Evaluation of the 1977 Canadian Firearms Legislation

• NCJ Number: 157661
• Journal: Evaluation Review: A Journal of Applied Social Research Volume: 16 Issue: 6 Dated: (December 1992) Pages: 603-617
• Author(s): G A Mauser; R A Holmes
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 15 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Earlier draft of article presented at meetings of the American Society of Criminology, 1991, San Francisco

Annotation

This paper used a pooled cross-section, time series model to evaluate the effect of 1977 Canadian firearms legislation on provincial homicide rates between 1969 and 1989.

Abstract

This model was selected for the evaluation because of its ability to capture variations across space and time. Indexes used in the model and measured at the provincial level as independent variables included unemployment rate, percentage Status Indian, percentage immigrant, percentage male youth, and clearance rate. Results were consistent with findings of most previous studies, that Canada's firearms legislation did not have a significant effect on homicide. Strongest explanatory factors were percentage Status Indian and male youth. The authors suggest that policy initiatives other than Canada's firearms law may be more effective in reducing homicide. Supplemental information on the analysis methodology and equations are appended. 21 references and 5 tables