EFFECTS OF GUN POLICIES ON CRIME

Abstract

With over 39,000 firearm-related deaths per year in the United States, few topics are more controversial than civilian gun ownership and gun policies. This research provides analyses of the effects of gun-related laws on violent crime in the United States. Gun-related policies and violent crime analyses were conducted to compare differences in the 1994–2004 Federal Assault Weapons Ban and current state assault weapon bans, unrestricted-carry, right-to-carry laws, and the violent crime rate. Data were gathered from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to identify the differences in violent crime across all states and Washington, D.C., from 1970–2017. Data were also collected from numerous other government agencies to establish a body of independent variables to conduct multiple linear regression analyses. Based on the results of multiple linear regression models, we concluded that there is a statistically significant relationship between gun laws and the violent crime rate. Our model indicates a violent crime rate decrease of 93.14 violent crimes per 100,000 inhabitants with the implementation of assault weapon bans. Also, our model shows a murder rate decrease of 1.53 and 0.55 murders per 100,000 inhabitants with the adoption of unrestricted and right-to-carry laws.