Most restrictive laws governing gun sales have been adopted at the state level, yet most previous studies of gun control in the US have ignored the state of origin of guns used in crime. This study of crime gun traces in 27 US cities participating in a federal program to gather information on all recovered crime guns was designed to determine the effects of restrictive state gun sales laws on the proportion of crime guns first sold by in-state gun dealers. Results: A mean of 29.9% of the crime guns recovered in the 7 cities with the strongest state gun sales restrictions were first sold by in-state gun dealers compared with 62.4% and 72.1% in the medium and weak gun law categories, respectively (F=21.11, df=2, p<.001). After adjusting for confounders, strong state gun sales restrictions were associated with a reduction in the proportion of crime guns from in-state dealers of 27 percentage points (p<.001). Proximity to states with weaker gun sales laws also significantly reduced the proportion of a city's crime guns first sold by in-state gun dealers. The findings were robust to several sensitivity analsyses.
Learning Objectives: Participants will learn the importance of looking at the source state of guns used in crime when evaluating state-level gun sales laws. Participants will learn about potential biases in many gun control evaluations focused on violent crime as the outcome. Particpants will learn about the importance of gun law systems that are very restrictive and comprehensive. Participants will learn the effects of strong state gun laws on an indicator of gun availability to high-risk individuals
Keywords: Firearms, Public Policy
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.