TABLE 5.
Multiple regression model to predict firearm purchase during the pandemic
| 95% CI | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Predictor variables | Wald | P | AOR | Lower | Upper |
| Age | 1.753 | 0.185 | 0.98 | 0.97 | 1.01 |
| Sex | 0.043 | 0.835 | 0.96 | 0.63 | 1.46 |
| Ethnicity | 1.168 | 0.280 | 0.76 | 0.47 | 1.25 |
| Employment status | 2.705 | 0.100 | 0.74 | 0.53 | 1.06 |
| Marital status | 0.006 | 0.938 | 1.02 | 0.75 | 1.38 |
| Level of education | 0.336 | 0.562 | 0.93 | 0.72 | 1.21 |
| Annual household income | 0.030 | 0.863 | 1.02 | 0.82 | 1.28 |
| Political orientation | 1.740 | 0.187 | 1.17 | 0.93 | 1.47 |
| Region | 0.008 | 0.928 | 0.99 | 0.82 | 1.22 |
| Children at home (yes vs no) | 20.481 | 0.000 | 2.83 | 1.81 | 4.45 |
| Healthcare professional (yes vs no) | 6.900 | 0.009 | 1.89 | 1.18 | 3.03 |
| Views on firearm laws in the United States | 0.015 | 0.902 | 0.98 | 0.72 | 1.34 |
| Wearing face masks in public places may increase the risk of being shot with a firearm (yes vs no/not sure) | 0.564 | 0.453 | 0.89 | 0.65 | 1.22 |
| Owned firearms in the year 2019 (yes vs no) | 19.813 | 0.000 | 3.01 | 1.86 | 4.88 |
| Businesses selling firearms should be considered essential services (yes vs no/not sure) | 14.128 | 0.000 | 2.37 | 1.52 | 3.72 |
| Plan to buy a firearm in the next 1 year (yes vs no/not sure) | 42.248 | 0.000 | 4.74 | 2.97 | 7.57 |
| Personally experienced firearm violence (yes vs no) | 12.560 | 0.000 | 2.34 | 1.47 | 3.75 |
| Knew someone shot or killed with firearm (yes vs no) | 4.871 | 0.027 | 1.63 | 1.06 | 2.49 |
AOR indicates adjusted odds ratio for the likelihood of the outcome (ie, pandemic purchase of firearms = yes or no). 95% CI indicates 95% confidence intervals for adjusted odds ratios. P value indicates significance levels. Bold indicates significantly higher odds for the outcome. Predictor variables include variables from Tables 1 and 2 that had group differences depending on whether an individual did or did not purchase firearms during the pandemic.