Elsevier

Journal of Criminal Justice

Volume 29, Issue 5, September–October 2001, Pages 379-388
Journal of Criminal Justice

The illicit acquisition of firearms by youth and juveniles

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0047-2352(01)00103-9Get rights and content

Abstract

Youth and juvenile gun violence has been linked to the availability of firearms. Scholars have suggested that, in order to reduce youth and juvenile gun violence, the illicit gun markets serving youth and juveniles must be disrupted. The question of whether illegal firearms markets serving youth and juveniles can be disrupted has been vigorously debated in the academic literature on firearms and firearms crime. One view is that illegal gun market disruption strategies are ineffective because virtually all crime guns are stolen or obtained from non-retail sources. Another view is that such strategies could be effective because illicit firearms markets involving the improper diversion of firearms from retail sources are an important source of guns for youth and juveniles. In partnership with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the authors review recent firearms trafficking investigations involving youth and juveniles. This research demonstrates that firearms are illegally diverted to youth and juveniles through a multitude of firearms trafficking pathways including unlicensed dealers, corrupt licensed dealers, and “straw” purchasers.

Introduction

Youth homicide rates, particularly incidents involving firearms, increased dramatically in the United States between the 1980s and the 1990s. Between 1984 and 1994, juvenile (under eighteen) homicide victimizations committed with handguns increased by 418 percent, and juvenile homicide victimizations committed with other guns increased by 125 percent (Fox, 1996). During this time period, adolescents as a group (ages fourteen through seventeen) had the largest proportional increase in homicide commission and victimization, but young adults (ages eighteen through twenty-four) had the largest absolute increase in numbers, and there was a good deal of crossfire between the two age groups (Cook & Laub, 1998). All of the increases in youth and juvenile homicide were in gun homicides (Cook & Laub, 1998, p. 54). Youth and juvenile gun violence has been linked to the availability of firearms (Blumstein & Cork, 1996). Scholars have suggested that, in order to reduce youth and juvenile gun violence, the illicit gun markets serving youth and juveniles must be disrupted Cook, 1998, Kennedy, 1994. The question of whether illicit gun markets serving youth and juveniles can be disrupted is an interesting one. Well-known survey research suggests that most firearms are acquired by juveniles through theft, personal contacts, or street sources; therefore, policies focused on disrupting illegal firearms markets serving youth and juveniles would be ineffective (see, e.g. Sheley & Wright, 1993). Research analyzing firearms trace data, however, suggests that the illegal diversion of firearms from customary retail channels is an important source of firearms for youth and juveniles, and that market disruption strategies may be an effective way to prevent youth and juveniles from acquiring firearms (see, e.g. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, 1997, Kennedy et al., 1996). These opposing viewpoints suggest that existing knowledge on the pathways and modalities through which youth and juveniles acquire firearms needs to be refined and further developed.

Section snippets

Survey research

Generally regarded as the most authoritative study on the acquisition of firearms by juveniles, Sheley and Wright's (1993) survey of high school students and incarcerated juveniles in four states suggested that more than 90 percent of incarcerated juveniles obtained their most recent handgun from a friend, a family member, “the street,” a drug dealer, a drug addict, or by taking it from a house or car (p. 6). Sheley and Wright (p. 6) concluded that, given the reported frequency of both theft

Methodology

As part of the resolution to fund the YCGII, the United States Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Appropriations requested ATF to report on the performance of their national illegal firearms trafficking program by February 1999. The authors of this article were retained by ATF and the United States Department of the Treasury to review the firearms trafficking enforcement efforts involving juveniles and youth.2

Results

The investigation data revealed a multitude of illicit firearms trafficking pathways through which youth and juveniles acquire firearms (Table 1). These data suggest that the illegal diversion of firearms from retail outlets and theft are important illicit sources of guns for youth and juveniles. More than half of the trafficking investigations involved the trafficking of firearms through or by a straw purchaser or a straw purchasing ring. Firearms trafficking by corrupt licensed dealers and

Discussion

The results of these analyses show that youth and juveniles acquire firearms at and through retail outlets. All previous research studies on the acquisition of firearms by youth and juveniles, in fact, suggest this. Analyses of firearms trace information have concluded that guns used in crime have characteristics suggesting a problem with diversion from retail sources Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, 1997, Kennedy et al., 1996, Pierce et al., 1995. Although the authors conclude that

Acknowledgements

This research was supported with funds provided by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Points of view or opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the official position of the U.S. Department of the Treasury or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. We would like to thank Susan Ginsburg, Patty Galupo, Joe Vince, Gerry Nunziato, Terry Austin, Stephen Brimley, and James Wooten for their valuable assistance in the completion of this research.

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