More guns, less crime? A dynamical systems approach

L.H.A. Monteiro

Applied Mathematics and Computation, 2020, vol. 369, issue C

Abstract: The laws regulating the ownership and use of firearms by civilians have been debated in several countries. The debate arises because the relations among firearm accessibility, right to self-defense, firearm-related mortality, and violent crime statistics can suggest divergent strategies to combat criminality. Here, a model written in terms of differential equations is proposed to answer the question: do more legal guns mean less crime committed by illegal guns? From this model, the impact of distinct gun-control policies on the rate of gun-related crimes is investigated. It is analytically shown that strong gun-control leads to the minimum number of illegal guns; however, this policy does not assure a crime-free society. Weak gun-control can lead to a crime-free society; however, this policy requires the maximum number of legal guns in the hands of the civil society.

Keywords: Dynamical system; Gun control; Lyapunov stability; Public safety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:apmaco:v:369:y:2020:i:c:s0096300319307969

DOI: 10.1016/j.amc.2019.124804

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