UCSD study finds strong link between gun ownership and partner violence

A new cross-sectional analysis of populations in California and Louisiana has identified a strong correlation between gun ownership and intimate partner violence.

The paper describing the study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, was unequivocal.

“Findings indicate those experiencing and perpetrating IPV are significantly more likely to report firearm ownership and recent purchase of a firearm,” the conclusion to the scientific paper flatly stated.

The paper’s authors say that they could not definitively link the causation of relationship violence to firearm purchases. However, the strength of the correlation suggests that policymakers must rethink how they frame protective gun-ownership narratives in relationships affected by violence, and that those policymakers must look toward legislation that accounts for the complex dynamics involved in both domestic partner violence and firearm ownership in the United States.

“Our findings suggest that both experiencing and perpetrating intimate partner violence are strongly associated with increased rates of firearm ownership and recent firearm purchase,” said Jakana Thomas, a UCSD professor of political science, an expert in violence and peace processes, and a co-author of the report, in a release.

“The fact that we see these relationships in states with very different firearm policy contexts suggests this is a broader phenomenon, not limited to a particular legislative environment.”

The findings point to an opportunity for better and more comprehensive prevention strategies that address both intimate partner violence and the factors that lead its victims and perpetrators to acquire firearms in these contexts.

“Given the high risk of lethal outcomes when firearms and intimate partner violence intersect, these results underscore an urgent need to better integrate violence prevention, mental health and firearm policy,” Thomas said.

Co-authors of the report include Nicole E. Johns of the Center on Gender Equity and Health at UC San Diego; Annika Li, a doctoral student in education studies at UC San Diego; Gennifer Kully of the Center on Gender Equity and Health at UC San Diego; and Anita Raj, executive director of the Newcomb Institute at Tulane University.