Table 1.
Bivariate association between respondent and establishment characteristics, support for a comprehensive background check policy, and number of criteria endorsed for denying the purchase of handguns
| Characteristic | Comprehensive background check policy | Criteria for denying the purchase of handguns | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OR | 95 % CI | p | OR | 95 % CI | p | |
| Respondent characteristics | ||||||
| Age, years | 0.49 | 0.28 | ||||
| <40 | 1.34 | 0.81–2.22 | 0.76 | 0.44–1.31 | ||
| 40–64 | 1.09 | 0.73–1.62 | 0.70 | 0.46–1.09 | ||
| ≥65 | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Sex | 0.01 | 0.06 | ||||
| F | 1.89 | 1.14–3.13 | 1.67 | 0.98–2.86 | ||
| M | Referent | Referent | ||||
| “It is too easy for criminals to get guns” | <0.0001 | <0.0001 | ||||
| Strongly agree | 9.20 | 4.53–18.71 | 4.86 | 2.25–10.49 | ||
| Agree | 6.10 | 3.06–12.17 | 3.67 | 1.73–7.81 | ||
| Neutral | 2.23 | 1.12–4.47 | 1.76 | 0.82–3.79 | ||
| Disagree | 1.77 | 0.86–3.64 | 1.44 | 0.65–3.22 | ||
| Strongly disagree | Referent | Referent | ||||
| “I might sell a gun that gets used in a crime” | 0.002 | 0.91 | ||||
| Very concerned | 1.99 | 1.34–2.96 | 1.09 | 0.71–1.66 | ||
| Somewhat concerned | 1.54 | 1.08–2.19 | 1.01 | 0.69–1.48 | ||
| Not at all concerned | Referent | Referent | ||||
| “There are too many gun control regulations” | <0.0001 | 0.004 | ||||
| Very concerned | 0.15 | 0.09–0.23 | 0.48 | 0.31–0.75 | ||
| Somewhat concerned | 0.34 | 0.22–0.54 | 0.72 | 0.46–1.13 | ||
| Not at all concerned | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Recommended incarceration for buyer in trafficking operation, years | 0.002 | 0.008 | ||||
| ≥20 | 1.94 | 1.24–3.04 | 2.17 | 1.34–3.51 | ||
| 11–19 | 1.11 | 0.67–1.84 | 1.90 | 1.10–3.29 | ||
| 6–10 | 1.89 | 1.29–2.77 | 2.06 | 1.38–3.08 | ||
| 0–5 | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Estimated proportion of retailers who make illegal sales, % | <0.0001 | <0.0001 | ||||
| ≥10 | 4.43 | 2.56–7.69 | 2.54 | 1.46–4.12 | ||
| 4–9 | 2.44 | 1.38–4.30 | 1.11 | 0.62–1.99 | ||
| 1–3 | 1.40 | 0.84–2.32 | 0.87 | 0.52–1.47 | ||
| <1 | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Recommended incarceration for seller in trafficking operation, years | 0.10 | 0.004 | ||||
| ≥20 | 1.60 | 1.04–2.45 | 2.41 | 1.52–3.83 | ||
| 11–19 | 1.46 | 0.88–2.42 | 2.02 | 1.17–3.46 | ||
| 6–10 | 1.46 | 0.98–2.17 | 1.97 | 1.30–3.00 | ||
| 0-5 | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Establishment characteristics | ||||||
| Licensee type | 0.002 | 0.53 | ||||
| Pawnbroker | 1.65 | 1.19–2.27 | 1.11 | 0.79–1.56 | ||
| Dealer | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Sales in 2010, n | 0.94 | 0.71 | ||||
| ≥500 | 1.05 | 0.66–1.64 | 0.80 | 0.49–1.29 | ||
| 200–499 | 1.13 | 0.72–1.76 | 0.79 | 0.48–1.26 | ||
| 100–199 | 1.14 | 0.71–1.82 | 0.91 | 0.55–1.50 | ||
| <100 | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Handgun sales, %a | 0.29 | 0.10 | ||||
| ≥75 | 1.13 | 0.65–1.96 | 0.58 | 0.32–1.04 | ||
| 50–74 | 0.94 | 0.62–1.43 | 1.04 | 0.67–1.61 | ||
| 25–49 | 0.70 | 0.44–1.12 | 0.72 | 0.44–1.18 | ||
| 0–24 | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Inexpensive handgun sales, %b | <0.0001 | 0.001 | ||||
| ≥50 | 2.74 | 1.80–4.15 | 2.26 | 1.45–3.52 | ||
| 25–49 | 1.23 | 0.77–1.95 | 1.16 | 0.70–1.92 | ||
| 10–24 | 1.60 | 1.03–2.47 | 1.11 | 0.69–1.79 | ||
| 0–9 | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Sales to women, %a | 0.89 | 0.94 | ||||
| ≥25 | 0.97 | 0.64–1.47 | 0.96 | 0.62–1.50 | ||
| 11–24 | 1.04 | 0.69–1.58 | 0.88 | 0.56–1.37 | ||
| 6–10 | 0.87 | 0.57–1.35 | 1.00 | 0.63–1.60 | ||
| 0–5 | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Sales to law enforcement, %a | 0.85 | 0.30 | ||||
| 10+ | 1.03 | 0.65–1.61 | 1.05 | 0.65–1.68 | ||
| 5–9 | 0.93 | 0.57–1.49 | 0.69 | 0.41–1.14 | ||
| ≥1, <5 | 1.12 | 0.71–1.77 | 0.88 | 0.54–1.43 | ||
| <1 | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Multiple sales, %a | 0.37 | 0.55 | ||||
| ≥5 | 1.11 | 0.73–1.71 | 0.72 | 0.45–1.14 | ||
| 2–4 | 0.81 | 0.52–1.25 | 0.90 | 0.56–1.45 | ||
| 1–1.9 | 0.81 | 0.53–1.24 | 0.88 | 0.56–1.38 | ||
| <1 | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Tactical rifle sales, %c | 0.10 | 0.02 | ||||
| ≥20 | 0.59 | 0.38–0.91 | 0.49 | 0.31–0.79 | ||
| 6–19 | 0.71 | 0.45–1.13 | 0.54 | 0.33–0.89 | ||
| 2–5 | 0.67 | 0.44–1.03 | 0.68 | 0.43–1.07 | ||
| 0–1 | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Gun show sales, %a | 0.04 | 0.14 | ||||
| ≥25 | 0.61 | 0.33–1.12 | 0.56 | 0.30–1.07 | ||
| >0, <25 | 0.55 | 0.32–0.96 | 0.70 | 0.37–1.33 | ||
| 0 | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Internet sales, %a | 0.24 | 0.36 | ||||
| ≥10 | 1.25 | 0.78–2.00 | 1.18 | 0.71–1.97 | ||
| >0, <10 | 0.77 | 0.51–1.16 | 0.77 | 0.49–1.21 | ||
| 0 | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Denied sales, %d | <0.0001 | 0.03 | ||||
| ≥5 | 2.79 | 1.78–4.37 | 1.93 | 1.20–3.11 | ||
| 2–4 | 1.69 | 1.06–2.68 | 1.06 | 0.64–1.74 | ||
| 1 | 1.04 | 0.68–1.58 | 1.24 | 0.78–1.95 | ||
| <1 | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Trace requests, %e | 0.057 | 0.53 | ||||
| ≥2 | 1.79 | 1.14–2.82 | 1.21 | 0.75–1.95 | ||
| >0.5, <2 | 1.09 | 0.70–1.70 | 0.85 | 0.53–1.36 | ||
| >0, ≤0.5 | 1.17 | 0.73–1.85 | 1.02 | 0.62–1.68 | ||
| 0 | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Straw purchase attempts, past year | 0.02 | 0.74 | ||||
| ≥Monthly | 1.83 | 1.04–3.22 | 1.24 | 0.68–2.25 | ||
| >1 or 2 | 2.01 | 1.22–3.30 | 0.85 | 0.50–1.45 | ||
| 1 or 2 | 1.37 | 0.97–1.94 | 1.07 | 0.74–1.55 | ||
| 0 | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Undocumented purchase attempts, past year | 0.08 | 0.49 | ||||
| ≥Monthly | 1.80 | 1.08–3.01 | 1.04 | 0.51–1.76 | ||
| >1 or 2 | 1.64 | 0.88–3.07 | 0.78 | 0.41–1.50 | ||
| 1 or 2 | 1.09 | 0.76–1.56 | 1.27 | 0.86–1.88 | ||
| 0 | Referent | Referent | ||||
| Firearm theft, past 5 years | 0.055 | 0.35 | ||||
| Yes | 1.41 | 0.99–2.01 | 0.84 | 0.58–1.22 | ||
| No | Referent | Referent | ||||
Results obtained by ordinal regression. Odds ratios (OR) represent the effect of a given characteristic on the odds of reporting a higher level of support for a comprehensive background check policy (classification: strongly favor > favor > neither favor nor oppose > oppose > strongly oppose) or endorsing a greater number of criteria for denying the purchase of handguns (classification: 9 > 7-8 > 6 or fewer) than was reported by the referent group
aPercentage of overall firearm sales in 2010
bPercentage of handgun sales in 2010
cPercentage of rifle sales in 2010
dPercentage of sales that were denied after a background check, average over 5 years
eAnnual number of trace requests, average over 5 years, as percentage of overall firearm sales in 2010