Gun Free Zones in Alcohol-Serving Establishments and Risk for Firearm Violence: A Cross-Sectional, Geospatial Study in Texas.

To date, there have been no peer-reviewed studies in the United States estimating the impact of gun-free zone policies in alcohol-serving establishments on rates of firearm violence in and around such establishments. In this study, we utilized a cross-sectional design to estimate the impact of Texas's 51% alcohol law, which prohibits the carrying of firearms in establishments that generate over half of their revenue from alcohol sales. The analysis focused on the difference in shooting incidents in and around establishments with and without firearm carrying prohibitions in 2021 and 2022.

Individual, firearm, and purchasing characteristics associated with risk of firearm-related violent crime arrest: a nested case-control study.

Background: Firearm purchasing records offer a potentially important administrative data source to identify individuals at elevated risk of perpetrating firearm violence. In this study, we describe individual, firearm, and transaction characteristics of purchasers in California who were arrested for a firearm-related violent crime (FRV) as compared to the general population of registered purchasers in the state.

Methods: Relying on a dataset of all individuals with transaction records in California (1996-2021), linked to criminal records (1980-2021), we enrolled a cohort of individuals for whom we could capture the legal firearm purchase history.

Drugs, guns, and violent crime in California.

Background: There is evidence linking use of controlled substances with perpetration of interpersonal violence. While the United States constitution protects the right to own a firearm, federal law prohibits firearm purchase and possession by persons believed to be at high risk for violence, including those who use controlled substances unlawfully.

Methods: We report here the results of a 13-year prospective observational study on the risk of violent crime associated with a history of criminal drug charges in a cohort of 79,678 legal purchasers of handguns in California in 2001.

Importance of categories of crime for predicting future violent crime among handgun purchasers in California.

Background: Prohibiting the purchase and possession of firearms by those at risk of violence is an established approach to preventing firearm violence. Prior studies of legal purchasers have focused on convictions for specific crimes, such as violent misdemeanors and driving under the influence (DUI). We broaden that line of inquiry by investigating and comparing the associations between prior arrests for most categories of crime and subsequent arrest for violent offenses among legal handgun purchasers in California.

Invited Commentary: Concealed Carrying of Firearms, Public Policy, and Opportunities for Mitigating Harm.

In the last 30 years, 25 US states have relaxed laws regulating the concealed carrying of firearms (concealed-carry weapons (CCW) laws). These changes may have substantial impacts on violent crime. In a recent study, Doucette et al.

Crime and Building Rehabilitation or Demolition: A Dose-Response Analysis.

Thousands of buildings in Cleveland, Ohio were demolished or rehabilitated since the Great Recession in the 2000s. Recent evidence suggests removing vacant and decaying buildings reduces violent and firearm-involved crime. This study examines the dose-response relationship between demolitions, rehabilitations, and crime.

Effects of building demolitions on firearm violence in Detroit, Michigan.

Former industrial cities facing economic challenges and depopulation often experience high levels of firearm and other forms of violence. Within these cities, violent crime often clusters in neighborhoods affected by high levels of vacant and abandoned housing. This study estimates the effects of building demolition in Detroit, Michigan on the subsequent risk of violent crime using property-level data and longitudinal targeted maximum likelihood estimation.

Simulating the bounds of plausibility: Estimating the impact of high-risk versus population-based approaches to prevent firearm injury.

Background: Firearm violence remains a persistent public health threat. Comparing the impact of targeted high-risk versus population-based approaches to prevention may point to efficient and efficacious interventions. We used agent-based modeling to conduct a hypothetical experiment contrasting the impact of high-risk (disqualification) and population-based (price increase) approaches on firearm homicide in New York City (NYC).

Prior Drug-Related Criminal Charges and Risk for Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration Among Authorized Purchasers of Handguns in California.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a considerable public health problem in the US, and evidence suggests that both drugs and firearms contribute to the risk of IPV and its severity. This study uses a retrospective, longitudinal cohort design to explore the association between past arrests, charges incurred in the legal process, and convictions for drug-related crimes, and risk of future arrest for IPV among legal handgun purchasers. The cohort included all legal purchasers of handguns in California in 2001 between the ages of 21 and 49 ( = 79,678), 156 of whom had pre-purchase drug charges and post-purchase IPV charges.

Intimate Partner Violence and Subsequent Violent Offending Among Handgun Purchasers.

Perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV) often reoffend, and firearm access increases risk of severe injury or fatality. Prior research identifies an association between a history of violent misdemeanor convictions among handgun purchasers and increased risk of subsequent arrest for a violent crime; the risk associated specifically with an IPV criminal history remains largely unexplored. The current study examined a cohort of 76,311 California adults who legally purchased a handgun in 2001 and followed them through 2013.

SuperMICE: An Ensemble Machine Learning Approach to Multiple Imputation by Chained Equations.

Researchers often face the problem of how to address missing data. Multiple imputation is a popular approach, with multiple imputation by chained equations (MICE) being among the most common and flexible methods for execution. MICE iteratively fits a predictive model for each variable with missing values, conditional on other variables in the data.

Gun violence against unhoused and unstably housed women: A cross-sectional study that highlights links to childhood violence.

Background: Unstably housed women experience high levels of violence. While previous studies have investigated psychological, physical, and sexual violence, weapon and gun violence are rarely delineated. We examined factors associated with experiencing violence as an adult among unhoused and unstably housed women, with a focus on gun violence.

Criminal charge history, handgun purchasing, and demographic characteristics of legal handgun purchasers in California.

Background: The prevalence and characteristics of handgun purchasers' criminal charge histories have never been described for a large population of firearm owners, but such information is critical to understanding risk factors for subsequent violence in this population. We sought to characterize legal handgun purchasers in California and compare this group to the state population, to quantify the proportion with a criminal charge history at purchase, and to identify modifiable factors associated with of having such a history.

Methods: This cross-sectional study of all 79,927 legal handgun purchasers aged 21-49 years in California in 2001 used log-linear generalized additive models to identify factors associated with having a criminal charge history at purchase.

Firearm purchases without background checks in California.

Background checks are designed to prevent firearm acquisition by people prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms. There is limited information about background checks, particularly on a state by state basis. We conducted a state-representative, probability-based, Internet survey of California adults in 2018 (n=2558; completion rate 49%) to describe where, when, and how firearms are acquired and to estimate the proportion of current firearm owners who purchased their most recent firearm without a background check.

Distress level and daily functioning problems attributed to firearm victimization: sociodemographic-specific responses.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to estimate the effect of firearm involvement during violent victimization on the level of distress experienced and daily functioning within sociodemographic subgroups.

Methods: We used cross-sectional data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (n = 5698) and Targeted Maximum Likelihood Estimation. Sociodemographic subgroups were defined by age, race, sex, and socioeconomic position.

Violence and Emergency Department Use among Community-Recruited Women Who Experience Homelessness and Housing Instability.

Women who experience housing instability are at high risk for violence and have disproportionately high rates of emergency department (ED) use. However, little has been done to characterize the violence they experience, or to understand how it may be related to ED use. We recruited homeless and unstably housed women from San Francisco shelters, free meal programs, and single room occupancy (SRO) hotels.

Alcohol-Related Crimes And Risk Of Arrest For Intimate Partner Violence Among California Handgun Purchasers.

Intimate partner violence is a major public health problem in the US. Both firearms and alcohol have been documented to contribute to the risk and severity of this violence. Yet there has been little research examining the nexus of the two risk factors.

Association of Prior Convictions for Driving Under the Influence With Risk of Subsequent Arrest for Violent Crimes Among Handgun Purchasers.

Importance: Alcohol use is a risk factor for firearm-related violence, and firearm owners are more likely than others to report risky drinking behaviors.

Objective: To study the association between prior convictions for driving under the influence (DUI) and risk of subsequent arrest for violent crimes among handgun purchasers.

Design: In this retrospective, longitudinal cohort study, 79 678 individuals were followed up from their first handgun purchase in 2001 through 2013.

The impact of spikes in handgun acquisitions on firearm-related harms.

Background: Research has documented sharp and short-lived increases in firearm acquisitions immediately following high-profile mass shootings and specific elections, increasing exposure to firearms at the community level. We exploit cross-city variation in the estimated number of excess handgun acquisitions in California following the 2012 presidential election and the Sandy Hook school shooting 5 weeks later to assess whether the additional handguns were associated with increases in the rate of firearm-related harms at the city level.

Methods: We use a two-stage modeling approach.