GUN LAWS PAGES 199 206 ANYTHING FROM POWER POINT IS IN PURPLE Some argue that the right to bear arms applies to all citizens and no restrictions should be imposed on such ownership o A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed o Gun control legislation is made at the federal state and local levels Various types of gun control legislation may include o Bans or restrictions on specific firearms or ammunition o Restrictions on firearms acquisition o Waiting periods for firearm acquisition o Firearm registration and licensing of firearm owners o Concealed weapon and open carry laws o Child access prevention laws o Zero tolerance laws for firearms in schools o Sentencing laws that provide for enhanced penalties in cases involving the illegal While on the other hand those against it understand the amendment only apply to state The issues of gun control and gun ownership begins with the 2nd Amendment to the use of firearms o officials such as police officers Constitution The U S has embraced gun ownership o 200 250 million firearms are in circulation today o 4 5 million fire arms are sold annually o Possible concerns include contribution of increased violence especially in To some extent guns are involved with violence the 1980s and early 90s o 2004 guns were involved with 29 569 deaths nearly30 000 in the U S Homicide suicide or accident Gun ownership is generally highest in groups where violence is lowest There are two distinct subcultures of gun owners those who own guns for sporting purposes and those who own guns for protection purposes The majority of the guns in the US are rifles and shotguns Gun control legislation is made at the federal state and local levels States pass the vast majority of gun control laws and the strictest controls are enacted by municipal governments IMPACTS OF GUNLAWS CDC study identified 51 studies that identified with one of the 8 categories of laws Although evidence was insufficient to determine the effectiveness of these laws o At the same time these laws could have been effective but have been judged by a panel Meaning that the panel felt that it was inadequate There were a lot of mixed responses along with suffering from methodological limitation led to us understanding that we do not exactly know whether or not these laws have effectively reduced arm violence Gun control legislation is intended to control access to firearms and to deter the use of firearms to commit violence or other crimes Victim defensive gun use however can have positive effects o Victims who used guns during crime incidents were less likely to be injured or lose property o Studies of criminals behaviors indicate that offenders may refrain from committing crimes if they believe a potential victim has a gun However some laws may be effective o Gun registries and intensive police patrols directed at illicit gun carrying in high violence neighborhoods may deter crime o Bans on felon gun possession and background checks Problems with assessing the impact of gun laws o There are not many good methodologically rigorous studies that have been done o A lack of reliable measures o Using inappropriate comparisons o The number and variety of firearm and crime prevention laws OBSERVATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS There have been many problems with various studies Another problem line with the lack of reliable or valid outcome measures o Many crimes do go unreported and this could vary in many areas Having so many laws is a problem within itself o Problems in trying to isolate the problems and effects of one law from the rest National Firearms Act of 1934 o First federal law aimed at regulating guns o Imposed a tax on the manufacture and transfer of certain firearms and the mandatory registration of those firearms 1993 Handgun Control and Violence Prevention Act Brady Bill 1994 Community Oriented Policing Program o Provided several billion dollars in funding Gun Free School Zones Act of 1995 o Makes it a federal crime for an individual carrying a gun to travel on public sidewalks streets or highways that pass within 1 000 feet of the property line of a K 12 school 1996 Local Law Enforcement Block Grants o Provided almost 3 million dollars in funding The point is that there is a need for better data and research o That will provide an evidence based foundation for reducing gun related crime ARE CURRENT CRIMINAL JSTUICE POLICIES EFFECTIVE There is a 5 point system for ranking studies by Sherman o 30 of the 440 studies that they reviewed scored a 3 or better o 80 of the studies provided null findings The positive thing to do would be to assume that the aforementioned issues notwithstanding criminal justice policies typically create intended outcomes STATE GUN CONTROL LAWS Gun laws vary at the state level in terms of the degree and types of restrictions imposed Castle Doctrine legislation has been enacted in 25 mostly southern and western states 23 states have no restrictions on carrying a firearm for personal protection in restaurants serving alcohol while 18 have a partial ban and only 9 have a complete ban The right to carry a firearm in state parks is allowed is 32 states and prohibited in 18 CONCLUSION An outcome evaluation alone cannot establish policy effectiveness Impact evaluations provide a direct test of policy effectiveness o But these kinds of evaluations have problems of their own as well The results could be too narrow to even focus on the types of policies that can be more easily subject to an experiment but that may also affect fewer individuals or areas Reasons like this are why quasi experimental research designs can be helpful It can be implemented in many ways They are most cost effective The only risk really is the appearance of an effect when none exists If implemented well it can create credible assessment of impact Experiments are the gold standard in research evaluation because if implemented well they allow us to feel confident that real policy impact a casual effect Regardless of the kind of impact evaluation undertaken careful attention to the methodological rigor lets us have greater trust in the outcome Over all we want to be clear about a policy s goals the full set of outcomes relevant to assessing the policy and the appropriate comparisons that should be used to draw inferences about policy effectiveness