Evaluation of the association between the flow of firearms and mass shooting deaths

Mass shootings are a human‐made disaster that plagues the United States. However, data on mass shootings and firearm sales are not readily available in the United States. We compile a novel dataset to explore this issue by blending annual nationwide data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Fire...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of consumer affairs Vol. 56; no. 2; pp. 925 - 937
Main Authors Miller, Chip E., Bryant, Andrew
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Malden, USA Wiley Periodicals, Inc 01.06.2022
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects
Firearm laws & regulations
Firearms
gun control
Gun violence
mass shooting
Statistics
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Summary:Mass shootings are a human‐made disaster that plagues the United States. However, data on mass shootings and firearm sales are not readily available in the United States. We compile a novel dataset to explore this issue by blending annual nationwide data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms' records with mass shooting statistics over 33 years. This dataset overcomes limitations present in previous research on the topic of firearms and mass shootings. Our findings indicate a relationship between more deaths from mass shootings and the production of firearms (flow of firearms). We argue that this is due to an increase in demand derived from the salience of perceived mortality and consumer reactance. Implications on the gun control debate are discussed.
ISSN:0022-0078
1745-6606
DOI:10.1111/joca.12409