Ownership Data
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33
34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67
68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84
85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101
102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115
The inadequacy of data on gun ownership and use is among the most
critical barriers to better understanding of gun violence. Such data will not
by themselves solve all methodological problems. However, its almost complete
absence from the literature makes it extremely difficult to understand
the complex personality, social, and circumstantial factors that intervene
between a firearm and its use. Also difficult to understand is the effect, if
any, of programs designed to reduce the likelihood that a firearm will cause
unjustified harm, or to investigate the effectiveness of firearm use in selfdefense.
We realize that many people have deeply held concerns about
expanding the government’s knowledge of who owns guns and what type
of guns they own. We also recognize the argument that some people may
refuse to supply such information in any system, especially those who are
most likely to use guns illegally. The committee recommends a research
effort to determine whether or not these kinds of data can be accurately
collected with minimal risk to legitimate privacy concerns.
A starting point is to assess the potential of ongoing surveys. For example,
efforts should be undertaken to assess whether tracing a larger
fraction of guns used in crimes, regularly including questions on gun access
and use in surveys and longitudinal studies (as is done in data from the
ongoing, yearly Monitoring the Future survey), or enhancing existing items
pertaining to gun ownership in ongoing national surveys may provide useful
research data. To do this, researchers need access to the data. The
committee recommends that appropriate access be given to data maintained
by regulatory and law enforcement agencies, including the trace data
maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; registration
data maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and state agencies;
and manufacturing and sales data for research purposes.
In addition, researchers need appropriate access to the panel data from
the Monitoring the Future survey. These data may or may not be useful for
understanding firearms markets and the role of firearms in crime and violence.
However, without access to these systems, researchers are unable to
assess their potential for providing insight into some of the most important
firearms policy and research questions. Concerns about security and privacy
must be addressed in the granting of greater access to these data, and
the systems will need to be continually improved to make them more useful
for research. Nevertheless, there is a long-established tradition of making
sensitive data available with appropriate safeguards to researchers.
Methodological Approaches
Difficult methodological issues exist regarding how different data sets
might be used to credibly answer the complex causal questions of interest.
The committee recommends that a methodological research program be established
to address these problems. The design for data collection and analysis
should be selected in light of particular research questions. For example,
how, if at all, could improvements in current data, such as firearms trace
data, be used in studies of the effects of policy interventions on firearms
markets or any other policy issue? What would the desired improvements
contribute to research on policy interventions for reducing firearms violence?
Linking the research and data questions will help define the data that are
needed. We recommend that the results of such research be regularly reported
in the scientific literature and in forums accessible to investigators.