Public guns, private violence: The association of city-level firearm availability and intimate partner homicide in the United States

Stansfield, Richard; Semenza, Daniel C.; Steidley, Trent

doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106599

Cited by 14 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Yu et al (2020) found that illegal firearm availability is a robust predictor of the number of shootings in neighborhoods in Newark, New Jersey. In a final study, Stansfield and colleagues (2021) found that illegal firearm access in cities corresponds to firearm homicides between non-intimate associates. Together, this body of work suggest that the availability of illegal guns influences violent crime rates.…”

Section: Why Should Firearm Availability Influence Violent Crime?mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…More specifically, illegally obtained guns may be more likely to be used during the course of a violent crime, whereas legally obtained weapons may be more salient in a defensive context or have no relationship to criminal violence at all (Stolzenberg & D’Alessio, 2000). The availability of legal firearms may also have a greater influence on shootings that occur in the home, such as incidents between intimate partners, but have few effects for street violence-related shootings (Stansfield et al, 2021; Stansfield & Semenza, 2019). Given very limited research that examines these two types of gun availability alongside one another, however, it remains difficult to determine the different effects they may have for rates of homicide.…”

Section: Why Should Firearm Availability Influence Violent Crime?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, most studies that examine the influence of gun availability on violent crime leverage broad measures of availability or examine legal and illegal availability separately. Although researchers have found that greater legal availability of firearms through FFLs heightens risk for gun violence in major cities (Semenza, Stansfield, & Link, 2020; Steidley, Ramey, & Shrider, 2017; Wiebe et al, 2009), others have shown that the availability of illegal firearms increases the risk of gun violence in the community (Dierenfeldt et al, 2017; Stansfield, Semenza, & Steidley, 2021; Stolzenberg & D’Alessio, 2000; Yu et al, 2020). Only one study to our knowledge has assessed the concurrent influence of both illegal and legal gun availability on firearm homicide rates, specifically across counties in South Carolina (Stolzenberg & D’Alessio, 2000).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Firearm Availability, Homicide, and the Context of Structural Disadvantage

et al. 2021

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This study examines how legal and illegal firearm availability correspond to subsequent rates of firearm and non-firearm homicide in 226 U.S. cities from 2010 through 2017. We also assess how city-level economic disadvantage conditions this relationship. Results show that greater availability of illegal guns corresponds to future rates of firearm homicide while the rate of legal firearms dealers does not significantly influence firearm homicide. The association between firearm availability and homicide is conditional upon level of structural economic disadvantage. Our findings support efforts to decrease access to illegal firearms to reduce gun violence, especially among vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.

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Section: Why Should Firearm Availability Influence Violent Crime?mentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Why Should Firearm Availability Influence Violent Crime?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Firearm Availability, Homicide, and the Context of Structural Disadvantage

et al. 2021

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“…Research at the county level shows that gun store prevalence in surrounding counties is associated with a greater incidence of general gun violence and intimate partner homicide (Wiebe et al 2009). In another study of 286 U.S. cities, Stansfield, Semenza, and Steidley (2021) find that FFL prevalence is correlated with intimate partner homicide after accounting for access to stolen guns, especially in states with low existing firearm ownership. Although these findings imply that greater availability of firearms may generate more chances for disputes to become violent or lethal, this issue has not been studied at the micro level with consideration of the precise location of FFLs and gun violence along local street networks.…”

Section: Firearm Availability and The Role Of Local Gun Dealersmentioning

confidence: 95%

Firearm Dealers and Local Gun Violence: A Street Network Analysis of Shootings and Concentrated Disadvantage in Atlanta

Semenza

Griffiths

et al. 2022

Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency

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Objectives Examine the spatial relationship between firearm dealers and shootings in Atlanta. Methods We combine data from the Atlanta Police Department (APD), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the American Community Survey (ACS) to conduct a street network analysis from 2016 through 2018. We employ the Network Cross K Function to assess whether firearm dealers attract shootings in the city. We examine whether this spatial relationship differs by level of concentrated disadvantage in neighborhoods. Results Without consideration of concentrated neighborhood disadvantage, firearm dealers and shootings are spatially unrelated to one another. Tract-level disadvantage influences the relationship between firearm dealers and shootings wherein dealers significantly attract shootings in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Conversely, shootings are located further from gun stores in non-disadvantaged communities. Shootings related to manslaughter and assault, but not robbery, are spatially associated with firearm dealers in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Conclusions Building on prior research regarding firearm dealers and gun violence, we find support for an attraction effect in disadvantaged neighborhoods for certain types of shootings. We contextualize these findings within a broader discussion of how firearm dealers contribute to the complex ecology of local gun violence. This is important in light of federal policies and investments related to the prevention of and response to gun crime.

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“…But, access to firearms is the strongest risk factor for intimate partner homicide in the U.S., increasing the odds of intimate partner violence turning lethal by five to ten times (Campbell et al, 2003; Spencer & Stith, 2020). There is also evidence that community levels of gun ownership are positively associated with firearms-related intimate partner homicide (Diez et al, 2017; Stansfield et al, 2021), and more restrictive firearms legislation is associated with lower rates of intimate partner homicide (Caman et al, 2017).…”

Section: Intimate Partner Homicide: a Brief Review Of The Existing Li...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the Factors that Impact Suicide Following Heterosexual Intimate Partner Homicide: Social Context, Gender Dynamics, and Firearms

Zimmerman

Fridel

McArdle

2022

J Interpers Violence

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Despite a wealth of research on intimate partner homicide, research on intimate partner homicide followed by suicide of the perpetrator is sparse. Existing studies on intimate partner homicide-suicide: tend to be descriptive, not keeping pace with quantitative advances in the epidemiological and social sciences; have yet to examine how context impacts intimate partner homicide-suicide; and are typically limited to male perpetrators, given small localized samples of female-perpetrated intimate partner (homicide and) homicide-suicide. This study uses data on 7584 heterosexual intimate partner homicide and homicide-suicide cases distributed across 2465 places and 42 U.S. states from the National Violent Death Reporting System (2003–2018) to examine the victim and perpetrator characteristics, relationship dynamics, situational factors, and contextual features that influence the likelihood of committing suicide following intimate partner homicide. Hierarchical logistic regression models indicate that victim characteristics that increase the vulnerability to victimization (alcohol and drug use, mental health problems, less than some college education) decrease the odds of committing suicide following intimate partner homicide. Similarly, situational (victim weapon usage, additional perpetrators) and contextual (concentrated disadvantage, residential instability) risk factors decrease the odds of committing suicide following intimate partner homicide. Conversely, impairment of the perpetrator (alcohol use, mental health problems) and a more intimate victim-perpetrator relationship (spousal relationship, caregiver) increases the odds of homicide-suicide. Additionally, results indicate that firearms play an integral part in homicide-suicide as well as in decreasing the gender gap in homicide-suicide. The findings suggest that the internalization of guilt by perpetrators of intimate partner homicide may play a key role in subsequent suicide. Practically, limiting firearm exposure will not only reduce the lethality of intimate partner violence, but will decrease the odds of perpetrator suicide following intimate partner homicide. This is particularly true for female-perpetrated homicide-suicide, which is unlikely to occur without a firearm.

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Public guns, private violence: The association of city-level firearm availability and intimate partner homicide in the United States

Cited by 14 publications

References 42 publications

Firearm Availability, Homicide, and the Context of Structural Disadvantage

Firearm Availability, Homicide, and the Context of Structural Disadvantage

Firearm Dealers and Local Gun Violence: A Street Network Analysis of Shootings and Concentrated Disadvantage in Atlanta

Examining the Factors that Impact Suicide Following Heterosexual Intimate Partner Homicide: Social Context, Gender Dynamics, and Firearms

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