Guns and juvenile crime

Author: Mocan, H. N. / Tekin, E.
Publication: Journal of Law & Economics
Topics: Age Group Crime Supply
Keywords: Adolescent Gun availability Victimization
Bibliographic information +

Data from two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) were used in an investigation of the effect of gun availability at home on robbery, burglary, theft, and property damage for juveniles. 20,745 adolescents in grades 7-12 were surveyed between April-December 1995 in wave 1, and 14,738 adolescents in grades 7-12 were surveyed between April-December 1996 in wave 2. Gun availability at home is positively related to the tendency to commit crime for juveniles. Having guns easily available at home increases the probability of robbery, burglary, theft, and property damage by 1.2-4.8 percentage points.