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Safe Storage Gun Laws: Accidental Deaths, Suicides and Crime

Author

Listed:
  • John R. Lott, Jr.

    (School of Law, Yale University)

  • John Whitley

    (School of Economics, University of Adelaide)

Abstract

It is frequently assumed that safe storage gun laws reduce accidental gun deaths and total suicides, while the possible impact on crime rates are ignored. However, given existing work on the adverse impact of other safety laws, such as safety caps for storing medicine, even the very plausible assumption of reduced accidental gun deaths cannot be taken for granted. Our paper analyzes both state and county data spanning nearly twenty years, and we find no support that safe storage laws reduce either juvenile accidental gun deaths or suicides. Instead, these storage requirements appear to impair people's ability to use guns defensively. Because accidental shooters also tend to be the ones most likely to violate the new law, safe storage laws increase violent and property crimes against low risk citizens with no observable offsetting benefit in terms of reduced accidents or suicides. During the first five full years after the passage of the safe storage laws, the group of fifteen states that adopted these laws faced an annual average increase of over 300 more murders, 3,860 more rapes, 24,650 more robberies, and over 25,000 more aggravated assaults. On average, the annual costs borne by victims averaged over $2.6 billion as a result of lost productivity, out-of-pocket expenses, medical bills, and property losses.

Suggested Citation

  • John R. Lott, Jr. & John Whitley, 2001. "Safe Storage Gun Laws: Accidental Deaths, Suicides and Crime," School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 2001-06, University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy.
    • Handle: RePEc:adl:wpaper:2001-06
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    File URL: https://media.adelaide.edu.au/economics/papers/doc/wp2001-06.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

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    2. Anderson, D. Mark & Sabia, Joseph J., 2016. "Child Access Prevention Laws, Youth Gun Carrying, and School Shootings," IZA Discussion Papers 9830, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. 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.
    4. Mocan, Naci & Tekin, Erdal, 2003. "Guns, Drugs and Juvenile Crime: Evidence from a Panel of Siblings and Twins," IZA Discussion Papers 932, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Mocan, H Naci & Tekin, Erdal, 2006. "Guns and Juvenile Crime," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 49(2), pages 507-531, October.
    6. Gius, Mark, 2020. "Examining the impact of child access prevention laws on youth firearm suicides using the synthetic control method," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    7. Joshua Ball & Günther G. Schulze & Nikita Zakharov, 2024. "Ain’t no Silver Bullet? Gun Laws and Suicide in the US," Discussion Paper Series 51 JEL Classification: I1, Department of International Economic Policy, University of Freiburg, revised Dec 2024.
    8. Jeff DeSimone & Sara Markowitz, 2005. "The Effect of Child Access Prevention Laws on Non-Fatal Gun Injuries," NBER Working Papers 11613, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Jeffrey DeSimone & Sara Markowitz & Jing Xu, 2013. "Child Access Prevention Laws and Nonfatal Gun Injuries," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 80(1), pages 5-25, July.

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