Firearms training: what is actually taught?

INTRODUCTION: Firearm safety instructors and public health professionals are natural allies in the quest to prevent firearm injuries. We audited basic firearm classes to provide information that can help familiarise public health professionals and others with the content covered. METHODS: With the advice of expert instructors, we created an audit form. Volunteers audited 20 basic firearm classes in seven north-eastern states. RESULTS: All trainers covered a wide variety of safety issues. Some specific basics were covered in 90+% of the classes, including how to safely load/unload a gun, keeping your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot, and being aware of your target and what is behind it. In 50%-75% of the classes, the trainer covered topics such as operating a safety, clearing jams and cartridge malfunctions, and recommended storing guns unloaded and locked when not in use. Few instructors covered firearm suicide prevention (10%) or domestic violence (10%). Most encouraged gun ownership, gun carrying, gun use in self-defence and membership in a gun rights group. DISCUSSION: From a public health standpoint, we would like to see more instructors covering topics such as firearm suicide and alternatives to gun use in self-defence, and to recommend safer storage of firearms.

A test of the construct validity of the elemental psychopathy assessment scores in a community sample of adults.

The Elemental Psychopathy Assessment (EPA) is a relatively new self-report measure of the basic traits associated with psychopathy. Using community participants (N = 104) oversampled for the presence of psychopathic traits, we examined the convergent and criterion validity of the EPA total and factor scores (i.e., Antagonism, Emotional Stability, Disinhibition, and Narcissism) in relation to self- and informant reports of psychopathy and the general personality dimensions of the HEXACO (Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience; Ashton & Lee, 2009), as well as self-reported scores on narcissism, Machiavellianism, and externalizing behaviors (EBs) such as antisocial behavior and aggression. The EPA total and factor scores manifested substantial positive correlations with self- and informant-reported psychopathy scores and dimensions from the HEXACO, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and EBs. The patterns of these relations became clearer and more differentiated when examined via regression analyses such that the EPA factors manifested differential relations with various aspects of psychopathy (e.g., EPA Antagonism was the only unique correlate of psychopathy traits related to callousness and manipulation). Overall, the EPA is a promising assessment tool given the breadth of its coverage, the flexibility with which it can be used (total score; 4-factor scores; 18 subscale scores), and its ties to a popular model of basic personality traits.

Examining the relations among pain tolerance, psychopathic traits, and violent and nonviolent antisocial behavior.

Psychopathic traits are typically associated with an array of externalizing behaviors including violent and nonviolent crime and recidivism, substance use, aggression, and sexual coercion. In the current study, we test the hypothesis that psychopathic traits are related to an increased tolerance for physical pain, which may partially account for the relations between psychopathy and antisocial behavior (ASB). Using community participants oversampled for psychopathic traits (N = 104), we found that psychopathic traits, measured using self- and informant reports, manifested small correlations with some measures of physical pain tolerance (tolerance of pressure and electric shock) but not others (tolerance of cold temperature). In addition, pain tolerance, particularly tolerance of pressure, manifested small correlations with a history of antisocial and aggressive behavior. However, there was little evidence that pain tolerance serves as a mediator of the relations between psychopathy and violent or nonviolent ASB. Conversely, there was evidence that the relations between pain tolerance and ASB were mediated by the presence of certain psychopathic traits. The implications of these findings are discussed.