The Science of Gun Policy: A Critical Synthesis of Research Evidence on the Effects of Gun Policies in the United States, Third Edition

Abstract

Effective gun policies in the United States must balance Second Amendment rights and public interest in gun ownership with concerns about public health and safety. However, efforts to craft legislation related to guns are hampered by a paucity of reliable information about the effects of such policies. To help address this problem, the RAND Corporation launched the Gun Policy in America initiative. Throughout RAND's 70-year history, in multiple projects, in many policy arenas, and on topics that are sensitive and controversial, researchers have conducted analyses, built tools, and developed resources to help policy makers and the public make effective decisions. The primary goal of the Gun Policy in America project is to create resources where policymakers and the general public can access unbiased information that facilitates the development of fair and effective firearm policies.This initiative has yielded several research products, such as a state firearm law database; surveys of policy experts that identified where access to reliable data would be most useful in resolving policy debates; various tools and methodological reports for researchers; and the first and second editions of this report, which synthesized the available scientific data on the effects of 18 types of firearm policies on a variety of outcomes related to gun ownership. This third edition builds on the second edition by updating the literature review to include studies published through October 2020. The result is a substantially updated synthesis of the available evidence concerning the effects of 18 types of gun policies.The Gun Policy in America initiative did not attempt to evaluate the merits of different values or principles that sometimes drive policy disagreements. Rather, our focus is strictly on the empirical effects of policies on the eight outcomes specified in this report. All of our resources are publicly available on the project website at www.rand.org/gunpolicy.The work should be of interest to policymakers and other stakeholders considering decisions related to firearm policy. Furthermore, this report may be of interest to the research community and to the general public. Justice Policy ProgramRAND Social and Economic Well-Being is a division of the RAND Corporation that seeks to actively improve the health and social and economic well-being of populations and communities throughout the world. This research was conducted in the Justice Policy Program within RAND Social and Economic Well-Being. The program focuses on such topics as access to justice, policing, corrections, drug policy, and court system reform, as well as other policy concerns pertaining to public safety and criminal and civil justice. For more information, email

Substitution of Methods in Suicide Deaths – Firearm Injury and Hanging

“…A substantial body of evidence links firearm access to suicide risk (Kposowa et al, 2016; Smucker et al, 2023). Potential confounders make an unbiased estimate of the risk difficult to obtain, but the literature uses a variety of statistical approaches to assess a causal link of firearm access to suicide risk (Chapman et al, 2006; Loftin et al, 1991; Lubin et al, 2010; Miller et al, 2022; Reisch et al, 2013; Studdert et al, 2020; Swanson et al, 2023).…”