NCJ Number
174595
Date Published
1998
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Data from the California Behavioral Risk Factor Survey were examined for the 1994-1996 period to assess the number of household firearms in California.
Abstract
The analysis included data from 11,861 of 12,071 survey respondents. Logistic regression was used to determine what characteristics independently predicted having household firearms. Firearm ownership proved to be related to population density, marital status, gender, age, education, annual household income, and race/ethnicity. Each of these characteristics was related to having firearms in the home, independent of other characteristics. Employment status and the presence and ages of children in the household were not related to having firearms in the home. People in high-density, more urban counties were less likely to have firearms in the home than people in less urban counties. Married and unmarried men were quite similar in reporting firearm ownership. Married women, however, were twice as likely as unmarried women to report firearm ownership. Older adults were more likely than younger adults to have firearms in the home, people with higher annual household incomes were more likely to have firearms in the home than people with lower annual household incomes, and white adults were more likely than all other races and ethnicities to have firearms in the home. Overall, about 6.5 million California adults (30 percent) had firearms in the home. 15 references and 1 figure