NCJ Number
162689
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 86 Issue: 1 Dated: (Fall 1995) Pages: 59-92
Date Published
1995
Length
34 pages
Annotation
Gun ownership, firearms-related crime, and gun markets, particularly secondary gun markets, are analyzed with respect to their nature, extent, and policy implications.
Abstract
Data came from a literature review and an empirical analysis of gun markets in the Triangle area of North Carolina, based on document reviews and interviews with law enforcement personnel and incarcerated delinquents. The analysis indicated that the stock of guns is less important than the flow of guns in the criminal misuse of firearms and that the effective regulation of gun transactions would quickly reduce gun crime. In addition, guns are readily exchanged for cash or drugs; both youthful offenders and adult felons tend to be active in both sides of the fun market. Moreover, no Federal firearms license is involved in a large minority of the gun transactions each year; such transactions are largely beyond the reach of the current regulatory apparatus. Furthermore, a possible majority of the transactions that supply guns to proscribed people involve stolen guns. Nevertheless, despite its incomplete reach, the regulation of Federal firearms licenses does influence the terms on which guns are available in the secondary market. Measures that would help reduce the availability of guns to youth and criminals include State and Federal reforms to increase the licensing fee for Federal firearms licenses and to regulate them more closely and the regulation or abolition of gun shows. Additional recommendations, tables, and footnotes