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“Safe Storage” Realities

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“Safe Storage” laws appear to have a measurable effect—but it’s small, focused in one area, may have been a side effect of something completely unrelated, and in the big picture is not a game changer. Take-aways Compared to states that never enacted safe storage laws, there is a measurable additional decline in teenage firearm suicides. But there were also drops in other forms of teenage suicide. Most of these instances, though, are covariant with a strong increase in prescribing psychotropic medications, particularly SSRIs, to teenagers during the same period, which may have reduced suicidal ideation. The goal for safe storage laws Safe storage laws were conceived to try to protect unsupervised young people from doing stupid things with guns. The two stupid things that young people did with guns were to accidentally shoot themselves or somebody else, or to commit suicide.

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Gangs, Recidivism and Guns

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The revolving door of incarceration spins like a cyclone for street gang members. Since gangstas have a propensity for gun violence, this issue is part of solving gun violence in America. Take-aways Between 1,556 and 2,304 new street gang gun murders per year are committed by prisoners released for prior gun violence offenses, amounting to 10.5–15.5% of gun homicides Upwards of 11,520 people are shot (injured or killed) by these released gang members each year. What the academics calculated We checked in with academic libraries and were surprised at how little work has specifically addressed recidivism of gang members. After discarding studies with tiny, and thus statistically fragile samples, and setting aside one that amalgamated both street and prison gangs, we had two left to gauge how often street gang members go back to prison. Gang Members Non-Gang Members Higher Risk 3 years 35.4% 23.5% 150% 5 years 83.2% 42.8% … Continue reading →

Recidivism and Violence

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Some criminals never learn. Well, actually most don’t. But when it comes to violence, and hence gun violence, this is an important part of the puzzle. Take-aways 2% of prison admissions are for violent crimes. 64% of admitted prisoners had their first arrest in the teen years. 30% of them account for 51% of prior arrests. Large, Oldish Data, Frustrating Study When a reputable (and positively OCD) organization like the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reviews over 90,000 newly incarcerated convicts, and repeats the stunt 15 years later, you have an admirably robust study. Which had one aching gap.

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Guest Blog: The Truth Behind the Myths of Purchasing Firearms

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By Casea Peterson Barack Obama’s careless statement that “it’s easier for you to buy a handgun and clips than it is for you to buy a fresh vegetable,” is just one example of misleading rhetoric about purchasing a firearm in the United States. Sadly, it has become quite the common misconception that guns are easy to purchase, perhaps too easy, which is why so many criminals are armed with them. Unfortunately, this huge misunderstanding of the actual laws and regulations–which have been in place for years–has tainted the public’s perception of the true process that’s required of every gun manufacturer in order to avoid penalties. The half-truths and blatant lies about gun sales and how criminals obtain firearms in the first place have either zero basis or are being partially reported to skew the public’s view of gun facts. It is unfortunate that the public has been so misled about … Continue reading →