The proportion of people willing to use a firearm rose to almost two out of three when illegal drug sellers were asked whether it was okay to shoot someone who hurt you.

The survey results presented at the Annual Conference on Criminal Justice and Evaulation provided additional evidence of the link between guns and the cultures of drugs and gangs in American cities.

National Institute of Justice Director Jeremy Travis said he had been taken aback by the findings. I’m surprised by the extent to which people in the inner cities involved in criminal behavior are living in a war zone where they frequently experience gunfire threatening to them and where guns are commonplace and widely available, he said.

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The survey, conducted in 11 cities, included extensive interviews with people under arrest. Asked whether they needed a gun for protection in their neighborhood, more than two out of five of the arrestees said they did, with that figure rising to more than 50 percent among adult women. Among those selling illegal drugs in the past year, the figure was close to 60 percent, and among admitted gang members it was higher.

The research was conducted by Scott Decker, professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Missouri, and Susan Pennell, director of San Diego’s criminal justice research division.

The project, part of a 23-city investigation into patterns of drug use, was ordered in October by Attorney General Janet Reno to gather information about the extent of illegal firearms use.

Decker said he found striking the escalation of involvement that suggested many young people were both victims and perpetrators of violence.

Almost eight out of 10 admitted gang members told researchers that they had been shot at, an experience reported by 65 percent of those who had sold illegal drugs in the past year.