The Harms of Illegal Gun Possession: Victimization & Punishment

• In Event: Criminal Justice Responses to Illegal Gun Possession

Abstract

This presentation will summarize our recent research into illegal gun possession and societal response to it. First, using data from the Pathways to Desistance Study, we address the matter of whether illegal gun carrying is harmful for individuals that engage in it. Taking advantage of temporal variation in gun carrying among young people in the study, we show that illegal gun carrying is powerfully associated with gun violence exposure and victimization. Second, in an effort to highlight the societal-level harms associated with intensive punishment of illegal gun possession, we use a unique state-level dataset to demonstrate the substantial carceral impacts of illegal gun possession convictions. These results suggest that illegal gun punishment can meaningfully influence the size and composition of the carceral population. We leverage these cross-cutting findings in an attempt to deepen ongoing policy discussions regarding how to redress the harms associated with both gun violence and carceral responses to it.

Authors

• David M. Hureau, University at Albany, SUNY

• Theodore Wilson, University at Albany, SUNY