Firearms, crime and gun control

Our study into firearms, crime and gun control has its origins in research conducted in the mid-1990s on rising rates of gun crime in Britain. The scope of our research has developed substantially and now comprises several strands relating to:

  • gun crime
  • firearms control
  • firearms safety
  • comparative firearm studies
  • gun culture
  • the policing of firearms
  • police armed response
  • the politics of shooting and
  • gender and firearms.

MRM-SS-gun-crime

Research objectives

We explore diverse aspects of the relationship between firearms and society, the risks posed, the consequences of weaponised social relations, the social significance of firearms and 'gun culture', the meanings attributed to firearms and the social control (including policing) of firearms in diverse social contexts. Our broad aim is to contribute to the development of a sociology of 'firearm studies'.

Impact on policy and public debate

On the strength of his research and publications on gun crime and firearms controls, and his contributions to debates of gun safety, Professor Peter Squires was co-opted onto the Police National Advisory Group on Criminal use of Firearms. His programme of work in this area reaches back to the mid-1990s and in 2000 he published a book comparing British and American responses to the school shooting incidents at Dunblane and Columbine – exploring the contrasting gun cultures. He has been involved in a series of large collaborative projects to tackle aspects of gun crime, including attempts to model the distribution of illegal firearms in gang-involved communities.

He wrote the definitive analysis: Gun Crime: A Review of Evidence and Policy, for the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies in 2008, followed by an analysis of British police armed response policy (2010) and has since worked on international small arms proliferation, weaponisation and violence, culminating in the book Gun Crime in Global Contexts, published in 2014. Having consolidated his position as a leading expert, Squires is regularly contacted for contributions to debates about policing and gun crime including the BBC Panorama ‘Shooting to Kill’ documentary in April 2014, and is billed as ‘the country’s most-quoted academic expert on gun crime’ by The Guardian.

Not only has his research contributed to public debate, it has also influenced national policy. Evidence given to a Home Affairs Select Committee helped to shape UK firearms control legislation. His groundbreaking research into weapon proliferation and its impact on rates of violence and conflict will no doubt be of interest to policymakers both in the UK and overseas.

The-Conversation-logo-box

Read Professor Peter Squires's article Why has America done so little to stop gun violence? in The Conversation.

Read Professor Peter Squire's article Police prefer to carry tasers – but would that make anyone safer? in The Conversation.

Read Helen Williamson's article Criminals are using antique weapons due to a loophole in UK law in The Conversation
 

 

Research team

Professor Peter Squires
Dr Hannah Frith
Dr Craig Johnstone
Dr Peter Kennison (Visiting Research Fellow)
Dr Jayne Raisborough
Helen Williamson  (PhD student) - Criminal armourers and illegal firearm supply project
Sarah Watson   (PhD student) - Exploring the potential for the harmonisation of gun laws in Europe project

 

Output

Williamson, H (2015) Criminal Armourers and Illegal Firearm Supply in England and Wales, British Criminology Conference, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK, 30 June – 3 July.

Squires, P (Forthcoming) Shooting and animal abuse in H. Pierrepoint and J. Maher (Eds) International Handbook of Animal Abuse Studies.

Squires, P (Forthcoming) Gunmen: Relations of ballistic governance, based on paper to the International Guns and Governance Seminar, Flemish Peace Institute, May 2015.

Squires, P (Forthcoming) Guns, technology and crime in M. McGuire and T. Holt (Eds) Handbook of Technology, Crime and Justice.

Squires, P, Raisborough, J and Frith, H (Forthcoming) My Body, My Choice, My Gun: Women and Firearms

Squires, P (2014) Gun Crime in Global Contexts, Routledge, Abingdon.

Squires, P (2014) The unacceptable (?) face of elite gun culture, Criminal Justice Matters, Vol. 96 (1): 20-21.

Squire, P (2013) Embracing danger: Self-defense firearms in the home, Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, Tufts University, March 6.

Squires, P (2013) Bang! … goes the countryside: From criminology to cruelty. Protect Magazine No. 4. The League against Cruel Sports.

Squires, P, Davies, MJ, Wells C, Hodgetts TJ and Lecky FE (2012) Civilian firearm injury and death in England and Wales, Emergency Medicine Journal, Vol 29, 10-14.

Squires, P (2011) Young People and Weaponisation in B. Goldson (Ed) Youth in Crisis: Gangs, Territoriality and Violence. Cullompton, Willan.

Squires, P and Kennison, P (2010) Shooting to Kill? Policing, Firearms and Armed Response. Wiley/Blackwell, Chichester.

Squires, P (2009) Policing Gun Crime in A. Wakefield and J. Fleming (Eds) The Sage Dictionary of Policing, 128-131. Sage, London.

Squires, P, Solomon, E and Grimshaw, R (2008) Gun crime: A review of evidence and policy. Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. Whose Justice? series. Kings College, London. 

Squires, P, Silvestri, A, Solomon, E and Grimshaw, R (2008) Street Weapons Commission: Guns, knives and street violence - Final report. Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. Kings College, London.

Squires, P (2000) Gun Culture or Gun Control? Firearms, Violence and Society. Routledge, Abingdon.   

Selected media and research dissemination

Squires, P (2017) Police prefer to carry tasers – but would that make anyone safer? The Conversation. 13 February.

Squires, P (2015) Why has America done so little to stop gun violence? The Conversation. 27 August.

Squires, P (2015) The catalogue of errors that killed Jean Charles de Menezes. The Conversation. 21 July.

Squires, P (2014) Gun or taser?  London attacks show choice is tough for police.  The Conversation. 8 September.

Squires, P (2014) The curious case of public subsidy for Britain’s gun culture elite. Open Democracy. 26 May.

Squires, P (2014) Mark Duggan lawful killing verdict leaves questions over police use of lethal force. The Conversation. 8 January.

Squires, P (2013) Hard evidence – does gun control work? The Conversation. 19 September.

Squires, P (2013) Missing the target - mandatory gun sentences don't work. The Conversation. 21 August.

Squires, P (2012) Debate with Wayne La Pierre, Executive Vice President of the NRA

Arnot,C (2007) Peter Squires: Straight shooter, Academic experts, Higher education profile, The Guardian, 16 October.

Sources/links

Collaborations

UK Gun Control Network
League Against Cruel Sports
Briefly, co-opted member of Home Office Firearms Consultative Committee
Evidence (written & oral) to the Home Affairs Select Committee on Gun Control 2010
Member of the NPCC (National Police Chief's Council) Independent Advisory Group on Criminal Use of Firearms (from 2012)
Co-opted member of HMIC Scrutiny team review on Firearms Licensing
Evidence (written & oral) to Law Commission Review of Firearms Laws
The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (2008-2010)

Research funding

Three large national collaborative projects on ‘Tackling Gun Crime’ arising from participation in an EPSRC Research ‘Sandpit’ during September 2005.

EPSRC Magnet 1 Modelling Gun Crime Project 2005-2007  

EPSRC DNA Data Retrieval from Crime Scenes 2005-2008   

EPSRC Medusa Project:  Digital CCTV imaging and Weapon-Related behaviour Identification 2005-08 

Awards, recognition, impact

Professor Peter Squires is billed as ‘the country’s most-quoted academic expert on gun crime’ by The Guardian and has been elected as president of the British Society of Criminology (BSC). Our pioneering criminology research has changed national and European policy, practice and debate on public safety. With over 20 years of direct engagement with policing and firearms control, Professor Peter Squires has demonstrated that improvements in accountability, research evidence and effective evaluation are critical for gun control. For further examples of recognition and impact, read our panel on Impact on policy and public debate on this page or visit the Research impact page for SSPARC.