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Active, Not Recruiting

NCT Number: NCT02318732

Evaluation of California's Armed and Prohibited Persons System

This study evaluates exposure to California's Armed and Prohibited Persons System (APPS) and risk of future violence and other important outcome events among individuals who legally purchased firearms in the past but have since become prohibited from owning them. The main hypothesis is that APPS will be associated with a significant reduction in risk for future violence among individuals who are directly affected.

Active, Not Recruiting

This study is active but is not currently recruiting participants.

Key information

Conditions

Violence

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

UC Davis

Sacramento, California, 95618, United States

About this study

Violence remains an important public safety and public health problem. Prior research has shown that denying firearm purchases by individuals who are at high risk for committing violent crimes, thereby restricting their access to firearms, is an effective violence prevention strategy. The Armed and Prohibited Persons System (APPS) is a new violence prevention initiative undertaken by the California Department of Justice (CalDOJ). APPS is used by law enforcement to systematically identify persons who, having legally purchased firearms in the past, have become prohibited persons in the present-usually as the result of a criminal conviction. Such individuals are at increased risk for future violence.

APPS uses existing data to identify firearm owners among persons who have become prohibited from owning or possessing firearms under California or federal law. CalDOJ then uses this information to contact and attempt recovery of firearms in the possession of prohibited individuals.

This controlled prospective longitudinal evaluation of APPS relies principally on data collected by CalDOJ in the course of APPS operations or on data in the public domain, such as community characteristics published by the U.S. Census Bureau.

To maximize fairness during the implementation of APPS, approximately 1,000 California communities will be stratified by region, population, and violent crime rate and randomized into two groups that will be exposed to APPS at different times during the study period. Hierarchical analysis will examine outcomes for individuals clustered at the community level. The principal analysis will be on an intent to treat basis. A secondary per protocol analysis will also be conducted.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Adults with records of firearms ownership who have experienced a prohibiting event. Prohibiting events are based in Federal and California state law. Among others, they include criminal convictions for felonies and selected violent misdemeanors; emergency hospitalization for dangerousness associated with severe mental illness, as specified in statute; and status as respondent to a domestic violence restraining order.

Exclusion criteria

  • None.

Treatment and study plan

APPS intervention

Behavioral

Contact with and recovery of firearms from individuals who are prohibited from possessing them

Primary outcomes

  1. Incidence of arrest for violent and firearm-related crimes

    Time frame: Up to 3 years

    Arrests for violent and firearm-related crimes among persons eligible for the APPS intervention

Secondary outcomes

  1. Incidence of arrest for non-violent, non firearms-related crimes

    Time frame: Up to 3 years

    Arrests for crimes not involving violence or firearms among persons eligible for the APPS intervention

  2. Incidence of emergency mental health hospitalizations

    Time frame: Up to 3 years

    Emergency mental health hospitalizations following a determination of dangerousness to self or others or grave disability among persons eligible for the APPS intervention

  3. Incidence of domestic violence restraining orders

    Time frame: Up to 3 years

    Domestic violence restraining orders among persons eligible for the APPS intervention

Other outcomes

  1. Community level rates of violence

    Time frame: Up to 3 years

    Community-level rates of violent and firearm-related crimes

  2. Cost benefit analysis

    Time frame: Up to 3 years

    Assess benefits of APPS relative to costs.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of California, Davis

Other

Collaborators

  • Northeastern University
  • Rutgers University
  • Stanford University

Registry information

Official study title

Prospective Evaluation of California's Armed and Prohibited Persons System

Acronym: APPS

Important dates

Study start
2015
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2026
First posted
Dec 17, 2014
Registry last updated
Feb 18, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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