The Social Costs of Gun Ownership

Cook, Philip J.; Ludwig, Jens

doi:10.3386/w10736

Cited by 61 publications

(140 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…In the academic literature, the efficacy of gun control in reducing violence has received considerable attention, although little consensus has emerged from the empirical work (e.g. [9,[12][13][14]). …”

Section: Gun Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The basic model that motivates the empirical analysis is that firearm availability affects suicide rates, and that gun control affects firearm availability (see for a discussion of the mechanisms by which firearms might affect death rates [9]). Our hypothesis is that regulations such as permit requirements, which create overall barriers to gun ownership, are the most important way type of gun control from the standpoint of suicide prevention.…”

Section: Empirical Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, given that the dependent variable for this analysis is the total number of suicides, it was felt that this proxy was inappropriate. As an alternative, the number of hunting licenses per capita from the Fish and Wild Life Service 8 was used as a control for gun ownership 9 . Hunting licenses per capita and firearm suicides as a proportion of suicides (i.e.…”

Section: Firearms Regulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…7 http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/ 8. Available at www.fws.gov 9. The model was also estimated using the firearm suicide proxy, and results were very similar.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

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Gun control and suicide: The impact of state firearm regulations in the United States, 1995–2004

2011

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Section: Gun Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Empirical Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Firearms Regulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…7 http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/ 8. Available at www.fws.gov 9. The model was also estimated using the firearm suicide proxy, and results were very similar.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

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Gun control and suicide: The impact of state firearm regulations in the United States, 1995–2004

2011

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“…Some studies, for instance, find a positive association between homicide rates and rates of gun ownership (Cook & Ludwig, 2006;Miller, Azrael, & Hemenway, 2002;Siegel, Ross, & King, 2013). Positive associations also exist between suicide and gun ownership, so much so that the proportion of suicides attributable to firearms is a frequently used gun ownership proxy (Kleck, 2004;Miller, Azrael, Hepburn, Hemenway, & Lippmann, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Responding to violence with guns: Mass shootings and gun acquisition

Wallace

2015

The Social Science Journal

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a b s t r a c tAlthough some sources have observed an increase in the number of gun purchases following mass shootings, empirical research investigating this pattern is limited. Appraisal Theory suggests that mass shootings contribute to fear of victimization through media exposure. Desire for self-protection is the primary reason many individuals own and purchase guns. This paper examines this link by assessing the effects of six mass shootings that took place in the 2000-2010 time period. This study examines effects for gun acquisition nationally and regionally as well as timing-specific patterns in gun acquisition following these events. Gun acquisition counts are approximated from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Results indicate a positive but delayed association between mass shootings and the number of NICS background checks. Implications of this finding for violence and possibilities for future research are discussed.

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State Gun Law Environment and Youth Gun Carrying in the United States

Xuan

Hemenway

2015

JAMA Pediatr

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rom 1999 to 2013, an average of some 15 000 teenagers 12 to 19 years old died annually in the United States. The 3 leading causes of death among teenagers were unintentional injuries (45%), homicide (14%), and suicide (13%). 1 Among these fatal youth injuries, most homicides were gunrelated (83%), and about half of suicides involved a gun (45%). 2 When adolescents resolve their interpersonal conflicts with guns, serious or fatal injuries are likely consequences. 3 There is a strong consensus in the United States that unsupervised youth should not carry guns in public. The federal Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibits gun dealers from selling handguns to youth (<21 years) and selling rifles and shotguns to those younger than 18 years. A 1994 amendment further determined 18 years as the national minimum age for purchasing or possessing handguns or handgun ammunition. Many state laws include age-specific restrictions on the purchase, possession, or storage of firearms. Research on youth-focused gun laws is limited and has shown mixed results. A study 4 showed that state child access prevention (CAP) laws were associated with a modest reduction in suicide rates among youth aged 14 to 17 years, whereas minimum age restrictions for the purchase and possession of firearms do not seem to reduce overall rates of suicide among youth. Even for CAP laws, a study found that the aggregate benefits across IMPORTANCE Gun violence and injuries pose a substantial threat to children and youth in the United States. Existing evidence points to the need for interventions and policies for keeping guns out of the hands of children and youth. OBJECTIVES (1) To examine the association between state gun law environment and youth gun carrying in the United States, and (2) to determine whether adult gun ownership mediates this association. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This was a repeated cross-sectional observational study design with 3 years of data on youth gun carrying from US states. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey comprises data of representative samples of students in grades 9 to 12 from biennial years of 2007, 2009, and 2011. We hypothesized that states with more restrictive gun laws have lower rates of youth gun carrying, and this association is mediated by adult gun ownership. EXPOSURES State gun law environment as measured by state gun law score. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Youth gun carrying was defined as having carried a gun on at least 1 day during the 30 days before the survey. RESULTS In the fully adjusted model, a 10-point increase in the state gun law score, which represented a more restrictive gun law environment, was associated with a 9% decrease in the odds of youth gun carrying (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.91 [95% CI, 0.86-0.96]). Adult gun ownership mediated the association between state gun law score and youth gun carrying (AOR, 0.94 [ 95% CI, 0.86-1.01], with 29% attenuation of the regression coefficient from −0.09 to −0.07 based on bootstrap resampling). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE More restrictive overall gun control...

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The Social Costs of Gun Ownership

Cited by 61 publications

References 37 publications

Gun control and suicide: The impact of state firearm regulations in the United States, 1995–2004

Gun control and suicide: The impact of state firearm regulations in the United States, 1995–2004

Responding to violence with guns: Mass shootings and gun acquisition

State Gun Law Environment and Youth Gun Carrying in the United States

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