1. Guns
 36% of American households possess
guns, decrease from 50% in last 20
years (more female based households)
 31% of adults own a gun
 This percentage constant over the last
40 years
 Number of guns has increased—now
about 200 million + in circulation

2. Guns
 How is it that the number of guns has
increased but the percentage owning
guns remains constant
 Two reasons: (1) growth in adult
population in US; and (2) gun owners
now own more guns (gun-owning
households average 4.5 guns, a major
increase)

3. Guns
 Increase in handguns in gun-owning
households
 Most households that have a handgun
also own rifle and/or shotguns
 Only 13% of gun owners state that their
guns are for self-protection only
 Generational tradition

4. Demographics
 Most owners are male
 Reside in rural areas or small towns
 Older and higher income
 West has highest rate, followed by
South, then Midwest, Northeast lowest

5. Deaths by guns
 30,000 to 40,000 per year
 Most are homicides and suicides
 A small percentage (about 5%) are
accidents or unknown
 The rest are about evenly split between
homicides and suicides (usually slightly
more suicides)

6. Deaths
 Nearly as many people die by guns as
by auto accidents (deaths by auto
accidents have declined)
 Gun accidents are also declining
 Homicide rates have remained relatively
constant
 The majority of homicides occur with
handguns (around 70%)

7. Homicides
 Victims and perpetrators using guns in
homicides tend to be male, African
American and young
 Homicide is the leading cause of death
for black males ages 15-34, ten times
higher than for white males, and 50
times higher than for white females
 This rate has increased significantly

8. Injuries
 Not all gunshot wounds end in a fatality
 6 times as many are shot and are
wounded
 Unknown number are shot at but not
wounded
 Even larger number are threatened

9. Conflicting groups
 Gun owners older white males, as are
many NRA members
 Victims of gun violence are young
urban black males
 Different concerns at stake

10. Current gun laws
 Federal: various taxes imposed
 Certain types of machineguns,
shotguns and silencers must be
registered
 Laws for manufacturers involved in
interstate or foreign commerce
 Prohibition of transport of firearms in
interstate commerce to felons or
fugitives from justice

11. Federal
 Interstate transfer of stolen firearms or
those with mutilated serial numbers is
forbidden

12. State laws
 Vary considerably
 About ½ require a license to sell
handguns
 Some require permit to purchase
 License to possess
 Waiting period between purchase and
delivery

13. State laws
 License to carry
 Many prohibit carrying a concealed
handgun
 Some require license to carry in a
vehicle
 About ½ prohibit carrying a loaded gun
in a vehicle
 A few require registration

14. Limitations
 Federal laws do not affect local
purchase
 The variation in state laws makes it
possible to circumvent state laws by
going to another jurisdiction
 Mail order houses
 Large black market of guns
 Too small for police to track (not cars)

15. Do guns make a difference?
 Issues
 Self-defense
 Are criminals deterred? Will they seek
more vulnerable-looking victims?
 Crime rates
 Lethality of crime

16. Self-defense
 Do people successfully defend
themselves?
 NCVS indicates it is unusual, < 1% of
violent crimes
 3% against intruders in the home
 Kleck comes up with much higher
estimates based on other surveys

17. Self-defense
 Based on surveys, there are reliability
problems
 One problem: self-defense usually is
used to refer to a law-abiding person
who is preyed upon
 Surveys may include people engaged in
delinquent and criminal acts who carry
in self-defense

18. Do guns deter criminals?
 Some states have passed laws allowing
concealed weapons, and crime rates
have dropped
 However, crime rates also dropped in
states without such laws
 A survey of imprisoned felons indicates
that they consider the possibility of
armed victims

19. Deter?
 Do they then decide not to commit the
crime? Look for victims unlikely to be
armed? Change or develop more
elaborate techniques? (I.e., take extra
precautions to ensure no one is at
home)

20. Do guns affect crime rates?
 Probably little effect on nonviolent
crimes
 Does not appear to affect overall
volume of violent crime
 However, does appear to affect the
lethality of our violent crime

21. Lethality
 More than 90% of LE officers killed with
a gun
 All presidential assassinations
 Multiple murders (postal shootings,
school shootings, etc.)
 Robberies and assaults have a greater
probability of death if a gun is used

22. Lethality
 This tells us little about non-lethal
attacks
 Mandatory sentencing for crimes
involving guns were found to reduce
crime rates in 3 states (may substitute
less lethal weapons)
 However, injury rates may rise

23. Lethality
 On the other hand, may prevent injury
to victim in cases of self-defense

24. Do more guns mean more
crime?
 Suicides and homicides more likely in
homes with guns
 More guns, more homicides committed
with guns
 Prevalence of gun ownership highly
correlated with the percentage of
homicides and suicides

25. More crime?
 Criminals tend to obtain guns from
people they know rather than from gun
dealers—easier in a place where there
are more guns
 Loans and temporary arrangements
may be very common
 A high percentage of crimes involving
guns are stolen—again the # of guns

26. Public health perspective
 Very high rate of gun deaths in the US
 How does one reduce injury and death
 Suicides would probably be reduced if
guns in homes were reduced, and
public health advocates want
restrictions on guns
 Less clear with respect to homicide
 Emphasis on reducing deaths

27. Welfare economics
 Is it worthwhile to try to reduce the
number of guns?
 Self-defense issue important, as is the
deterrent effect on criminals

28. 2nd
amendment issue
 “A well regulated militia, being
necessary to the security of a free
State, the right of the people to keep
and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
 Some argue that it no longer applies
(we now have a military and police,
which was not the case when the
Constitution was framed)

29. 2nd
amendment
 Supreme Court generally has not struck
down any laws regulating guns
 Meaning depends on the viewer
 Some argue that we should have the
right to guns, but that this would carry
certain responsibilities, such as training,
proper storage, safety regulations

30. Proposed policies
 Taxes, fees: more expensive
 Limiting the number of guns one could
buy, usually per month. This would
prevent buying guns and selling them
illegally to inner city youth
 “buy back” programs
 Public education and training programs

31. Proposals
 Requiring licensing
 Development of national data base to
keep guns from certain individuals (not
only felons—mentally ill, for example)in
combination with waiting periods
 Limiting certain types of weapons—
automatic, teflon-coated bullets, etc.

32. Proposals
 Safety requirements on guns (parallel
safety features on cars)
 Using technology to eliminate guns
from certain places (I.e., bars, schools,
etc)
 Prosecuting illegal carrying of
concealed weapons (MA’s Bartley-Fox
amendment)

33. Proposals
 Stepped-up activities against illegal
marketing activity
 Increased cooperation among law
enforcement agencies
 Use of lawsuits against gun
manufacturers who make and sell
unsafe products

34. Challenge
 Determining what works
 Disagreement about which values
should be most important