NCJ Number
32379
Journal
Social Problems Volume: 23 Issue: 1 Dated: (OCTOBER 1975) Pages: 81-92
Date Published
1975
Length
10 pages
Annotation
THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SOCIAL FACTORS RELATED TO THE POSSESSION OF HANDGUNS, THE RESTRICTIVENESS OF GUN CONTROL LEGISLATION, AND ACTS OF VIOLENCE INVOLVING HANDGUNS.
Abstract
THIS STUDY UTILIZED FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION DATA, CENSUS MATERIALS, VITAL STATISTICS AND HARRIS AND GALLUP SURVEYS IN A MULTIPLE REGRESSION STATISTICAL FRAMEWORK. THREE SETS OF HYPOTHESES WERE EXAMINED. IN THE FIRST SET OF HYPOTHESES, IT WAS SUGGESTED THAT THE VARIOUS TYPES AND SEVERITY OF GUN CONTROL LAWS SHOULD HAVE A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON LOWERING RATES OF VIOLENCE ASSOCIATED WITH FIREARMS. THIS RELATIONSHIP WAS NOT FOUND. THE SECOND SET OF HYPOTHESES CONCERNED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GUN LAWS AND DIFFERENTIAL RATES OF POSSESSION OF HANDGUNS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. ONCE AGAIN, CONTROLLING FOR BASIC SOCIAL FACTORS, THE DATA SHOW THAT GUN LAWS HAVE NO SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON ACCESS TO FIREARMS. WITH THE THIRD SET OF HYPOTHESES, THE PURPOSE WAS TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE BASIC PROPOSITION UPON WHICH GUN LAWS ARE BASED IS VALID; THAT IS, WHETHER DIFFERING RATES OF ACCESS TO HANDGUNS HAVE ANY SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON VIOLENT ACTS. THESE HYPOTHESES WERE NOT SUPPORTED BY THE DATA, AND NO RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACCESS TO HANDGUNS AND ACTS OF VIOLENCE WAS FOUND. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)