United States Firearm Transfer Analysis (2005-2010) (ICPSR 36358)

Version Date: Feb 15, 2016

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Principal Investigator(s):
David Mueller, Regional Justice Information Service

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36358.v1

Version V1

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Summary

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

This study examines the increase in firearm background checks and the increase in firearm transfer and permit application denials. The study is a secondary analysis, primarily of data already available through public sources. Distributed here are the code used for the secondary analysis and the data not otherwise available through other public means. Please refer to the readme file, distributed with this study, for a list of instructions on how to obtain all other data used in this study.

Citation

Mueller, David. United States Firearm Transfer Analysis (2005-2010). Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2016-02-15. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36358.v1

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Funding

United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. National Institute of Justice (2014-R2-CX-0008)

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit

State

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

2005 -- 2010

Date of Collection

2015-01-01 -- 2015-06-01

Data Collection Notes

  1. These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

  2. Please note that the data publicly available from other sources was not included in this data set. Please refer to the readme file for the instructions on how to obtain this data.

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Study Purpose

The purpose of the study is to understand the relationship between the quantity of firearm transfer and permit applications, the number of application denials and the unique characteristics of state requirements governing background checks. The specific goals of the proposed study were to test the following hypotheses:

  • Hypothesis 1: The Firearm Transfer and Permit Application (FTPA) rate per 100,000 persons per state per year will increase over time (between 2005 and 2010) after controlling for demographic and other explanatory variables.
  • Hypothesis 2: The Denied Firearm Transfer and Permit Application (DFTPA) rate per 100,000 persons per state per year will increase over time (between 2005 and 2010) after controlling for demographic and other explanatory variables.
  • Hypothesis 3: Brady alternative states will have a lower FTPA rate than Brady states (between 2005 and 2010).
  • Hypothesis 4: Northeast states will have a lower FTPA rate than states in other regions (between 2005 and 2010).
  • Hypothesis 5: Universal background checks (whether for all firearms or for handguns only) are hypothesized to be associated with a lower FTPA rate and higher DFTPA rate (between 2005 and 2010) than states without such laws.
  • Hypothesis 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10: States that require fingerprinting (Hypothesis 6), safety training (Hypothesis 7), involve law enforcement in the background check process (Hypothesis 8), and allow for an extended check period (Hypothesis 9) will be associated with a lower FTPA rate (between 2005 and 2010) than states without such laws. States with bulk purchase laws (Hypothesis 10) will be associated with a lower FTPA rate (between 2005 and 2010) than states without this law.
  • Hypothesis 11: States with higher composite scores will be associated with a lower FTPA rate over time (between 2005 and 2010).

Study Design

State and year demographics for all 50 states between 2005 and 2010 were calculated from the United States Census Bureau Fact Finder application. The violent crime rate per 100,000 people was calculated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Uniform Crime Report (UCR). The measure of firearm ownership, measured using the proportion of suicides committed with a firearm (FS/S), was derived using the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) mortality files. State and year-specific data for the total number of applications and denials data was obtained from two sources: the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Regional Justice Information Service (REJIS). State and year-specific federal denial data was obtained from the FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (FBI NICS).

Several state characteristics were also collected. Geographic division of each state (Northeast, Middle Atlantic, South Atlantic, East South Central, West South Central, East North Central, West North Central, Mountain, and Pacific) was obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau. Whether states had adopted a background check system prior to the passage of the Brady Act (so-called Brady Alternative states) or whether states had adopted a check system as a result of the passage of the Act (so-called Brady States) was obtained from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) publication Pre-sale Handgun Checks (1996).

A composite index of state firearm transfer laws was also compiled using data obtained from the Survey of State Procedures Related to Firearm Sales series, Firearm Law Summary series, and in some cases state statutes. The measure examined the primary firearm transfer laws, specifically type of background check (e.g. universal, gun-show, etc) and acquisition restrictions (e.g. one-handgun-per month law). A total of 10 laws was examined for 2005 to 2010.

Sample

50 states and the District of Columbia between 2005 and 2010.

Time Method

Longitudinal

Universe

Firearms permit or transfer background check applications in 50 states between 2005 and 2010.

Unit(s) of Observation

State

Data Source

U.S. Census Bureau American Fact Finder

Bureau of Justice Statistics Firearm Inquiry Statistics (FIST) Program

Brady Campaign's and the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence's annual scorecard

Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) database

National Instant Criminal Background Check System's (NICS)State Records Estimates Development and Validation Project

Don Manson and Gene Lauver, Presale Firearm Checks (Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1997)

Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Report

Data Type(s)

Description of Variables

The dataset distributed with this study contains 56 variables across 306 cases. The variables include information on the total number of firearm applications, the total number of firearm application denials, composite index of state firearm transfer laws, and criminal related state demographic variables.

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Original Release Date

2016-02-15

Version History

2018-02-15 The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented. The previous citation was:
  • Mueller, David. United States Firearm Transfer Analysis (2005-2010). ICPSR36358-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2016-02-15. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR36358.v1
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Notes

  • These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

  • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

NACJD logo

This dataset is maintained and distributed by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD), the criminal justice archive within ICPSR. NACJD is primarily sponsored by three agencies within the U.S. Department of Justice: the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.