National Study of Private Ownership of Firearms in the United States, 1994 (ICPSR 6955)

Time Period(s)

1994

Date of Collection

1994-11 -- 1994-12

Data Collection Notes

The user guide, codebook, and data collection instruments are provided as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided through the ICPSR Website on the Internet.

Study Purpose

To learn more about the role of firearms in crime, the National Institute of Justice sponsored, through a grant to the Police Foundation, a nationally representative survey on private ownership and use of firearms by American adults. The research covered topics such as: (1) the size, composition, and ownership of the nation's private gun inventory, (2) methods of, and reasons for, firearms acquisition, (3) the storage and carrying of guns, and (4) the defensive use of firearms against criminal attackers.

Study Design

The Police Foundation contracted with Chilton Research Services to conduct the survey. Minimums were established for the number of completed interviews with racial minorities and gun-owning households. Such households were more likely to be included in the final sample. Weights were calculated to adjust for this design feature.

Sample

National probability sample.

Universe

Adults living in the United States.

Unit(s) of Observation

Individuals.

Data Source

telephone interviews

survey data

Description of Variables

The data contain variables on methods of firearms acquisition, use of firearms, number and types of firearms owned, storage and carrying of guns, and reasons for and against firearm ownership. Basic demographic variables include sex, age, education, and employment of the respondent.

Response Rates

Approximately 50 percent.

Presence of Common Scales

None.

Original Release Date

1998-10-08

Version Date

1998-10-08

Version History

1998-10-08 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

• Standardized missing values.
• Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.