Do ‘Guns’ Cause Gun Violence?

So, once again we are presented with the latest attempt to figure out what kinds of gun laws or gun regulations will make any real difference in reducing the awful amount of gun violence which the USA continues to endure, a rate which after dropping slightly for a few years appears to be headed upwards again.

I am referring to research just published by Patrick Sharkey, a sociologist at Princeton who, along with a colleague, has published a study which finds that between 1991 and 2016, there was what he calls a ‘sharp’ decline in gun deaths. According to Sharkey, “there is strong, consistent evidence supporting the hypothesis that restrictive state gun policies reduce overall gun deaths, homicides committed with a gun, and suicides committed with a gun.”

Feel free to download the article here.

The article goes on to claim that over this fifteen-year period, one-third of all states passed one or more laws increasing restrictions and regulations: “background check requirements, concealed carry laws, castle doctrine laws, child access laws, minimum age requirements for purchase, prohibited possessor laws, safety training requirements, laws requiring a waiting period before purchase, and laws that allow or require police officers to seize a firearm at the scene of domestic violence incidents.”