Evaluation of California's Armed and Prohibited Persons System

• In Event: NIJ: Research and Evaluation on Firearms

Abstract

We are conducting a cluster randomized trial of California's Armed and Prohibited Persons System (APPS). APPS seeks to recover firearms from individuals who purchased them legally in the past but have recently become prohibited persons—unable legally to possess firearms—following a conviction for a serious crime or other event suggesting a high risk for future violence to others or themselves. The study population comprises approximately 20,000 individuals eligible for the APPS intervention in 1,041 communities. The principal outcome measure is the incidence of arrest for a firearm-related or violent crime following intervention, comparing individuals in communities that have received the APPS intervention with individuals in communities that have not yet received the intervention.

Author

• Garen Wintemute, University of California, Davis