Facilidad del acceso legal a licencias de portación oculta de armas de fuego y tasas de homicidio en los Estados Unidos / Easiness of Legal Access to Concealed Firearm Permits and Homicide Rates in the United States

[RESUMEN]. Objetivos. Examinar la relación entre las leyes que “obligan a emitir la licencia” (“shall issue”, según las cuales debe emitirse la licencia si se cumple con los requisitos), las leyes que “permiten emitir la licencia” (“may issue”, que dan a los funcionarios encargados de hacer cumplir la ley una amplia discrecionalidad para emitir o no la licencia de portación oculta de armas) y las tasas de homicidio en los Estados Unidos. Métodos. Comparamos las tasas de homicidio en los estados con leyes que “obligan a emitir” y que “permiten emitir” la licencia y las tasas de homicidio totales, por arma de fuego, por otros medios, por arma corta y por arma larga en los 50 estados durante el período de 25 años que va de 1991 al 2015. Incluimos en el análisis efectos fijos para el año y el estado y numerosos factores a nivel estatal. Resultados. Las leyes que obligan a emitir la licencia se asociaron significativamente con tasas de homicidio totales 6,5% mayores, tasas de homicidio por arma de fuego 8,6% mayores y tasas de homicidio por arma corta 10,6% mayores, pero no se asociaron significativamente con el homicidio por arma larga ni por otros medios. Conclusiones. Las leyes que obligan a emitir la licencia se asocian con tasas de homicidio totales, por arma de fuego y por arma corta significativamente más altas.

[ABSTRACT]. Objectives. To examine the relation of “shall-issue” laws, in which permits must be issued if requisite criteria are met; “may-issue” laws, which give law enforcement officials wide discretion over whether to issue concealed firearm carry permits or not; and homicide rates. Methods. We compared homicide rates in shall-issue and may-issue states and total, firearm, nonfirearm, handgun, and long-gun homicide rates in all 50 states during the 25-year period of 1991 to 2015. We included year and state fixed effects and numerous state-level factors in the analysis. Results. Shall-issue laws were significantly associated with 6.5% higher total homicide rates, 8.6% higher firearm homicide rates, and 10.6% higher handgun homicide rates, but were not significantly associated with long-gun or nonfirearm homicide. Conclusions. Shall-issue laws are associated with significantly higher rates of total, firearm-related, and handgun-related homicide.

State Intimate Partner Violence-Related Firearm Laws and Intimate Partner Homicide Rates in the United States, 1991 to 2015.

BACKGROUND: To prevent intimate partner homicide (IPH), some states have adopted laws restricting firearm possession by intimate partner violence (IPV) offenders. "Possession" laws prohibit the possession of firearms by these offenders. "Relinquishment" laws prohibit firearm possession and also explicitly require offenders to surrender their firearms. Few studies have assessed the effect of these policies. OBJECTIVE: To study the association between state IPV-related firearm laws and IPH rates over a 25-year period (1991 to 2015). DESIGN: Panel study. SETTING: United States, 1991 to 2015. PARTICIPANTS: Homicides committed by intimate partners, as identified in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reports, Supplementary Homicide Reports. MEASUREMENTS: IPV-related firearm laws (predictor) and annual, state-specific, total, and firearm-related IPH rates (outcome). RESULTS: State laws that prohibit persons subject to IPV-related restraining orders from possessing firearms and also require them to relinquish firearms in their possession were associated with 9.7% lower total IPH rates (95% CI, 3.4% to 15.5% reduction) and 14.0% lower firearm-related IPH rates (CI, 5.1% to 22.0% reduction) than in states without these laws. Laws that did not explicitly require relinquishment of firearms were associated with a non-statistically significant 6.6% reduction in IPH rates. LIMITATIONS: The model did not control for variation in implementation of the laws. Causal interpretation is limited by the observational and ecological nature of the analysis. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that state laws restricting firearm possession by persons deemed to be at risk for perpetrating intimate partner abuse may save lives. Laws requiring at-risk persons to surrender firearms already in their possession were associated with lower IPH rates. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Easiness of Legal Access to Concealed Firearm Permits and Homicide Rates in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the relation of "shall-issue" laws, in which permits must be issued if requisite criteria are met; "may-issue" laws, which give law enforcement officials wide discretion over whether to issue concealed firearm carry permits or not; and homicide rates. METHODS: We compared homicide rates in shall-issue and may-issue states and total, firearm, nonfirearm, handgun, and long-gun homicide rates in all 50 states during the 25-year period of 1991 to 2015. We included year and state fixed effects and numerous state-level factors in the analysis. RESULTS: Shall-issue laws were significantly associated with 6.5% higher total homicide rates, 8.6% higher firearm homicide rates, and 10.6% higher handgun homicide rates, but were not significantly associated with long-gun or nonfirearm homicide. CONCLUSIONS: Shall-issue laws are associated with significantly higher rates of total, firearm-related, and handgun-related homicide.

Broadening the Perspective on Gun Violence: An Examination of the Firearms Industry, 1990-2015.

INTRODUCTION: Firearm violence injures or kills 100,000 Americans each year. This paper applies the Host-Agent-Vector-Environment model to this issue. Research on firearm violence tends to focus on two elements-the host (i.e., victims of firearm violence) and the environment (i.e., gun policies)-but little attention has been paid to the agent (the gun and ammunition) or the vector (firearm manufacturers, dealers, and the industry lobby). METHODS: Using Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives data, trends in firearm manufacturing were investigated from 1990 to 2015. Outcome measures included: (1) trends in domestic gun manufacturing by weapon type; (2) trends in production by firearm caliber; and (3) 2015 market share by type of firearm and company. Data were collected and analyzed in 2016. RESULTS: Overall domestic firearms production decreased slightly from 1996 through 2004, and then steadily increased from 1.7% in 2005 to 13.8% in 2013, when >10 million firearms were produced for the domestic market. The increase in total firearm production was driven by the increased production of pistols and rifles. Within the pistol category, increased production was attributable to an increase in higher caliber weapons. Similar trends were observed in gun purchases and recovered and traced crime guns. CONCLUSIONS: Trends in firearm manufacturing reveal a shift toward more-lethal weapons, and this trend is also observed in gun purchases and crime gun traces. This may reflect a societal shift in cultural practices and norms related to guns and could inform strategies to reduce firearm violence.

Firearm-Related Laws in All 50 US States, 1991-2016.

OBJECTIVES: To describe a new database containing detailed annual information on firearm-related laws in place in each of the 50 US states from 1991 to 2016 and to summarize key trends in firearm-related laws during this time period. METHODS: Using Thomson Reuters Westlaw data to access historical state statutes and session laws, we developed a database indicating the presence or absence of each of 133 provisions of firearm laws in each state over the 26-year period. These provisions covered 14 aspects of state policies, including regulation of the process by which firearm transfers take place, ammunition, firearm possession, firearm storage, firearm trafficking, and liability of firearm manufacturers. RESULTS: An examination of trends in state firearm laws via this database revealed that although the number of laws nearly doubled during the study period, there was substantial heterogeneity across states, leading to a widening disparity in the number of firearm laws. CONCLUSIONS: This database can help advance firearm policy research by providing 26 years of comprehensive policy data that will allow longitudinal panel study designs that minimize the limitations present in many previous studies.