HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle

Do Studies Show Gun Control Works?

Views: 972
Out of 27,900 research publications on gun laws, only 123 tested their effects rigorously.
------------------
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/ReasonTV?subconfirmation=1
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason

Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.
----------------
After reaching historic lows in the mid-2010s, gun violence rates in America have gone up in recent years, and they remain higher than in some other parts of the developed world. There are hundreds of laws and regulations at the federal and state level that restrict Americans' access to guns, yet according to some advocates, social science research shows that a few more "simple, commonsense" laws could significantly reduce the number of injuries and deaths attributed to firearms.

There has been a massive research effort going back decades to determine whether gun control measures work. A 2020 analysis by the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, parsed the results of 27,900 research publications on the effectiveness of gun control laws. From this vast body of work, the RAND authors found only 123 studies, or 0.4 percent, that tested the effects rigorously. Some of the other 27,777 studies may have been useful for non-empirical discussions, but many others were deeply flawed. 

We took a look at the significance of the 123 rigorous empirical studies and what they actually say about the efficacy of gun control laws. 

The answer: nothing. The 123 studies that met RAND's criteria may have been the best of the 27,900 that were analyzed, but they still had serious statistical defects, such as a lack of controls, too many parameters or hypotheses for the data, undisclosed data, erroneous data, misspecified models, and other problems. 

And these glaring methodological flaws are not specific to gun control research; they are typical of how the academic publishing industry responds to demands from political partisans for scientific evidence that does not exist.

Not only is the social science literature on gun control broadly useless, but it provides endless fodder for advocates who say that "studies prove" that a particular favored policy would have beneficial outcomes. This matters because gun laws, even if they don't accomplish their goals, have large costs. They can turn otherwise law-abiding citizens into criminals, they increase prosecutorial power and incarceration, and they exacerbate the racial and socioeconomic inequities in the criminal justice system. 

For full text, links, and more, go to https://reason.com/video/2022/03/31/do-studies-show-gun-control-works-no/

Produced and edited by Justin Monticello. Written by Monticello and Aaron Brown. Graphics by Adani Samat and Isaac Reese. Audio production by Ian Keyser.

Music: Aerial Cliff by Michele Nobler, Land of the Lion by C.K. Martin, The Plan's Working by Cooper Cannell, Thoughts by ANBR, Flight of the Inner Bird by Sivan Talmor and Yehezkel Raz, and Run by Tristan Barton.

Photos: Hollandse-Hoogte/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Robin Rayne/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Ted Soqui/Sipa USA/Newscom; YES Market Media/Yaroslav Sabitov/YES Market Medi/Newscom; Chuck Liddy/TNS/Newscom; YES Market Media/Yaroslav Sabitov/YES Market Medi/Newscom; Brett Coomer/Rapport Press/Newscom; Martha Asencio-Rhine/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Jebb Harris/ZUMA Press/Newscom; John Gastaldo/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Greg Smith/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Richard Ellis/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Matthew McDermott/Polaris/Newscom; KEVIN DIETSCH/UPI/Newscom; Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Newscom; Michael Brochstein/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Sandy Macys / UPI Photo Service/Newscom; E. Jason Wambsgans/TNS/Newscom; Eye Ubiquitous/Newscom; Matthew McDermott/Polaris/Newscom
@ReasonVidsfollow
Thumbnail for What Should Have Happened at the Ketanji Brown Jackson Hearings6:26
What Should Have Happened at the Ketanji Brown Jackson Hearings
ReasonVids
863 views
Thumbnail for Psycho Mom Wants Her Kid to Have Your Phone | Grunt Speak Highlights5:02
Psycho Mom Wants Her Kid to Have Your Phone | Grunt Speak Highlights
Terrence Popp
1024 views
Thumbnail for Overwatch 2 Illegal Monetization | Pipkin Pippa Ch.【Phase Connect】2:02
Overwatch 2 Illegal Monetization | Pipkin Pippa Ch.【Phase Connect】
invidious
493 views
Thumbnail for George Lincoln Rockwell's greatest speech2:40:57
George Lincoln Rockwell's greatest speech
bestofvoatxyz
802 views
Thumbnail for First hand account of going in the US Capitol3:50
First hand account of going in the US Capitol
AOU
1722 views
Thumbnail for The Most Controversial Zeepkist Level Ever? - Kick or Clutch Ep. 46 | OwlPlague12:08
The Most Controversial Zeepkist Level Ever? - Kick or Clutch Ep. 46 | OwlPlague
invidious
418 views
Thumbnail for Fighting Crime or Raising Revenue?1:01
Fighting Crime or Raising Revenue?
IJvids
767 views
Thumbnail for Why Can't Chuck Get His Business Off the Ground?5:05
Why Can't Chuck Get His Business Off the Ground?
IJvids
988 views
Thumbnail for Governments local to national are ignoring your rights.0:35
Governments local to national are ignoring your rights.
IJvids
788 views
Thumbnail for Should All Drugs Be Legal? A Soho Forum Debate1:25:04
Should All Drugs Be Legal? A Soho Forum Debate
ReasonVids
703 views
Thumbnail for ATF Fights Cigarette Smuggling by Smuggling Cigarettes! Don't Cops Have Better Things to Do?!1:57
ATF Fights Cigarette Smuggling by Smuggling Cigarettes! Don't Cops Have Better Things to Do?!
ReasonVids
869 views
Thumbnail for The Case for Pardoning Edward Snowden8:07
The Case for Pardoning Edward Snowden
ReasonVids
860 views
Thumbnail for Vampires, Puppies, and Sharknado 2: The Cannes Film Festival's Movie Market2:37
Vampires, Puppies, and Sharknado 2: The Cannes Film Festival's Movie Market
ReasonVids
866 views
Thumbnail for Reality Show President: Inside the White House PR Machine11:57
Reality Show President: Inside the White House PR Machine
ReasonVids
964 views
Thumbnail for Boogie Board Ban, Parking App Prohibition, and Old Sunscreen Labeling (Nanny of the Month, 8-14)2:04
Boogie Board Ban, Parking App Prohibition, and Old Sunscreen Labeling (Nanny of the Month, 8-14)
ReasonVids
863 views
Thumbnail for yeah, well done...0:06
yeah, well done...
bestofvoatxyz
500 views
Thumbnail for James Altucher Found Himself by Losing Everything (and You Can Too!)37:27
James Altucher Found Himself by Losing Everything (and You Can Too!)
ReasonVids
969 views
Thumbnail for Blood test shows single mom charged with DUI, felony child neglect was sober at time of arrest . Gets blood alcohol results 6 MONTHS later.2:22
Blood test shows single mom charged with DUI, felony child neglect was sober at time of arrest . Gets blood alcohol results 6 MONTHS later.
The_Wind_Cries
1010 views
Thumbnail for Why Americans Are Suckers for Quick Fixes From Psychologists5:01
Why Americans Are Suckers for Quick Fixes From Psychologists
ReasonVids
883 views
Thumbnail for Stossel: Sweden is Not a Socialist Success5:18
Stossel: Sweden is Not a Socialist Success
ReasonVids
888 views
Thumbnail for Voat memes 6/11/2021 [slideshow]2:00
Voat memes 6/11/2021 [slideshow]
bestofvoatxyz
1596 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian, reason magazine, reason.com, reason.tv, reasontv, justin monticello, aaron brown, gun safety, gun control, guns, junk science, social science, statistics, violence
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle