185,506 research outputs found
Racism, gun ownership and gun control : biased attitudes in US whites may influence policy decisions
No full textObjective Racism is related to policies preferences and behaviors that adversely affect blacks and appear related to a fear of blacks (e.g., increased policing, death penalty). This study examined whether racism is also related to gun ownership and opposition to gun controls in US whites. Method The most recent data from the American National Election Study, a large representative US sample, was used to test relationships between racism, gun ownership, and opposition to gun control in US whites. Explanatory variables known to be related to gun ownership and gun control opposition (i.e., age, gender, education, income, conservatism, anti-government sentiment, southern vs. other states, political identification) were entered in logistic regression models, along with measures of racism, and the stereotype of blacks as violent. Outcome variables included; having a gun in the home, opposition to bans on handguns in the home, support for permits to carry concealed handguns. Results After accounting for all explanatory variables, logistic regressions found that for each 1 point increase in symbolic racism there was a 50% increase in the odds of having a gun at home. After also accounting for having a gun in the home, there was still a 28% increase in support for permits to carry concealed handguns, for each one point increase in symbolic racism. The relationship between symbolic racism and opposition to banning handguns in the home (OR1.27 CI 1.03,1.58) was reduced to non-significant after accounting for having a gun in the home (OR1.17 CI .94,1.46), which likely represents self-interest in retaining property (guns). Conclusions Symbolic racism was related to having a gun in the home and opposition to gun control policies in US whites. The findings help explain US whites' paradoxical attitudes towards gun ownership and gun control. Such attitudes may adversely influence US gun control policy debates and decisions
The Effect of Gun Shows on Gun-Related Deaths: Evidence from California and Texas
No full textThousands of gun shows take place in the U.S. each year. Gun control advocates argue that because sales at gun shows are much less regulated than other sales, such shows make it easier for potential criminals to obtain a gun. Similarly, one might be concerned that gun shows would exacerbate suicide rates by providing individuals considering suicide with a more lethal means of ending their lives. On the other hand, proponents argue that gun shows are innocuous since potential criminals can acquire guns quite easily through other black market sales or theft. In this paper, we use data from Gun and Knife Show Calendar combined with vital statistics data to examine the effect of gun shows. We find no evidence that gun shows lead to substantial increases in either gun homicides or suicides. In addition, tighter regulation of gun shows does not appear to reduce the number of firearms-related deaths.
Underground Gun Markets
No full textThis paper provides an economic analysis of underground gun markets drawing on interviews with gang members, gun dealers, professional thieves, prostitutes, police, public school security guards and teens in the city of Chicago, complemented by results from government surveys of recent arrestees in 22 cities plus administrative data for suicides, homicides, robberies, arrests and confiscated crime guns. We find evidence of considerable frictions in the underground market for guns in Chicago. We argue that these frictions are due primarily to the fact that the underground gun market is both illegal and %u201Cthin%u201D -- the number of buyers, sellers and total transactions is small and relevant information is scarce. Gangs can help overcome these market frictions, but the gang%u2019s economic interests cause gang leaders to limit supply primarily to gang members, and even then transactions are usually loans or rentals with strings attached.
Safe Storage Gun Laws: Accidental Deaths, Suicides and Crime
No full textIt is frequently assumed that safe storage gun laws reduce accidental gun deaths and total suicides, while the possible impact on crime rates are ignored. However, given existing work on the adverse impact of other safety laws, such as safety caps for storing medicine, even the very plausible assumption of reduced accidental gun deaths cannot be taken for granted. Our paper analyzes both state and county data spanning nearly twenty years, and we find no support that safe storage laws reduce either juvenile accidental gun deaths or suicides. Instead, these storage requirements appear to impair people's ability to use guns defensively. Because accidental shooters also tend to be the ones most likely to violate the new law, safe storage laws increase violent and property crimes against low risk citizens with no observable offsetting benefit in terms of reduced accidents or suicides. During the first five full years after the passage of the safe storage laws, the group of fifteen states that adopted these laws faced an annual average increase of over 300 more murders, 3,860 more rapes, 24,650 more robberies, and over 25,000 more aggravated assaults. On average, the annual costs borne by victims averaged over $2.6 billion as a result of lost productivity, out-of-pocket expenses, medical bills, and property losses.gun control, crime, suicide, accidental death
Gun Control after Heller: Litigating against Regulation
No full textThe “core right” established in D.C. vs. Heller (2008) is to keep an operable handgun in the home for self-defense purposes. If the Court extends this right to cover state and local jurisdictions, the result is likely to include the elimination of the most stringent existing regulations – such as Chicago’s handgun ban – and could also possibly ban regulations that place substantial restrictions or costs on handgun ownership. We find evidence in support of four conclusions: The effect of Heller may be to increase the prevalence of handgun ownership in jurisdictions that currently have restrictive laws; Given the best evidence on the consequences of increased prevalence of gun ownership, these jurisdictions will experience a greater burden of crime due to more lethal violence and an increased burglary rate; Nonetheless, a regime with greater scope for gun rights is not necessarily inferior – whether restrictive regulations would pass a cost benefit test may depend on whether we accept the Heller viewpoint that there is a legal entitlement to possess a handgun; In any event, the core right defined by Heller leaves room for some regulation that would reduce the negative externalities of gun ownership.
The Effect of Child Access Prevention Laws on Non-Fatal Gun Injuries
No full textMany states have passed child access prevention (CAP) laws, which hold the gun owner responsible if a child gains access to a gun that is not securely stored. Previous CAP law research has focused exclusively on gun-related deaths even though most gun injuries are not fatal. We use annual hospital discharge data from 1988-2001 to investigate whether CAP laws decrease non-fatal gun injuries. Results from Poisson regressions that control for various hospital, county and state characteristics, including state-specific fixed effects and time trends, indicate that CAP laws substantially reduce non-fatal gun injuries among both children and adults. Our interpretation of the estimates as causal impacts is supported by the absence of effects on self-inflicted gun injuries among adults, non-gun self-inflicted injuries, and knife assaults, the failure of violent crime levels and law leads to attain significance or alter estimated law coefficients, and larger coefficient magnitudes in states where the law covers older children.
Gun control and suicide: The impact of state firearm regulations, 1995-2004
No full textSuicide is a major cause of preventable death. Restricting access to lethal means has been identified as an effective approach to suicide prevention, and firearms regulations are one way to reduce gun availability. This study examines the relationship between state firearms regulations and suicide among males, using negative binomial regression and state panel data for the years 1995–2004. Results suggest that firearms regulations which function to reduce overall gun availability have a significant deterrent effect on suicide, while prohibited persons categories have less of an effect. Overall, the results suggest that gun control measures such as permit and licensing requirements might have public health benefits.suicide; guns; panel data; state regulations
Gun seizure law
No full textTitle from Web page (OLR web site, viewed Aug. 19, 2009).; "August 13, 2009."; Updates OLR research report 2008-R-0280 on the state's gun seizure law.; Harvested from the web on 8/19/0
Gun control and suicide: The impact of state firearm regulations, 1995–2004
No full textSuicide is a major cause of preventable death. Restricting access to lethal means has been identified as an effective approach to suicide prevention, and firearms regulations are one way to reduce gun availability. This study examines the relationship between state firearms regulations and suicide among males, using negative binomial regression and state panel data for the years 1995–2004. Results suggest that firearms regulations which function to reduce overall gun availability have a significant deterrent effect on suicide, while prohibited persons categories have less of an effect. Overall, the results suggest that gun control measures such as permit and licensing requirements might have public health benefits.suicide, guns, state regulations, panel data
An investigation into set back force simulation in composition B fillings subjected to hot gun scenarios
No full textpresented at PARARI, Melbourne in November 2007Ammunition loaded into large calibre gun chambers, which have been heated by
previous firings, can enter a hot-gun state; conservatively defined as hot if 50 rounds or
more are fired in a four-hour period. In this state the temperatures of the explosive fill,
such as Composition B, may easily exceed their qualification temperatures. This is
potentially dangerous if the weapon misfires either by cook-off or premature shell
ignition. Currently there are no standard tests that can be used to assess the behaviour of
Composition B filled munitions in a simulated hot-gun condition.
During firing some of the energy can be transferred to the explosive fill. Defects induced
by melting and/or re-solidification of the Composition B will lead to a greater chance of
accidental initiation of the explosive due to setback forces creating hotspots and ultimately
resulting in an accidental in-bore explosion. The aim of this research was to investigate
the conditions of this accidental initiation of Composition B in a hot gun situation at the
time the projectile is likely to be cleared from the gun. It investigated whether this
situation can be simulated cost effectively by examining the sensitivity of Composition B
samples that were thermally conditioned in accordance with calculated temperature-time
profiles. A target assembly was designed to mimic setback forces by using projectile
impact. A series of tests conducted on these composition B filled targets, which had been
subjected to hot gun conditions, were performed at the Cranfield Ordnance Test and
Evaluation Centre (COTEC) to simulate setback effects at shot start. Mechanical energy
was delivered by an impacting sabot launched from a nitrogen gas powered gun. Post
firing simulation and analysis of materials were used to determine the mechanism of
initiation and the severity of the event compared to the amount of force the samples were
subjected to
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