Factors of Illegal Gun Acquisitions

• In Event: Weapons

Abstract

This study focuses on the various factors that account for an individual’s ability to acquire illegal guns in a timely and economic process within a relatively strict context of gun control. The analysis is based on a (2010-2012) survey of incarcerated and non-incarcerated respondents in the province of Quebec (Canada) that reported experiences with illegal gun transactions over a fifteen-year period. We examine a range of individual background variables (gun presence in entourage; criminal experiences; knowledge of firearms), situational and motivational factors (opportunistic versus planned transactions; motivation; place of transaction; network features), and gun properties (type, size, and calibre) to assess variations in the time and price that it takes to acquire an illegal gun. Hypothetically, the study is situated at two possible extremes that unite general and specific firearm availability: 1) if significant factors emerge to account for these dependent variables, this suggests the importance of considering specific availability patterns; or 2) if the general modelling of such factors remains null, this would suggest that the illegal distribution of guns are subject to a higher-order contextual influence, such as general firearm availability and gun control policies.

Authors

• Carlo Morselli, University of Montreal

• Claudine Gagnon, University of Montreal