IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ecl/harjfk/rwp01-033.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Gun Control

Author

Listed:
  • Moore, Mark

    (Harvard U)

  • Cook, Phil

    (Duke U)

  • Braga, Anthony

    (Harvard U)

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to provide a foundation for understanding the "Great American Gun War," and to consider the next steps that could be taken in the search for an effective gun-control policy. We begin with a review of the more-or-less uncontroversial facts about trends in gun ownership and use, and the reasons why Americans are inclined to arm themselves. A discussion follows of the more contentious issues, whether and how guns influence levels or seriousness of crime. We then identify the important values at stake in adopting any gun-control policy, and go on to describe the existing policies and the mechanisms by which they and other such measures have their effect. Finally, we make recommendations about promising next steps.

Suggested Citation

  • Moore, Mark & Cook, Phil & Braga, Anthony, 2001. "Gun Control," Working Paper Series rwp01-033, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp01-033
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://research.hks.harvard.edu/publications/getFile.aspx?Id=20
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ludwig, Jens, 1998. "Concealed-gun-carrying laws and violent crime: evidence from state panel data," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 239-254, September.
    2. Ludwig, J. & Cook, P.J. & Smith, T.W., 1998. "The gender gap in reporting household gun ownership," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 88(11), pages 1715-1718.
    3. Mullin, Wallace P., 2001. "Will gun buyback programs increase the quantity of guns?," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 87-102, March.
    4. Jens Otto Ludwig, 1998. "Concealed-Gun-Carrying Laws and Violent Crime: Evidence from State Panel Data," JCPR Working Papers 31, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    5. Cummings, P. & Koepsell, T.D. & Grossman, D.C. & Savarino, J. & Thompson, R.S., 1997. "The association between the purchase of a handgun and homicide or suicide," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 87(6), pages 974-978.
    6. Teret, S.P., 1986. "Litigating for the public's health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 76(8), pages 1027-1029.
    7. Smith, M. Dwayne, 1996. "Sources of firearm acquisition among a sample of inner-city youths: Research results and policy implications," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 361-367.
    8. Mark Duggan, 2001. "More Guns, More Crime," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(5), pages 1086-1114, October.
    9. Steven D. Levitt & Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh, 2000. "An Economic Analysis of a Drug-Selling Gang's Finances," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(3), pages 755-789.
    10. Zimring, Franklin E., 1976. "Street crime and new guns: Some implications for firearms control," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 95-107.
    11. Lott, John R, Jr & Mustard, David B, 1997. "Crime, Deterrence, and Right-to-Carry Concealed Handguns," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(1), pages 1-68, January.
    12. Black, Dan A & Nagin, Daniel S, 1998. "Do Right-to-Carry Laws Deter Violent Crime?," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(1), pages 209-219, January.
    13. 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.
    14. 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.
    15. Philip J. Cook & Jens Ludwig & David Hemenway, 1997. "The gun debate's new mythical number: How many defensive uses per year?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 463-469.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hempstead, Dr. Katherine & Andres, Dr. Antonio Rodriguez, 2009. "Gun control and suicide: The impact of state firearm regulations, 1995-2004," MPRA Paper 20728, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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. Philip J. Cook & Jens Ludwig, 2006. "Aiming for evidence-based gun policy," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(3), pages 691-735.
    2. Barati, Mehdi, 2016. "New evidence on the impact of concealed carry weapon laws on crime," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 76-83.
    3. Daniel Cerqueira & João Manoel Pinho de Mello, 2013. "Evaluating a National Anti-Firearm Law and Estimating the Causal Effect of Guns on Crime," Textos para discussão 607, Department of Economics PUC-Rio (Brazil).
    4. Durlauf, Steven N. & Navarro, Salvador & Rivers, David A., 2016. "Model uncertainty and the effect of shall-issue right-to-carry laws on crime," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 32-67.
    5. Briggs Depew & Isaac D. Swensen, 2019. "The Decision to Carry: The Effect of Crime on Concealed-Carry Applications," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 54(4), pages 1121-1153.
    6. Mialon, Hugo M. & Wiseman, Thomas, 2005. "The impact of gun laws: A model of crime and self-defense," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 170-175, August.
    7. Charles F. Manski & John V. Pepper, 2018. "How Do Right-to-Carry Laws Affect Crime Rates? Coping with Ambiguity Using Bounded-Variation Assumptions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(2), pages 232-244, May.
    8. Gabriel Costeira Machado & Cristiano Aguiar De Oliveira, 2018. "The Deterrent Effects Of Brazillian Child Labor Law," Anais do XLIV Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 44th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 237, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    9. Daniel Cerqueira & Danilo Coelho & Marcelo Fernandes & Jony Pinto Junior, 2018. "Guns and Suicides," The American Statistician, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 72(3), pages 289-294, July.
    10. Badi H. Baltagi & Pallab K. Ghosh, 2019. "Partial Distributional Policy Effects Under Endogeneity," Sankhya B: The Indian Journal of Statistics, Springer;Indian Statistical Institute, vol. 81(1), pages 123-145, September.
    11. Oliveira Cristiano & Balbinotto Neto Giácomo, 2015. "The Deterrence Effects of Gun Laws in Games with Asymmetric Skills and Information," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 11(3), pages 435-452, November.
    12. Richard S. Grossman & Stephen A. Lee, 2008. "May Issue Versus Shall Issue: Explaining The Pattern Of Concealed‐Carry Handgun Laws, 1960–2001," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 26(2), pages 198-206, April.
    13. Rubin, Paul H. & Dezhbakhsh, Hashem, 2003. "The effect of concealed handgun laws on crime: beyond the dummy variables," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 199-216, June.
    14. David Fortunato, 2015. "Can Easing Concealed Carry Deter Crime?," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 96(4), pages 1071-1085, December.
    15. Mark Duggan, 2001. "More Guns, More Crime," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(5), pages 1086-1114, October.
    16. Gius, Mark, 2019. "Using the synthetic control method to determine the effects of concealed carry laws on state-level murder rates," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-11.
    17. Braakmann, Nils, 2012. "How do individuals deal with victimization and victimization risk? Longitudinal evidence from Mexico," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 335-344.
    18. Mullin, Wallace P., 2001. "Will gun buyback programs increase the quantity of guns?," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 87-102, March.
    19. Bondy, Matthew V. & Cai, Samuel V. & Donohue, John J., 2023. "Estimating the effect of U.S. concealed carry laws on homicide: A replication and sensitivity analysis," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    20. Abdul Munasib & Genti Kostandini & Jeffrey L. Jordan, 2018. "Impact of the Stand Your Ground law on gun deaths: evidence of a rural urban dichotomy," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 527-554, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ecl:harjfk:rwp01-033. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ksharus.html .

    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.