Association between Connecticut's permit-to-purchase handgun law and homicides

K.E. Rudolph, E.A. Stuart, J.S. Vernick and D.W. Webster

American Journal of Public Health, 2015, vol. 105, issue 8, e49-e54

Abstract: Objectives. We sought to estimate the effect of Connecticut's implementation of a handgun permit-to-purchase law in October 1995 on subsequent homicides. Methods. Using the synthetic control method, we compared Connecticut's homicide rates after the law's implementation to rates we would have expected had the law not been implemented. To estimate the counterfactual, we used longitudinal data from a weighted combination of comparison states identified based on the ability of their prelaw homicide trends and covariates to predict prelaw homicide trends in Connecticut. Results. We estimated that the law was associated with a 40% reduction in Connecticut's firearm homicide rates during the first 10 years that the law was in place. By contrast, there was no evidence for a reduction in nonfirearm homicides. Conclusions. Consistent with prior research, this study demonstrated that Connecticut's handgun permit-to-purchase law was associated with a subsequent reduction in homicide rates. As would be expected if the law drove the reduction, the policy's effects were only evident for homicides committed with firearms. © 2015, American Public Health Association Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Connecticut; epidemiology; firearm; gunshot injury; homicide; human; legislation and jurisprudence; mortality; statistics and numerical data; United States, Connecticut; Firearms; Homicide; Humans; United States; Wounds, Gunshot (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2015.302703_5

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302703

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