SEVERAL RESEARCHERS HAVE SUGGESTED THAT RATES OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE, EXPECIALLY HOMICIDE, ARE RELATIVELY HIGH IN THE SOUTH BECAUSE THE SUBCULTURE PREDISPOSES RESIDENTS OF THAT AREA TO USE VIOLENCE MORE FREQUENTLY THAN RESIDENTS OF OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY. THIS CONTENTION HAS BEEN QUESTIONED BY ONE GROUP OF RESEARCHERS WHICH SHOWED THAT SITUATIONAL AND STRUCTURAL FACTORS MAY ACCOUNT FOR REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE. THE MAIN STUDY DESCRIBED IN THE ARTICLE RELIED ON DATA COLLECTED IN 1973 AND 1974 TO TEST THE SUBCULTURE OF VIOLENCE THESIS AMONG WHITE RESIDENTS IN THE SOUTH. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GUN OWNERSHIP AND A PERSON'S REGION OF RESIDENCE AT 16 YEARS OF AGE AND A NUMBER OF OTHER CONTROL VARIABLES WAS EXAMINED. EQUATIONS FOR GUN OWNERSHIP AND PISTOL OWNERSHIP WERE DERIVED USING ORDINARY LEAST SQUARES TECHNIQUES. SINCE PISTOL OWNERSHIP WAS FOUND TO BE A DICHOTOMOUS VARIABLE, LOG LINEAR ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES WERE ALSO EMPLOYED. THE EFFECT OF GROWING UP IN THE SOUTH ON HANDGUN OWNERSHIP WAS NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. SIMILARLY, INTERACTIONS OF SOUTHERN ORIGIN WITH OTHER PREDICTORS OF HANDGUN OWNERSHIP, INCLUDING ADULT RESIDENCE IN THE SOUTH, WERE INSIGNIFICANT. THE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT, IF THERE IS A SOUTHERN SUBCULTURE TRANSMITTED THROUGH FAMILIES, IT PLAYS NO ROLE IN PRODUCING REGIONAL GUN OWNERSHIP DIFFERENCES. REFERENCES AND SUPPORTING DATA FOR THE 2,294 DATA SETS ON PISTOL OWNERSHIP AND THE 2,286 DATA SETS ON GUN OWNERSHIP ARE INCLUDED. (DEP)