Study Looks At California Handgun Sales
Researchers Hope Study Will Help Prevent Gun-Related Crimes

POSTED: 4:37 p.m. PDT September 23, 2002
UPDATED: 4:38 p.m. PDT September 23, 2002

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A research group has released the first comprehensive study of handgun sales in California, and the organization describes the results as "groundbreaking."

The California Department of Justice tracks the number of guns manufactured and guns involved in crimes. But this is the first study in California that focuses on legal handgun sales, outlining where handguns are sold and who is buying them.

Researchers, who are supported by a grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, released their findings at a conference in Sacramento Monday, saying they believe if they can highlight patterns and trends in handgun sales, local law enforcement will have a better handle on preventing gun-related violence.

"What we're hoping is that this simple information can help law enforcement professionals and guide policy makers, potentially even the industry, in finding ways to make firearms available to them without feeding their criminal use," said handgun researcher Dr. Garen Wintemute.

In 1999, 235,875 handguns were legally sold in California. Twenty-five percent of those buyers bought more than one weapon. The majority of sales, 20 percent, were in Los Angeles County. Orange County came in second, with San Diego and Santa Clara counties coming in third and fourth, respectively. In 1999, Sacramento County ranked fifth in the state for gun sales.

Wintemute believes that knowing where guns are being purchased could help prevent gun-related crimes and injuries.

"We learned that it became possible to prevent motor vehicle injuries by learning, in part, how cars are bought and sold, hoping the same sort of information is useful here," Wintemute said.

Researchers chose to begin with 1999 statistics because several new laws targeting guns sales went into effect in 2000, including one that limits sales to one per person, per month.

Among the researchers findings is a statistic that derails a recent theory on who is buying handguns.

"I think there is a public perception that sales of firearms to woman have risen, our finding is about the same as documented, that woman account for maybe 10 percent of all handgun sales here," Wintemute said.

According to the study, 70 percent of handguns sold were pistols, described as semi-automatic. More than 92 percent of handgun sales were to men. And only 1 percent of sales were denied after a background check.