Group Threat and Handgun Ownership: Does Racial Minority or Immigrant Neighborhood Composition Matter?

• In Event: Getting a Gun: Investigating Gun Acquisition and Concealed Carry Permits

Abstract

Handgun ownership is an important issue in the United States. Much of previous research predicting handgun ownership has focused on individual characteristics such as gender, age, social class, and living in the South. Largely missing is an in-depth analysis of the role of neighborhood characteristics and the degree to which racial and immigrant compositions are associated with handgun ownership. We use multiple waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescence to Adult Health and contextual Census data to examine the relationship between the racial and immigrant compositions of neighborhoods and adult handgun ownership among young adults. We draw on group threat theory and policy debates about immigrants and crime to motivate our analysis. Our findings showed that for those living in rural areas outside the south, the percentage of non-whites in one’s neighborhood increases the likelihood of handgun ownership. The association between percent non-whites and handgun ownership is nonlinear, as higher percentages of non-whites in the neighborhood decrease the likelihood of handgun ownership. This pattern is consistent with group threat theory, but contradicts previous research. In contrast, presence of foreign born persons in the neighborhood is negatively associated with handgun ownership.

Authors

• Mitchell Gresham, Bowling Green State University

• Raymond Swisher, Bowling Green State University

• Stephen Demuth, Bowling Green State University