Showing papers in "Journal on firearms and public policy in 1998"

The Uses And Limitations Of BATF Tracing Data For Law Enforcement, Policymaking, And Criminological Research

Abstract: U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms firearms tracing data have been a tool for investigating individual crimes. And there are some clear potential benefits for using the statistics for law enforcement. There are, however, severe limitations on the utility of those data for making public policy aimed at reducing crime. Limitations include: the minimal number of guns BATF attempts to trace or succeeds in tracing, the rules for excluding guns and efforts to trace them, and the limited information on the basis for gun traces.

The Politics of Firearms Registration in Canada

Abstract: The determination of the Canadian government to bring in universal firearms registration (the 1995 Firearms Act) has proven extremely divisive. The Firearms Act, originally introduced in parliament as Bill C-68, radically transformed the criminal code, not only by requiring all firearms to be registered, but also by drastically reducing the traditional rights of Canadians to due process. In this article, I will show that a thorough analysis of Canadian public opinion towards firearms and gun control undermines the government's claim that the public demanded more gun laws. I will argue that Bill C-68 was introduced primarily for partisan political advantage, and that, despite the Liberals’ use of sophisticated "political marketing" techniques, their strategy backfired as the gun bill hurt the Liberals more than it helped them in the 1997 federal election.

Has the gun deterrence hypothesis been discredited? A reply to McDowall et al., Criminology, November 1991

Abstract: In the November 1991 issue of Criminology, authors David McDowall, Alan Lizotte, and Brian Wiersema analyzed several of the more famous cases--such as Orlando and Kennesaw--in which increased attention to defensive gun ownership is often said to have resulted in sharply reduced crime. Applying statistical analysis, McDowall and his co-authors concluded that in no case had gun ownership led to a statistically perceptible drop in the crime rate. Here, Gary Kleck answers the McDowall article.

Ideological and civil liberties implications of the public health approach to guns, crime, and violence

Abstract: Public health advocacy for severe gun control and gun prohibition has become an increasingly important part of the firearms policy debate. In this article, Raymond Kessler analyzes, from a critical or Marxist perspective, the ideology that underlies anti-gun public health campaign.