HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle
Expand

Do Studies Show Gun Control Works?

Views:1003
@ReasonVids

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

libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
,
justin monticello
,
aaron brown
,
gun safety
,
gun control
,
guns
,
junk science
,
social science
,
statistics
,
violence
    Thumbnail for What Should Have Happened at the Ketanji Brown Jackson Hearings6:26
    What Should Have Happened at the Ketanji Brown Jackson Hearings
    ReasonVids
    892 views
    Thumbnail for The Man Who Brought Obamacare Back to the Supreme Court: CEI's Lawson Bader on King v. Burwell5:34
    The Man Who Brought Obamacare Back to the Supreme Court: CEI's Lawson Bader on King v. Burwell
    ReasonVids
    835 views
    Thumbnail for More Taxes or More Jobs? California Shows We Can't Have Both7:01
    More Taxes or More Jobs? California Shows We Can't Have Both
    ReasonVids
    860 views
    Thumbnail for Stossel: Plastic Straw Myths4:17
    Stossel: Plastic Straw Myths
    ReasonVids
    919 views
    Thumbnail for Dog says: "Never Relax Around Cats"0:29
    Dog says: "Never Relax Around Cats"
    bestofupgoat
    131 views
    Thumbnail for Governments local to national are ignoring your rights.0:35
    Governments local to national are ignoring your rights.
    IJvids
    843 views
    Thumbnail for Should All Drugs Be Legal? A Soho Forum Debate1:25:04
    Should All Drugs Be Legal? A Soho Forum Debate
    ReasonVids
    735 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
    901 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
    1071 views
    Thumbnail for Peter Schiff  - The Fed Unspun: The Other Side of the Story1:26:32
    Peter Schiff - The Fed Unspun: The Other Side of the Story
    ReasonVids
    765 views
    Thumbnail for #NoNewNormal & #SayNoToBillGates2:20
    #NoNewNormal & #SayNoToBillGates
    SingularityJett
    2156 views
    Thumbnail for Nigger nigs out, sets off huge pile of fireworks indoors 1:21
    Nigger nigs out, sets off huge pile of fireworks indoors
    bestofupgoat
    234 views
    Thumbnail for 명태균 측 "오세훈, 김영선에 SH사장 자리 제안" [이슈PLAY] / JTBC News | JTBC News3:59:21
    명태균 측 "오세훈, 김영선에 SH사장 자리 제안" [이슈PLAY] / JTBC News | JTBC News
    invidious
    80 views
    Thumbnail for Cat On The Ceiling (Ankha - Animal Crossing) #Shorts | ZONE TOONS0:50
    Cat On The Ceiling (Ankha - Animal Crossing) #Shorts | ZONE TOONS
    invidious
    390 views
    Thumbnail for Stossel: Ayn Rand–The Author People Love to Hate4:50
    Stossel: Ayn Rand–The Author People Love to Hate
    ReasonVids
    1002 views
    Thumbnail for silent2:42
    silent
    bestofvoatxyz
    835 views
    Thumbnail for Cute Blonde with a Friendly Reminder0:12
    Cute Blonde with a Friendly Reminder
    bestofvoatxyz
    801 views
    Thumbnail for How the U.S. Covered Up the Murder of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi19:09
    How the U.S. Covered Up the Murder of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi
    ReasonVids
    978 views
    Thumbnail for First hand account of going in the US Capitol3:50
    First hand account of going in the US Capitol
    AOU
    1769 views
    Thumbnail for The US Bans Kaspersky | Mental Outlaw9:53
    The US Bans Kaspersky | Mental Outlaw
    invidious
    277 views
    Thumbnail for George Lincoln Rockwell's greatest speech2:40:57
    George Lincoln Rockwell's greatest speech
    bestofvoatxyz
    848 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
    906 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
    470 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