Modeling the U.S. Firearms Market

We estimate the first econometric model of the national civilian firearms market in the United States (1946–2016), where per capita firearms‐related harm is exceptionally high. Solving simultaneous equation models instrumented by natural disasters and steel prices, and employing unique firearms pric...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational social science journal Vol. 73; no. 248; pp. 279 - 323
Main Authors McDougal, Topher L., Montolio, Daniel, Brauer, Jurgen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.06.2023
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Summary:We estimate the first econometric model of the national civilian firearms market in the United States (1946–2016), where per capita firearms‐related harm is exceptionally high. Solving simultaneous equation models instrumented by natural disasters and steel prices, and employing unique firearms prices and quantities data, we find this market operates normally, except that firearms stocks may generate some new market demand in a positive feedback loop. Save for the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (1994–2004), federal firearms legislation does not influence firearms sales. We find that violent crime, including homicide and mass shootings, boosts domestic sales.
ISSN:0020-8701
1468-2451
DOI:10.1111/issj.12396