Abstract
The link between gun ownership victimisation by violent crime remains one of the most contested issues in criminology. Some authors claim that high gun availability facilitates serious violence. Others claim that gun ownership prevents crime. This article revisits these issues using individual and aggregate data on gun ownership and victimisation from the ICVS. Analysis at country level shows that the level of hand gun ownership is positively related to serious violence but not for lesser serious violent crimes. Multilevel analyses on the data from 26 developed countries shows that owners of a hand gun show increased
risk for victimisation by violent crime. High ownership levels however seem to diminish the victimisation level for the less serious violent
crimes for the non-owners
risk for victimisation by violent crime. High ownership levels however seem to diminish the victimisation level for the less serious violent
crimes for the non-owners
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 53-72 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | British Journal of Criminology, delinquency and deviant social behavior |
| Volume | 54 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Keywords
- Crime
- violent crime
- firearm ownership
- international comparison
- multilevel analysis