IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/anname/v704y2022i1p118-136.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effectiveness of Firearm Restriction, Background Checks, and Licensing Laws in Reducing Gun Violence

Author

Listed:
  • April M. Zeoli
  • Alexander D. Mccourt
  • Jennifer K. Paruk

Abstract

We present the rationale behind four types of laws that restrict access to firearms for those who are deemed to be a high risk for future gun violence and two types of laws that implement firearm purchase prohibitions. We also present evidence on the effectiveness of these laws. Broadly, these are laws that restrict access for domestic violence abusers, individuals convicted of misdemeanor violence, and individuals at high risk of violence against themselves or others. We briefly discuss relinquishment of firearms by those who are newly restricted, but we focus mainly on how purchase restrictions are implemented by the federal government and across states. Extant research shows that well-implemented firearm policy that is based on evidence-based risk factors can be effective in reducing firearm injury.

Suggested Citation

  • April M. Zeoli & Alexander D. Mccourt & Jennifer K. Paruk, 2022. "Effectiveness of Firearm Restriction, Background Checks, and Licensing Laws in Reducing Gun Violence," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 704(1), pages 118-136, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:704:y:2022:i:1:p:118-136
    DOI: 10.1177/00027162231165149
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00027162231165149
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00027162231165149?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wright, M.A. & Wintemute, G.J. & Rivara, F.P., 1999. "Effectiveness of denial of handgun purchase to persons believed to be at high risk for firearm violence," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 89(1), pages 88-90.
    2. Wintemute, G.J. & Frattaroli, S. & Claire, B.E. & Vittes, K.A. & Webster, D.W., 2014. "Identifying armed respondents to domestic violence restraining orders and recovering their firearms: Process evaluation of an initiative in California," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(2), pages 113-118.
    3. Kerri M. Raissian, 2016. "Hold Your Fire: Did the 1996 Federal Gun Control Act Expansion Reduce Domestic Homicides?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(1), pages 67-93, January.
    4. Rudolph, K.E. & Stuart, E.A. & Vernick, J.S. & Webster, D.W., 2015. "Association between Connecticut's permit-to-purchase handgun law and homicides," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(8), pages 49-54.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Elizabeth Richardson Vigdor & James A. Mercy, 2006. "Do Laws Restricting Access to Firearms by Domestic Violence Offenders Prevent Intimate Partner Homicide?," Evaluation Review, , vol. 30(3), pages 313-346, June.
    2. Schiff, Maurice, 2019. "Greater US Gun Ownership, Lethality and Murder Rates: Analysis and Policy Proposals," GLO Discussion Paper Series 421, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Meenakshi Balakrishna & Kenneth C. Wilbur, 2022. "Do Firearm Markets Comply with Firearm Restrictions? How the Massachusetts Assault Weapons Ban Enforcement Notice Changed Registered Firearm Sales," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(1), pages 60-89, March.
    4. Dana E Goin & Kara E Rudolph & Jennifer Ahern, 2017. "Impact of drought on crime in California: A synthetic control approach," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(10), pages 1-15, October.
    5. Meenakshi Balakrishna & Kenneth C. Wilbur, 2021. "Do Firearm Markets Comply with Firearm Restrictions? How the Massachusetts Assault Weapons Ban Enforcement Notice Changed Firearm Sales," Papers 2111.05272, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2021.
    6. Christoph Koenig & David Schindler, 2023. "Impulse Purchases, Gun Ownership, and Homicides: Evidence from a Firearm Demand Shock," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 105(5), pages 1271-1286, September.
    7. Koenig, Christoph & Schindler, David, 2018. "Impulse Purchases, Gun Ownership and Homicides : Evidence from a Firearm Demand Shock," Discussion Paper 2018-043, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    8. Dominik Wodarz & Natalia L Komarova, 2013. "Dependence of the Firearm-Related Homicide Rate on Gun Availability: A Mathematical Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(7), pages 1-13, July.
    9. Mark Anderson, D. & Sabia, Joseph J. & Tekin, Erdal, 2021. "Child access prevention laws and juvenile firearm-related homicides," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    10. Meenakshi Balakrishna & Kenneth C. Wilbur, 2021. "How the Massachusetts Assault Weapons Ban Enforcement Notice Changed Firearm Sales," Papers 2102.02884, arXiv.org.
    11. Wintemute, Garen J. & Wright, Mona A. & Parham, Carrie A. & Drake, Christiana M. & Beaumont, James J., 1999. "Denial of handgun purchase: A description of the affected population and a controlled study of their handgun preferences," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 21-31, January.
    12. Christoph Koenig & David Schindler, 2018. "Dynamics in Gun Ownership and Crime - Evidence from the Aftermath of Sandy Hook," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 18/694, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.
    13. Kafka, Julie M. & Moracco, Kathryn E. & Williams, Deanna S. & Hoffman, Claire G., 2021. "What is the role of firearms in nonfatal intimate partner violence? Findings from civil protective order case data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    14. Moore, Mark & Cook, Phil & Braga, Anthony, 2001. "Gun Control," Working Paper Series rwp01-033, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    15. Mark Gius, 2017. "Effects of Permit-to-Purchase Laws on State-Level Firearm Murder Rates," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 45(1), pages 73-80, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:704:y:2022:i:1:p:118-136. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.