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Regulating Guns among Young Adults

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Abstract

This paper reports the results of two studies of the impact of gun control measures on violent criminal behavior among persons age 18 to 20. The first study assessed the impact of state bans on gun carrying among persons age 18 to 20 on rates of violent crime committed by persons in that age group. The research used a state-level cross-sectional weighted least squares analysis of murder, robbery, and aggravated assault rates in 2000, controlling for possible confounding variables. The results indicate no significant effect of these carry bans on any of the three violent crime rates. The second study was a longitudinal analysis performed to evaluate the impact of a single previously unstudied element of the federal Gun Control Act of 1968 – its ban on the purchase of handguns by persons aged 18 to 20. The analysis tested whether the share of arrests for three violent crime types trended downward, or less strongly upward, after the law went into effect, controlling for trends in the share of the population in this age group. Results indicate that there was no impact of this ban on the 18-to-20 year-old share of arrests for homicide, robbery, or aggravated assault.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-1127, USA

    Gary Kleck

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  1. Gary Kleck
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Correspondence to Gary Kleck.

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Appendix

Appendix

Data Sources

State crime rate data

U.S. Dept. of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Crime in the United States - Uniform Crime Reports, 2000. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

State arrest data by age, 2000–2002 (available from ICPSR website at http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/access/index.jsp):

U.S. Dept. of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Uniform Crime Reporting Program Data [United States]: Arrests By Age, Sex, And Race, 2000 [Computer file]. ICPSR03443-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [producer and distributor], 2006-10-27.

U.S. Dept. of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Uniform Crime Reporting Program Data [United States]: Arrests By Age, Sex, And Race, 2001 [Computer file]. Compiled by the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. ICPSR03760-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [producer and distributor], 2006-09-21.

U.S. Dept. of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Uniform Crime Reporting Program Data [United States]: Arrests By Age, Sex, And Race, 2002 [Computer file]. ICPSR04443-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [producer and distributor], 2007-03-21.

State and Federal Prisoners

U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2001. Prisoners in 2000. BJS Bulletin NCJ 118207 at: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/p00.pdf

Sworn police full-time employment

U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1998). Directory of Law Enforcement Agencies, 1996: [UNITED STATES] [Computer file]. Conducted by U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. ICPSR ed. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [producer and distributor], 1998.

Divorces

U.S. National Center for Health Statistics. “Provisional Tables on Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths 1998-2000”. National Vital Statistics Reports, Volume 49, number 6, available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr49/49_06_02_03.pdf.

Population estimates by age: U.S. Bureau of the Census website at http://www.census.gov/popest/archives/pre-1980/.

http://www.census.gov/popest/states/asrh/files/SC-EST2009-AGESEX-RES.csv

All other variables

U. S. Bureau of the Census. “Census 2000 Briefs and Special Reports” website at http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs.html.

Classification of the States as to Minimum Age for Lawful Carrying of Concealed Weapons, as of 1999.

No Concealed Carrying Allowed: IL, KS, MO, NE, NM, OH, WI.

Minimum Age 23: OK.

Minimum Age 21: AK, AZ, AR, FL, GA, HA, KY, LA, MA, MI, NV, NC, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA.

No express minimum age: AL, CA, CO, CT, NH, NY.

Minimum age 18: DE, ID, IN, IA, ME, MD, MI, MN, MT, NJ, ND, SD, WV, WY.

Minimum age 16: VT.

State Law Provisions on Minimum Age for Concealed Weapons Carry as of 1999:

  1. 1.

    Alabama. Code of Ala. § 13A-11-75 (1999)

  2. 2.

    Alaska. Alaska Stat. § 18.65.705(1) (1999)

  3. 3.

    Arizona. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13–3112(E)(2) (1999)

  4. 4.

    Arkansas. Ark. Stat. Ann. § 5–73-309(1)(B) (1999)

  5. 5.

    California. Cal. Pen. Code § 12,050 (1999)

  6. 6.

    Colorado. Col. Rev. Stat. § 18–12-105.1 (1999)

  7. 7.

    Connecticut. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29–28 (2000)

  8. 8.

    Delaware. 1 Del. Code § 701; 11 Del. Code § 1441(a) (1999)

  9. 9.

    Florida. Fla. Stat. § 790.06(2)(b) (1999)

  10. 10.

    Georgia. Official Code Ga. Ann. § 16–11-129(b)(1) (1999)

  11. 11.

    Hawaii. Haw. Rev. State § 134–9(a) (1999)

  12. 12.

    Idaho. Idaho Code §§ 3302(1)(l), (11) (1999)

  13. 13.

    Illinois. 720 Ill. Compiled Stat. Ann. § 5/24–1(4) (1999)

  14. 14.

    Indiana. Burns Ind. Code Ann. § 35–47–2-3(f)(2) (1999)

  15. 15.

    Iowa. Iowa Code § 724.8(1) (1999)

  16. 16.

    Kansas. Kansas Stat. Ann. § 21–4201(a)(4) (1999)

  17. 17.

    Kentucky. Kentucky Rev. Stat. § 237.110(2)(b) (2000)

  18. 18.

    Louisiana. La. Rev. Stat. § 40:1379.3(C)(4) (1999)

  19. 19.

    Maine. 25 Maine Rev. Stat. § 2003(1)(A) (1999)

  20. 20.

    Maryland. Md. Ann. Code art. 27, § 36E(a)(1) (1999)

  21. 21.

    Massachusetts. Mass. Ann. Laws ch. 140, § 131(d)(iv) (1999)

  22. 22.

    Michigan. Mich. Code Laws § 28.426 (1999)

  23. 23.

    Minnesota. Minn. Stat. §§ 624.713(1)(a), 624.714(5)(a) (1999)

  24. 24.

    Mississippi. Miss. Code Ann. § 45–9-101(2)(b) (1999)

  25. 25.

    Missouri. Rev. Stat. Mo. § 571.030 (1999)

  26. 26.

    Montana. Mont. Code Ann. § 45–8-321(1) (1999)

  27. 27.

    Nebraska. Rev. Stat. Neb. § 28–1202 (1999)

  28. 28.

    Nevada. Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 202.3657(2)(b) (1999)

  29. 29.

    New Hampshire. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 159:6 (1999)

  30. 30.

    New Jersey. N.J. Stat. §§ 2C:58–3(c)(4), 2C:58–4(c) (1999)

  31. 31.

    New Mexico. N.M. Stat. § 30–7-2 (1999)

  32. 32.

    New York. N.Y. CLS Penal § 400.00(1) (1999)

  33. 33.

    North Carolina. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14–415.12(a)(2) (1999)

  34. 34.

    North Dakota. N.D. Cent. Code §§ 62.1–02-01(4), 62.1–04-03 (1999)

  35. 35.

    Ohio. Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2923.12(A) (1999)

  36. 36.

    Oklahoma. 21 Okl. St. § 1290.9(3) (1999)

  37. 37.

    Oregon. Oregon Rev. Stat. § 166.291(1)(b) (1999)

  38. 38.

    Pennsylvania. 18 Pa. C.S. § 6109(B) (1999)

  39. 39.

    Rhode Island. R.I. Gen. Laws § 11–47-11(a) (1999)

  40. 40.

    South Carolina. S.C. Code Ann. § 23–31-215(A) (1999)

  41. 41.

    South Dakota. S.D. Codified Laws § 23–7-7.1(1) (1999)

  42. 42.

    Tennessee. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1351(b) (1999)

  43. 43.

    Texas. Tex. Gov’t Code 411.172(a)(2) (1999)

  44. 44.

    Utah. Utah Code Ann. § 53–5-704(1) (1999)

  45. 45.

    Vermont. 13 Vermont Stat. Ann. § 4008 (1999)

  46. 46.

    Virginia. Va. Code Ann. § 18.2–308(D) (1999)

  47. 47.

    Washington. Rev. Code Wash. § 9.41.070(1)(c) (1999)

  48. 48.

    West Virginia. W. Va. Code § 61–7-4(a)(3) (1999)

  49. 49.

    Wisconsin. Wis. Stat. § 941.23 (1999)

  50. 50.

    Wyoming. Wyo. State. § 6–8-104(j) (1999)

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Kleck, G. Regulating Guns among Young Adults. Am J Crim Just 44, 689–704 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-019-09476-6

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