Results of the Chicago Inmate Survey of Gun Access and Use

• NCJ Number: 309797
• Author(s): Philip J. Cook; Harold A. Pollack; Kailey White
• Date Published: January 2018
• Length: 152 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2014-MU-CX-0013
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Award: Underground Gun Markets in Chicago

Annotation

This paper provides results from a survey of inmates in Cook County, Chicago, on gun access and use.

Abstract

This study surveyed 99 inmates in Cook County, Chicago, to ask about their life with guns and then to develop the Chicago Inmate Survey of Gun Access and Use (CIS), with funding from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). The findings indicate that gun possession tends to be a rather fluid status, with a good deal of turnover. The time from gun acquisition to criminal use was typically a matter of weeks or months. That pattern suggests that a successful crackdown in illegal transactions could have a quick and pervasive effect on gun crime. One important characteristic of the transactions documented in CIS was their heterogeneity. What is common to all these transactions is that they are not purchases at legitimate gun stores but are obtained through off-the-books transactions of various sorts. Because these transactions depended so much on social-network sources, they were inevitably diverse. The heterogeneity is reflected in the type of transaction, the prices when guns were purchased, and search times. Ammunition was not readily available either and was generally obtained through social networks. This study was motivated by an interest in learning more about how Chicagoans who might harm others obtain lethal weapons. The respondents, mostly youthful men of color, typically had multiple prior arrests, but had also been victims of gun violence. Many viewed their old neighborhoods as bad for them, both because of the plethora of guns and gun violence and because of the social environment. The survey also provided some information about the respondents’ relationship to law enforcement. Respondents have a very negative view of the Chicago Police Department, contributing to a near universal reluctance to cooperate with the police in investigations. The extremely low arrest rate for shootings in Chicago results in part from lack of cooperation by witnesses.