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Gun Control Laws Can Reduce Gun Violence Authors: Ik-Whan G. Kwon and Daniel W. Baack Editor: Tami Roleff Date: 2007 From: Gun Control Publisher: Greenhaven Press Series: Opposing Viewpoints Document Type: Viewpoint essay Length: 1,599 words Content Level: (Level 4)

Full Text: Article Commentary

"States with the most comprehensive gun control legislation experienced on average one to almost six fewer gun-related fatalities than those states with the most lax laws."

In the following viewpoint Ik-Whan G. Kwon and Daniel W. Baack compared violent crime rates for all fifty states and adjusted them depending on how strong or weak all the state's gun control laws were. Most studies focus just on one type of gun control law, which allowed the researchers to determine the overall gun use environment in a state. Their results show that states with strong gun control laws have a lower gun death-rate than states with laxer gun control laws. Kwon is professor of decision sciences and management information systems and director of the Consortium for Supply Management Studies at the John Cook School of Business, St. Louis University. At the time of writing, Baack was a doctoral student in international business and marketing at the John Cook School of Business, St. Louis University. As you read, consider the following questions:

How many people died from firearm injuries in 2000, according to the authors?1. Which researchers cited by Kwon and Baack found gun control laws to be ineffective in reducing gun fatalities?2. What are the six categories used to rank states for their gun use environment, as cited by the authors?3.

In 2000, almost 30,000 persons died from firearm injuries in the United States, more than the number of deaths from HIV, alcohol abuse, or drug abuse. This high number of deaths is despite almost 20,000 laws and regulations regulating gun usage to some degree. In addition, ... emotionally charged cases such as the Washington, DC area sniper and the Columbine, Colorado school shooting have elevated the gun control debate to one of the central political issues in the United States.

Despite the emotional debate, few researchers have attempted to take a comprehensive approach to the topic of gun control, focusing only on single gun-related laws. It is argued that some of the mixed results on the effectiveness of gun control laws may be a result of a use of different levels of gun control legislations. Therefore, more comprehensive measures of gun-related legislation would make a valuable contribution to this debate....

Research Background

There is a body of research that has found gun control laws to be ineffective in reducing firearm-related fatalities. For example, [Gary] Kleck and [Karen] McElrath claim that firearms "appear to inhibit attack and, in the case of an attack, to reduce the probability of injury (to victims)." Other research finds a theoretical link between right-to-carry concealed weapon laws and decreased crime or decreased felonious deaths of police. There clearly is a body of research that posits that firearms actually serve as a violence deterrent.

There is also a body of research that finds a clear link between gun control laws and decreased violence. For example, in a comprehensive study of this issue, [Mark] Duggan finds that gun ownership rates are strongly linked to homicide rates. In his work, Duggan links sales of gun magazines with gun ownership. After establishing and measuring the strength of this link, he then uses gun magazines as a proxy for gun ownership. This allows him to longitudinally link gun ownership with homicide rates from 1980 to 1998. Other research links gun ownership to an increased number of homicides and increased crime.

Duggan also criticizes the results found in [research done by John] Lott and [David] Mustard regarding right-to-carry concealed weapon laws. Lott and Mustard's work uses cross-sectional county-level data to measure the impact that the concealed weapon law

has on violent crime. Their study finds that such provisions result in fewer violent crimes without increasing rates of accidental deaths. Investigating Lott and Mustard's results, Duggan uses his gun magazine proxy to see if right-to-carry laws result in increased gun purchases. His analysis finds no such relationship. He also analyzes whether counties with higher rates of gun ownership have decreased levels of violent crime after right-to-carry laws are passed. Again, he finds no such relationship. Finally, Duggan reanalyzes Lott and Mustard's study by using states, not counties, as the unit of analysis. When states are used, no relationships are found. Duggan claims that his analysis has "cast considerable doubt on the hypothesis" that Lott and Mustard made in their study. [Dan] Black and [Daniel] Nagin also raised issues with Lott and Mustard's results. Black and Nagin insist that the results of Lott and Mustard are dependent on the inclusion of Florida in the analysis. If Florida is removed, they argue, right-to-carry laws have no impact on the rate of murder or rape....

A Holistic Measure of Gun Laws

The existing research on gun-related laws has all focused on the effectiveness of a specific gun law, such as the Brady Bill or a right- to-carry law. This simplistic measure has limitations. With a focus on just one law, issues such as statewide differences in implementation, public responses to the laws, and interactions between the new law and existing laws are easily marginalized in the model-building process, and this may explain some of the different outcomes between studies.

In addition, another major problem with a simplistic measure in assessing the effectiveness of gun control laws is that the body of gun control legislation differs significantly from state to state. For example, Hawaii requires a permit to buy a handgun, and the Honolulu Police Department is responsible for granting and keeping permanent records on all permits. In comparison, North Carolina also requires a permit to buy a handgun, but local sheriffs grant the permits and the records are kept for only a year. This is just one example of literally hundreds of differences between state laws. In this complex legal environment, focusing on only one law in assessing effectiveness may produce incomplete and sometimes contradictory results.

In this study, a simple one-law measure of gun control is replaced by a holistic measure of state laws related to the use of firearms. This holistic measure is defined as a measure based on the analysis of the entire body of gun-related legislation for the states in question. The resulting composite score on gun control legislation is assumed to represent the overall gun use environment in a state, not just the environment regarding a single aspect of gun usage. It is hoped that the results based on this comprehensive measure will address more effectively this important social and legal issue and fill the gaps in the literature....

Gun Control Legislation

This variable is selected from the publication Gun Control in the United States, A Comparative Survey of State Firearm Laws by the Open Society Institute in New York City....

The purpose of its study on gun control laws is to rank each state according to the extent of its gun control legislation. To accomplish this objective, information on state gun control laws is weighted based on information published by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the National Rifle Association, Handgun Control, Inc., and the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The collected information is verified with local law enforcement officials in each state.

Based on the information so collected, states are ranked according to six categories: (1) registration of firearms, (2) safety training, (3) regulation of firearm sales, (4) safe storage and accessibility, (5) owner licensing, and (6) litigation and preemption. Positive or negative scores are given based on the presence or absence of each of the above categories. Each criterion is assigned a value between 0 and 7. For example, licensing and registration, important types of gun control laws, are worth seven points each. Handgun waiting periods are scored as no points for no waiting period and six points for waiting periods of more than three days. Since federal law mandates a background check on potential gun buyers by dealers, states receive extra points if background checks are more comprehensive. Points are deducted from states, on the other hand, if they do not meet the federal minimum age standards....

According to [our results], states with more extensive gun control laws experience on average almost 3 1/2 fewer firearms deaths per 100,000 inhabitants than their counterparts (p < 0.01), with anywhere between 1 to 5.7 fewer deaths overall....

A Unique Approach

This study used a unique approach to measure the effect of gun control laws on firearm deaths. By using a holistic measure, our research is able to more effectively address this issue than other studies. Multivariate statistical analysis reveals that it is not a single gun-related law in a state that links to the numbers of gun-related fatalities but rather composite legislation on gun control along with other socioeconomic issues. Our research indicates that states with the most comprehensive gun control legislation experienced on average one to almost six fewer gun-related fatalities than those states with the most lax laws. Gun control laws are a deterrent; however, they only address one aspect of individual behavior regarding the use (and abuse) of firearms.

The results of our study also indicate that a variety of socioeconomic and law enforcement variables affect the level of firearms deaths in a state. While the effect of police officers is only marginally significant, when combined with the violent crimes measures it is clear that, in general, high levels of criminal activity lead to more firearm deaths. Finally, socioeconomic variables are found to be significant indicators of levels of firearm deaths. Both the percentage of African Americans residing in a state and the unemployment rate seem to positively relate to gun-related fatalities. The above results indicate that effective social and economic programs can also reduce firearm deaths.

Books

Shay Bilchik Reducing Youth Gun Violence: An Overview of Programs and Initiatives Program Report. Collingdale, PA: Diane, 2004. Sarah Brady A Good Fight. New York: PublicAffairs, 2002. Gregg Lee Carter Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2002. Saul Cornell A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Constance Emerson Crooker Gun Control and Gun Rights. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2003. Wendy Cukier and Victor W. Sidel The Global Gun Epidemic: From Saturday Night Specials to AK-47s. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2006. Alexander Deconde Gun Violence in America: The Struggle for Control. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2003. Susan Dudley Gold Gun Control. New York: Benchmark, 2004. Bernard E. Harcourt Language of the Gun: Youth, Crime, and Public Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006. David Hemenway Private Guns, Public Health. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2004. Harry Henderson Gun Control. New York: Facts On File, 2005. Caitlin Kelly Blown Away: American Women and Guns. New York: Pocket, 2004. David M. Kennedy, Anthony A. Braga, and Anne M. Piehl Reducing Gun Violence: The Boston Project's Operation Ceasefire. Collingdale, PA: Diane, 2004. Gary Kleck Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America. New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 2005. Wayne LaPierre The Global War on Your Guns: Inside the U.N. Plan to Destroy the Bill of Rights. Nashville: Nelson Current, 2006. Wayne LaPierre Guns, Freedom and Terrorism. Nashville: WND Books, 2003. Wayne LaPierre Shooting Straight: Telling the Truth About Guns in America. Washington, DC: Regnery, 2002. John R. Lott Jr. The Bias Against Guns. Washington, DC: Regnery, 2003. Joyce Lee Malcolm Guns and Violence: The English Experience. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002. Melody Maysonet, ed. NRA: An American Legend. Ft. Lauderdale, FL: Write Stuff Enterprises, 2002. Jack Reynolds A People Armed and Free: The Truth About the Second Amendment. Bloomington, IN: First Books, 2003. Robert J. Spitzer The Politics of Gun Control. 3rd ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2004. Charles Fruehling Springwood Open Fire: Understanding Global Gun Cultures. New York: Berg, 2007. Carol X. Vinzant Lawyers, Guns, and Money: One Man's Battle with the Gun Industry. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. David C. Williams The Mythic Meanings of the Second Amendment: Taming Political Violence in a Constitutional Republic. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2003. Geraldine Woods Right to Bear Arms. New York: Facts On File, 2005.

Periodicals

Ian Ayres and John J. Donohue "Shooting Down the 'More Guns, Less Crime' Hypothesis," Stanford Law Review, April 2003. Timothy Brezina and James D. Wright "Going Armed in the School Zone," Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy, Winter 2000. Ronald Brownstein "A Smarter Way to Control Outbreaks of School Violence," Washington Post, March 25, 2005. David Codrea "Safe Schools," Guns Magazine, February 2005. Samuel Francis "Gun Control Is a Global Flop," Wanderer, November 9, 2000. Bernard E. Harcourt "Nazi Laws Are a Poor Guide," National Law Journal, July 5, 2004. Alexandra Marks "Why Gun Dealers Have Dwindled," Christian Science Monitor, March 14, 2006. New American "From Gun Control to Bullet Control," June 13, 2005. Debbie O'Hara "The Tragic Results of Gun Control," NewsWithViews.com, April 27, 2004. www.newswithviews.com. Woody West "U.S. Gun-Control Laws Don't Save Lives," Insight on the News, November 10, 2003. Stephen Young "Terrorists Can Waltz into Gun Shows to Buy a Military Combat Rifle," Chicago Sun-Times, August 14, 2004.

Greenhaven Press, 2007. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link-gale- com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/apps/doc/EJ3010140306/OVIC?u=asuniv&sid=OVIC&xid=bbfc66db. Accessed 20 June 2020. Originally published as "The Effectiveness of Legislation Controlling Gun Usage: A Holistic Measure of Gun Control Legislation," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 64, Apr. 2005, pp. 533-547.

Gale Document Number: GALE|EJ3010140306