NCJ Number
160165
Date Published
1992
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This paper provides an overview of the rationale for and intent of gun-control legislation in the United States, the types of legislation proposed, and their effectiveness in reducing the use of guns in crimes.
Abstract
The central task of firearms controls through public law is to reduce the hundreds of thousands of occasions each year when guns are used illegitimately without unduly disrupting the millions of occasions when guns are used legitimately, including hunting, target sports, self-defense, and collecting. A number of types of gun-control strategies have been attempted and proposed. They include gun-possession place and manner restrictions, more severe penalties for firearm violence, measures to prevent high- risk groups from owning guns, gun licensing and registration, and laws designed to reduce the number of handguns owned by civilians. There is no clear evidence that any or all of these measures have decreased gun violence and gun-related death in the United States. The primary problem is the number of handguns currently in circulation. Even if the manufacture of handguns were stopped today, the 35 million handguns in the civilian inventory would still be killing people in the 21st century. Other factors in gun-control strategies are constitutional considerations and the balance between Federal, State, and local responsibilities for crime control.