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COMMENTS ON KELLERMANN – GUNS IN THE HOME

Some Methodological Problems in “Gun Ownership and Homicide in the Home -
(Kellermann et. al., New England Journal of Medicine. Oct 7, 1993)

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H. Taylor Buckner

Associate Professor of Sociology, Concordia University

Kellermann and his colleagues concluded that a person who had a gun in his
or her home was 2.7 times more likely to be a victim of homicide than
someone who did not (1087). They further “found no evidence of a protective
benefit from gun ownership…(1087).” Neither of these conclusions are
justified on the basis of their research.

They conducted their research by limiting their cases to people murdered in
their own homes, thus excluding any instances where intruders were killed
by the homeowner. They did not ask the victim’s proxy (from whom they got
their data about the victim and his or her household) whether or not the
victim had previously defended him/herself with a gun. Thus their
conclusion that a gun provides no protective benefit flows from their
failure to consider cases where it might have.

In order to provide a control group they selected another person from the
neighborhood of the same sex, race, and age group as the victim, and asked
them the same questions they had asked the victim’s proxy. While matched on
the demographic variables, the control group was stunningly different on
behavioral measures. Compared to the control group the victim group was
more likely to: rent rather than own, live alone, drink alcoholic
beverages, have problems in the household because of drinking, have trouble
at work because of drinking, be hospitalized because of drinking, use
illicit drugs, have physical fights in the home during drinking, have a
household member hit or hurt in a fight in the home, have a household
member require medical attention because of a fight in the home, have a
household member involved in a physical fight outside the home, have any
household member arrested, and be arrested themselves. Thus the victim
group and the control group had very different lifestyles, with the victim
group living a very high-risk lifestyle.

In fact, Kellermann found that having a gun in the home ranked fifth out of
six risk factors in the victims’ lives. Using illicit drugs lead to a 5.7
times risk of being murdered, being a renter 4.4 times, having any
household member hit or hurt in a fight 4.4 times, living alone 3.7 times,
guns in the household 2.7 times, and a household member being arrested, 2.5
times.

The entire “gun in the home is risky” analysis depends on one crucial
figure, the percent of the control group (35.8%) that have guns in their
homes. If this figure is underreported, the findings are false. There is
good reason to assume this figure is low. First, many, many surveys report
that around 48% of Americans have guns in their homes. The victim group, as
reported by their proxies, had 45.4% gun owners. This figure is unlikely to
be false: the victim is dead, in 49.9% of the cases by gunshot wound, the
proxy cannot really lie about it. The control group actually reported
owning more rifles and shotguns than the victim group, (fewer handguns) but
they may well have not reported having a pistol in the home because it is
illegal, or nobody’s business. There is considerable evidence (Kleck, 457;
Newton, 6; Erskine, 456; Kennett, 253; Stinchcombe, 115) that over the past
three decades an increasing fraction of survey respondents have incorrectly
denied gun ownership. In a pilot study, Kellermann tested whether people
reported their gun ownership correctly by asking REGISTERED gun owners if
they owned a gun, and found that their replies were “generally valid
(1089).” The official records of the members of the control group were not
checked to see if they had “registered” guns, and likely many had guns that
were not registered and not reported. Thus even the finding that gun
ownership is the fifth most important risk factor is subject to
considerable doubt.

My conclusion is that this study is seriously flawed, and that the
conclusions were driven by ideology more than research.

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References

Erskine, Hazel. 1972. “The Polls: Gun Control.” Public Opinion Quarterly.
36:455- 469.
Kellermann, Arthur L., M.D., M.P.H., Frederick P. Rivara, M.D., M.P.H.,
Norman B. Rushforth, Ph.D., Joyce G. Banton, M.S., Donald T. Reay, M.D.,
Jerry T. Francisco, M.D., Ana B. Locci, Ph.D., Jancice Prodzinzki, B.A.,
Bela B. Hackman, M.D., and Grant Somes, Ph.D. 1993 “Gun Ownership as a Risk
Factor for Homicide in the Home.” New England Journal of Medicine. 329:15
1084-1091. 7 Oct.
Kennett, Lee and James LaVerne Anderson. 1975. The Gun in America: The
Origins of a National Dilemma. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
Kleck, Gary. 1991. Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America. New York:
Aldine de Gruyter.
Newton, George D., and Frank Zimring. 1969. Firearms and Violence in
American Life. A Staff Report to the National Commission on the Causes and
Prevention of Violence. Washington, D.C.; U.S. Government Printing Office.
Stinchcombe, Arthur, Rebecca Adams, Carol A. Heimer, Kim Lane Schepple, Tom
W. Smith, and D. Garth Taylor. 1980. Crime and Punishment – Changing
Attitudes in America. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.