Weapon choice and American political violence

Abstract

Research SummaryThe criminal use of firearms presents a unique challenge to policymakers and is the subject of scientific study in fields such as criminology, public health, sociology, and law. Keywords terrorism, firearms, sentencing, weapons, felonsthis research was supported in part by an appointment to the u.s. department of Homeland security research opportunity Program administered by the oak ridge Institute for science and education (orIse) through a cooperative agreement between the u.s. department of energy and the u.s. department of Homeland security. orIse is managed by oak ridge Associated universities (orAu) under the department of education (doe) contract de-Ac05-06or23100. All opinions expressed in this article are the authors' and do not necessarily reflect the policies and views of dHs, doe, or orAu/orIse. direct correspondence to richard legault, national consortium for the study of terrorism and responses to terrorism (stArt) center, university of maryland, college Park, md 20742 (e-mail: rlegault@start.umd.edu); James Hendrickson, department of criminal Justice and criminology, university of maryland,

An Empirical Examination on the Severity of Lone-Actor Terrorist Attacks

“…Second, recent trends indicate lone-actors are increasingly utilizing firearms in their attacks, and using bombs and explosives less and less (Hamm & Spaaij, 2017). Legault and Hendrickson (2009) note that terrorists often have less extensive criminal histories than traditional criminals and may be able to obtain firearms more easily as a result. By frequently using weapons that are more accessible and less likely to raise suspicion, lone-actors can continue to fly under the radar and avoid law-enforcement detection while planning and preparing for their attack(s).…”

Assessing nation‐state‐sponsored cyberattacks using aspects of Situational Crime Prevention

“…Similarly, weapons that are are more likely to be used in acts of terror should be undetectable or difficult to notice, easily transported, cause substantive harm, provide enjoyment in use, exhibit reliability, are user-friendly with minimal training, and are relatively safe for the user, such as guns in the United States. Limited evidence suggests that strategies to intervene in offenders' access to weapons of this nature can help reduce the threat of terror (Legault & Hendrickson, 2009;Mandala & Freilich, 2017). Clarke and Newman (2006) also emphasize understanding the ways that tools are employed by terrorists and extremists.…”