Citizen Gun Ownership and Criminal Deterrence: Theory, Research, and Policy

• NCJ Number: 105999
• Journal: Criminology Volume: 25 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1987) Pages: 63-81
• Author(s): G S Green
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Literature Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Paper presented at the 1986 annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology.

Annotation

Research on the general and specific crime deterrence associated with citizen gun ownership is reviewed.

Abstract

Areas of study include (1) the effects of gun laws on gun ownership rates and gun crime rates, (2) perceptions of convicted criminals, and (3) a natural quasi-experiment examining the effect of a large-scale firearms training program for women on rape rates in Orlando, Florida. Because of methodological and interpretational difficulties in the first area of study, it is impossible to draw conclusions about the deterrence effects of gun laws and ownership. Data for criminals provide only slight and indirect evidence of a general and specific deterrent effect of citizen gun ownership. Finally, while the Orlando study found decreased rape following the training program, this may have been attributable to differences in reporting or to crime displacement rather than deterrence. 47 references.