Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/207224 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 7833
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
Do firearm purchase delay laws reduce aggregate homicide levels? Using quasi-experimental evidence from a 6-month countrywide gun demand shock starting in late 2012, we show that U.S. states with legislation preventing immediate handgun purchases experienced smaller increases in handgun sales. Our findings are hard to reconcile with entirely rational consumers, but suggest that gun buyers behave time-inconsistently. In a second step, we demonstrate that states with purchase delays also witnessed 2% lower homicide rates during the same period compared to states allowing instant handgun access. We report suggestive evidence that lower handgun sales primarily reduced impulsive assaults and domestic violence.
Subjects: 
guns
murder
Sandy Hook
gun control
impulsiveness
JEL: 
K42
H76
H10
K14
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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