NCJ Number
214794
Date Published
May 2006
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Using data collected as part of the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program, this study examined the link between weapons, drugs, and crime, with a focus on weapon ownership and possession.
Abstract
Regardless of the weapon used, detainees who used a weapon to commit a crime reported higher levels of illicit drug use and were more likely to test positive for drugs than detainees who did not use a weapon to commit a crime. Across all seven DUMA sites, 40 percent of police detainees reported that they had at some time in their lives owned or possessed a knife as a weapon. Slightly more than 25 percent reported that they had owned or possessed a handgun, sawed-off shotgun, rifle, or other firearm in their lifetime. A higher percentage reported owning a knife than a firearm in the past 12 months (36 percent and 16 percent, respectively). Handguns and shotguns/rifles were the firearms of choice both in the year before the interview and over the detainee's lifetime. In July 2001, 5 percent of the Australian adult population had a firearms license, whereas, 20 percent of DUMA participants reported owning a firearm in the past year; very few reported having a firearms license. The majority who reported owning knives or firearms in the past year indicated their weapons were purchased through illegitimate sources (66 percent for knife owners and 60 percent for firearms owners). Sixteen percent of all detainees reported using a weapon to commit a crime at some time in their lives. Of the 3,291 adult detainees approached for DUMA interviews in the quarters in which the weapons questions were administered, 2,323 provided responses (71-percent rate of response). 4 tables, 1 figure, and 14 references