Do Legal Changes Matter? The Case of Gun Control Laws (From Violence and the Law, P 37-60, 1994, Mark Costanzo and Stuart Oskamp, eds. -- See NCJ-150373)

• NCJ Number: 150376
• Author(s): S Podell; D Archer
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 24 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Type: Survey (Cross-Cultural)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This analysis of the impacts of gun control laws in several countries concludes that weak controls on the availability of guns have little effect on homicide rates, but strong controls are effective in reducing the number of killings.

Abstract

The research focused on longitudinal data on violent crime in France, Netherlands, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Four analytical techniques were used: (1) prelaw and postlaw comparisons, (2) graphic evidence on changes in rates of violent deaths, (3) a comparison of actual and predicted rates of violent crime, and (4) multivariate tests for laws and other factors. Results revealed that in general, all four approaches appeared to indicate that major firearms reforms reduce violent death rates. However, not all of the data pointed in this conclusion; differences occurred across the cases in each table. Nevertheless, the data indicated that major firearms laws are likely to be effective in reducing rates of violent death, but minor law reforms are much less likely to do so. Figures, tables, and 26 references