Just some notes from a brief scan. In the abstract are two counterpoints:
a) "gun availability at home increases the propensity to commit crime by about two percentage points for juveniles" b) "the median impact of cocaine use on the propensity to commit various types of crimes is 11 percentage points. The impact of using inhalants or other drugs is an increase in the propensity to commit crime by 7 and 6 percentage points, respectively." I do find it odd that a German institute is doing analysis of U.S. criminology, but it's a free country (or so I'm told). I find the data source uncompelling: National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health - an "in-school questionnaire administered to every student who attended one of the sampled 132 U.S. schools on a particular day during the period between September 1994 and April 1995". I don't have time to track down where these 132 schools are, but I have a hunch they are in major metro areas only. One of the reasons I believe this may be true is that 22-24% of the kids reported that there were firearms in their homes, about 1/2 the rate commonly reported from national adult surveys, but similar (if I recall) to the adult reporting rate in major metro areas. They also seem to predispose that firearm availability is (a) undesirable, (b) and indicator of an "undesirable home environment" and that (c) firearm availability is a proxy for adult criminal behavior. Seems an odd set of assumption to a southern boy like myself. They further extend these assumptions to make firearm availability a proxy for adolescent "lying, being expelled from school, drinking and fighting, smoking, and having sex". Call me cynical (because I am - www.cynical.ws) but I think it is a rare teenager who does not occasionally indulge in most of the above. The frequency of infraction is a more appropriate indicator. -------------------- Guy Smith Silicon Strategies Marketing 630 Taylor Avenue Alameda, CA 94501 510-521-4477 (T) 510-217-9693 (F) [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.SiliconStrat.com _______________________________________________ To post, send message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/firearmsregprof
