Does gun control reduce crime or does crime increase gun control?

Author: Moorhouse, John C. / Wanner, Brent
Publication: CATO Journal
Topics: Legislation and Policy Self-defense Gun Use/Deterrence State
Keywords: CRIMINAL behavior DEMOCRATIC Party (U.S.) FIREARMS & crime GUN control REGRESSION analysis
Bibliographic information +

Data on gun control was drawn from a comprehensive index of state gun control, developed by the Open Society Institute Center on Crime, Communities, and Culture, for the year 1998. To test the effectiveness of gun control in reducing crime, state crime rates for 10 categories of crime along with demographic, economic, and law enforcement data were collected for 1999 and 2001. Analysis provided no support for the contention that gun control reduces crime rates, nor the hypothesis that lax gun control laws in neighboring states undermine the effectiveness of state gun laws. There was support for the hypothesis that high crime rates generate political support for the adoption on more stringent gun controls.