Firearm Dealers and Local Gun Violence: A Street Network Analysis of Shootings and Concentrated Disadvantage in Atlanta

Abstract

Objectives Examine the spatial relationship between firearm dealers and shootings in Atlanta. Methods We combine data from the Atlanta Police Department (APD), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the American Community Survey (ACS) to conduct a street network analysis from 2016 through 2018. We employ the Network Cross K Function to assess whether firearm dealers attract shootings in the city. We examine whether this spatial relationship differs by level of concentrated disadvantage in neighborhoods. Results Without consideration of concentrated neighborhood disadvantage, firearm dealers and shootings are spatially unrelated to one another. Tract-level disadvantage influences the relationship between firearm dealers and shootings wherein dealers significantly attract shootings in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Conversely, shootings are located further from gun stores in non-disadvantaged communities. Shootings related to manslaughter and assault, but not robbery, are spatially associated with firearm dealers in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Conclusions Building on prior research regarding firearm dealers and gun violence, we find support for an attraction effect in disadvantaged neighborhoods for certain types of shootings. We contextualize these findings within a broader discussion of how firearm dealers contribute to the complex ecology of local gun violence. This is important in light of federal policies and investments related to the prevention of and response to gun crime.

Licensed firearm dealers, legal compliance, and local homicide: A case study

“…To do this, we calculated the mean of the concentrated disadvantage measure across Columbus's census tracts and then divided census tracts into a disadvantaged group with values equal or greater than the mean and nondisadvantaged group with values less than the mean. Within each group, we employed the Network Cross K function to the test spatial dependency between firearm dealers and homicides (Semenza et al., 2022).…”

“…We draw specific attention to local gun dealers and their role in the legal and illegal distribution of firearms. Firearm availability broadly corresponds to higher rates of gun violence at various levels of the social ecology (Cook & Ludwig, 2006; Hepburn & Hemenway, 2004; Semenza et al., 2022; Semenza et al., 2022; Siegel et al., 2013). Often, studies have assessed the guns‐homicide link by measuring gun ownership, using proxies such as the fraction of suicides committed with a firearm (Cook & Ludwig, 2006).…”

Gun violence is a public health crisis that needs more applied criminologists

“…Other research has similarly linked shootings in small hot spot locations to high‐risk settings that facilitate violent encounters between shooters and their victims. Situational characteristics, such as the home addresses of known gang members, gun stores, bus stops, liquor stores, strip clubs, fast food restaurants, pawn shops, and check‐cashing stores, have been found to be associated with increased shootings in specific places (Caplan et al., 2011; Semenza et al., 2022; Xu & Griffiths, 2017).…”

A Safer Delaware

“…FFLs are following the law and guidelines, but their goal is to sell firearms, 9 and recent research points to this disproportionately affecting communities with concentrated disadvantage. 10 , 11 Delaware has served as a linchpin for easy access to guns along the I-95 corridor - the iron pipeline - for years. 12 And in order to change it, a strong policy shift is needed.…”