The Dynamics of Race, Place, and Homicide Context in the Relationship between Firearm Dealers and Gun Violence

Intimate partner femicide in context: An examination of firearm type across the rural/urban divide

“…The availability of a firearm in the home is estimated to increase the risk for IPH from 5 to 8 times compared to households without readily available firearms (Bullock & Cubert, 2002;Campbell et al, 2003;Jeltsen, 2013), as a would-be perpetrator can quickly obtain a firearm without time to "cool down" before acting violently. Increasing the time and effort needed between experiencing aggressive tendencies and being able to execute a violent act has been suggested to reduce both firearm-related IPH (Semenza et al, 2020;Stansfield & Semenza, 2019;Wintemute et al, 2003;Zeoli et al, 2016) as well as firearm-related suicide (Brent & Bridge, 2003).…”

“…This finding has been interpreted in a couple of different ways, most notably speculation that the higher rate of pre-existing gun ownership in rural areas compared to urban areas renders the presence of a nearby gun store less salient to acting out violence and aggression (Branas et al, 2004;Kadet, 2016;Weisheit et al, 2005;Wiebe et al, 2009). Conversely, in urban areas, the rate of federal firearm licensees (FFLs) may increase ease of access to obtain a firearm having a greater impact on those that do not already own a gun (Semenza et al, 2020;. The higher rate of pre-existing gun ownership in rural areas can be partially attributed to the unique "gun culture" that exists in rural areas (Cunningham et al, 2000;Gillespie & Reckdenwald, 2017;Steidley et al, 2017;Websdale, 1998;Wiebe et al, 2009).…”

“…Following recent studies on legal firearm acquisition (e.g., Semenza et al, 2020;Stansfield & Semenza, 2019;Wiebe et al, 2009), firearm availability is captured via the rate of federal firearm licensees per 100,000 residents. The number of federal firearm licensees, which includes the number of licensed importers, pawnshops, and sellers of firearms was obtained from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives' (ATF) list of federal firearms licensees as of December 2015.…”

“…As with the Economic Disadvantage Index, the Hispanic Immigration Index was created using weighted factor loadings and had an Eigenvalue of 1.18. Consistent with previous macro-level research on IPH, we also control for the non-IPH rate per county (logged to reduce skewness) (Semenza et al, 2020;Stansfield & Semenza, 2019). Finally, we include two state-level dummy controls: whether the county is in a state with a Mandatory Arrest Law for DV and whether the county is in a state located in the South.…”

Associations of firearm dealer openings with firearm self-harm deaths and injuries: A differences-in-differences analysis

“…Local-level firearm dealer proximity or density, which are more likely to shape behavior, and nonfatal firearm self-harm injuries remain unexamined. Existing evidence on firearm homicides, robberies, gun-related crimes, or the proportion of suicides completed with firearms (a proxy for firearm ownership) suggests these outcomes are higher in areas with greater densities of firearm dealers [17,[19][20][21][22][23]. One concern with these cross-community comparisons is that confounding factors such as gun culture or business opportunity may determine both where firearm dealers are located and where firearm ownership or use may be higher.…”