Influence of Socioeconomic Factors and Gun Laws on the Frequency of Gun Violence in America: A Statewide Analysis from 2010-2018

Abstract

Are gun laws effective in lowering the frequency of gun violence, and do socioeconomic factors affect this in any way? This paper analyzes the influences of both gun control provisions and socioeconomic factors on the frequency of intentional gun violence inflicted against others, measuring changes to each on a statewide basis over the 2010 to 2018 period. This paper uses two-way fixed effects models controlling for year and state in the study, and results show that most measurable socioeconomic conditions have little effect on the frequency of gun violence. As for gun laws, while some provisions are not effective in lowering the frequency of gun violence, overall, states with more gun control provisions in place see a lower frequency. However, not all types of laws lower the frequency equally.