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Firearms and suicides in US states

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  • Briggs, Justin Thomas
  • Tabarrok, Alexander

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between firearm prevalence and suicide in a sample of all US states over the years 2000–2009. We find strong, positive effects of gun prevalence on suicide using OLS estimation, across a variety of measures for gun possession, and with several sets of controls. When using instrumental variable estimation, the effect remains significant, despite also finding significant evidence that gun ownership causes substitution towards gun-suicide rather than other methods of suicide. There is also evidence for non-linearities in the effects of guns on suicide.

Suggested Citation

  • Briggs, Justin Thomas & Tabarrok, Alexander, 2014. "Firearms and suicides in US states," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 180-188.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:irlaec:v:37:y:2014:i:c:p:180-188
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irle.2013.10.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Christine Neill, 2010. "Do Gun Buybacks Save Lives? Evidence from Panel Data," American Law and Economics Review, American Law and Economics Association, vol. 12(2), pages 462-508.
    2. Hyunyoung Choi & Hal Varian, 2012. "Predicting the Present with Google Trends," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 88(s1), pages 2-9, June.
    3. Mark Duggan, 2001. "More Guns, More Crime," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(5), pages 1086-1114, October.
    4. Della Penna, Nicolas & Huang, Haifang, 2009. "Constructing Consumer Sentiment Index for U.S. Using Google Searches," Working Papers 2009-26, University of Alberta, Department of Economics, revised 01 Feb 2010.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Abdul Munasib & Genti Kostandini & Jeffrey L. Jordan, 2018. "Impact of the Stand Your Ground law on gun deaths: evidence of a rural urban dichotomy," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 527-554, June.
    2. Vars, Fredrick E. & Meadows, Benjamin & Edwards, Griffin, 2022. "Slipping Through the Cracks? The Impact of Reporting Mental Health Records to the National Firearm Background Check System," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 52-74.
    3. Kahane, Leo H., 2020. "State gun laws and the movement of crime guns between states," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    4. Daniel Cerqueira & Danilo Coelho & Marcelo Fernandes & Jony Pinto Junior, 2018. "Guns and Suicides," The American Statistician, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 72(3), pages 289-294, July.
    5. Cafferata, Fernando G. & Domínguez, Patricio & Scartascini, Carlos, 2023. "Overconfidence and Gun Preferences: How Behavioral Biases Affect Your Safety," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 12816, Inter-American Development Bank.
    6. Daniel Cerqueira & Danilo Santa Cruz Coelho & John J. Donohue & Marcelo Fernandes & Jony Arrais Pinto Jr., 2019. "A Panel-based Proxy for Gun Prevalence in the US," NBER Working Papers 25530, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Cerqueira, Daniel & Coelho, Danilo & Donohue, John J. & Fernandes, Marcelo & Junior, Jony Pinto, 2022. "A panel-based proxy for gun prevalence in US and Mexico," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    8. Jessica Jumee Kim & Kenneth C. Wilbur, 2022. "Proxies for legal firearm prevalence," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 239-273, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Firearms; Suicide; Guns;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I19 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Other
    • K10 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - General (Constitutional Law)

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