm, aggravated robbery with a firearm, or murder with a firearm. Many results were similar to those from a study that took place in the United States in the mid-1980's. However, the New Zealanders differed from Americans in being armed less frequently and in being more restricted in their access to handguns. The shotgun was the most common, popular, cheap, and easily acquired weapon among the New Zealanders. The study participants used shotguns in more than half the crimes for which they had been imprisoned; in 70 percent of the cases the weapon had a sawn-off butt or barrel. The next most common weapons used were pistols and rifles. The use of military semi-automatics was rare. Findings confirmed the existence of a large pool of illegally held firearms in New Zealand and that people can relatively easily obtain firearms of almost any type from within the criminal community. Table and 18 references (Author abstract modified)