Working Paper: NBER ID: w14371
Authors: Mark Duggan; Randi Hjalmarsson; Brian A. Jacob
Abstract: Thousands of gun shows take place in the U.S. each year. Gun control advocates argue that because sales at gun shows are much less regulated than other sales, such shows make it easier for potential criminals to obtain a gun. Similarly, one might be concerned that gun shows would exacerbate suicide rates by providing individuals considering suicide with a more lethal means of ending their lives. On the other hand, proponents argue that gun shows are innocuous since potential criminals can acquire guns quite easily through other black market sales or theft. In this paper, we use data from Gun and Knife Show Calendar combined with vital statistics data to examine the effect of gun shows. We find no evidence that gun shows lead to substantial increases in either gun homicides or suicides. In addition, tighter regulation of gun shows does not appear to reduce the number of firearms-related deaths.
Keywords: Gun Shows; Gun-Related Deaths; Homicides; Suicides; California; Texas
JEL Codes: H0; I1; K4
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Gun shows (K16) | Gun suicides (J17) |
| Gun shows (K16) | Non-gun suicides (Y40) |
| Gun shows (K16) | Gun homicides (H56) |
| Gun shows (K16) | Overall mortality rates related to firearms (I12) |