Subsequent criminal activity among violent misdemeanants who seek to purchase handguns - Risk factors and effectiveness of denying handgun purchase

Context Some states prohibit the purchase of handguns by persons convicted of selected misdemeanor crimes, but most do not, California has denied hand gun purchases by violent misdemeanants since 1991; the effectiveness of the se policies is unknown. Objective To determine the risk factors for new criminal activity among vio lent misdemeanants who seek to purchase handguns and whether denial of hand gun purchase by violent misdemeanants affects their risk of arrest for new crimes, particularly gun and/or violent crimes. Design Retrospective, population-based cohort study. Setting and Subjects Persons aged 21 to 34 years who sought to purchase a h andgun through a licensed dealer in California during 1989-1991 and who had at least 1 violent misdemeanor conviction in the preceding 10 years. The s tudy cohorts consisted of 986 persons whose purchase applications were made in 1991 and were denied (denied persons) and 787 persons whose purchase ap plications were made in 1989-1990 and were approved (purchasers). Main Outcome Measures Incidence and relative risk of first arrest in Califo rnia for new gun and/or violent crimes and for nongun, nonviolent crimes du ring a 3-year follow-up after actual or attempted handgun purchase. Results During the 3-year follow-up, 546 (33.0%) of 1654 subjects with foll ow-up information were arrested for a new crime, including 296 (31.9%) of 9 27 denied persons and 250 (34.4%) of 727 purchasers. After adjusting for di fferences in age, sex, and prior criminal history, purchasers were more lik ely than denied persons to be arrested for new gun and/or violent crimes (r elative hazard [RH], 1.29; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-1.60), but no t for nongun, nonviolent crimes (RH, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.78-1.19). In both grou ps, risk of arrest was strongly related to age and number of convictions ac crued prior to actual or attempted handgun purchase. Conclusion Our results indicate that denial of handgun purchase to violent misdemeanants is associated with a specific decrease in risk of arrest for new gun and/or violent crimes.