Predictors of Adult Firearms Ownership

• In Event: Morality, Culture, and Anomie as Predictors of Individual Outcomes

Abstract

Understanding the nature of gun ownership helps investigators to understand unexpected events, such as school shootings. The United States ranks first in civilian ownership with 89 firearms per 100,000 citizens (Small Arms Survey, 2007). However, reports of reductions in gun ownership (Lauter, 2012) are contrasted with those that indicate that gun sales have skyrocketed (Matheny, 2013). The General Social Survey (2010) found that about 33% of Americans indicated having a gun in their homes. In 2012, the Gallup Poll found that 43% of Americans indicated having a gun in the home. Unsurprisingly, these statistics lead to questions about why individuals own firearms. This research tests a logistic regression model of adult gun ownership that sheds light on the process of having firearms in the home as an adolescent on the likelihood of owning firearms as an adult. Variables gleaned from the public – use, Add Health dataset include both past predictors and cultural correlates of gun ownership such as: race, gender, age, rural location and the presence of a male adult in the household. Results indicate that adult males are most likely to influence only handgun ownership for adolescents as they become adults.

Authors

• Nicole Hendrix, Radford University

• Michael A. Cretacci, Buffalo State, SUNY