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Firearms, Homicides, and Gun Control Effectiveness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Steven Thomas Seitz
Steven Thomas Seitz*
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
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Today, few would deny that some relation exists between firearms and violent death and crime:

In 1967, firearms were involved in approximately 73,000 robberies, 53,000 aggravated assaults, 9,000 suicides, 7,000 homicides, and 2,900 accidental deaths in this country. Although firearms used in these deaths and crimes represent only a small fraction of the total guns in the United States, some relation clearly exists between firearms and violent death and crime (Newton and Zimring, 1970: 23).

Newton and Zimring of the Task Force on Firearms point out that 63% of all homicides, 37% of all robberies, and 21% of all aggravated assaults involve the use of a gun (Newton and Zimring, 1970: 39). In turn, 76%) of gun homicides are committed by handguns; similarly, 86% of aggravated assaults involving guns and 96% of robberies involving guns are committed by handguns (Newton and Zimring, 1970: 49). In short, although approximately 27% of all firearms in the United States are handguns, they are the predominant firearm used in crime (Newton and Zimring, 1970: 49).

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 6 , Issue 4 , May 1972 , pp. 595 - 613
Copyright
Copyright © 1972 The Law and Society Association

Footnotes

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am indebted to Professors Richard Parks and William Landes for encouraging me to examine the effects of gun control legislation. I am similarly indebted to the National Science Foundation for a summer research fellowship administered through the Undergraduate Economics Thesis Research Program, Department of Economics, University of Chicago, 1968. The present paper is based on testimony I delivered to the Judiciary Committee of the Minnesota State Senate in 1971.

References

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