EFFECT OF GUN AVAILABILITY ON ROBBERY AND ROBBERY MURDER - A CROSS-SECTION STUDY OF 50 CITIES (FROM HEARINGS BEFORE THE HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME, 95TH CONGRESS, 2ND SESSION ON TREASURY'S PROPOSED GUN....)

• NCJ Number: 59445
• Author(s): P J COOK
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 31 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Ford Foundation; US Dept of Justice
• Corporate Author: US Congress
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE RESULTS OF A CROSS-SECTION STUDY OF 50 CITIES TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF GUN AVAILABILITY ON ROBBERY AND ROBBERY MURDER, PRESENTED BEFORE SUBCOMMITTEE HEARINGS, ARE DESCRIBED.

Abstract

THE WIDESPREAD AVAILABILITY OF FIREARMS, PARTICULARLY HANDGUNS, HAS RECEIVED PART OF THE BLAME FOR THE HIGH RATES OF VIOLENT CRIME IN THE UNITED STATES, ESPECIALLY IN THE 1970S. THE MAJOR FINDINGS OF THIS STUDY ARE BASED ON AN EXTENSIVE ANALYSIS OF INTERCITY DIFFERENCES IN THE RATES OF ROBBERY AND ROBBERY MURDER AS RELATED TO GUN AVAILABILITY. STUDY RESULTS SHOW THAT AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF GUNS PER CAPITA IN A CITY HAS NO EFFECT ON THE OVERALL ROBBERY RATE BUT IS ASSOCIATED WITH AN INCREASE IN THE FRACTION OF ROBBERIES WHICH INVOLVE A GUN. THE PER CAPITA RATES OF GUN AND NONGUN ROBBERY MURDER ARE NEARLY PROPORTIONATE ACROSS CITIES TO THE RATES OF GUN AND NONGUN ROBBERY, RESPECTIVELY. THESE TWO FINDINGS, TOGETHER WITH THE FACT THAT GUN ROBBERIES ARE ALMOST THREE TIMES AS LIKELY TO RESULT IN THE DEATH OF THE VICTIM AS NONGUN ROBBERIES, IMPLY THAT THE PER CAPITA RATE OF ROBBERY MURDER INCREASES WITH THE DENSITY OF GUNS IN A CITY; THIS SAME RESULT ALSO EMERGES FROM A DIRECT ANALYSIS OF THE DATA. THEREFORE IT IS CONCLUDED THAT IF A WAY COULD BE FOUND TO REDUCE THE DENSITY OF HANDGUNS IN A CITY, THEN THIS REDUCTION WOULD AMELIORATE THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE ROBBERY MURDER PROBLEM. FOOTNOTES, REFERENCES, APPENDIX, AND TABULAR STATISTICAL DATA ARE PROVIDED IN THE STUDY. (LWM)