Brookings Releases Book Analyzing Guns and Public Policy; Studies Offer Impartial Analysis of Guns and Gun Ownership

5/20/2003

From: Mark Karlin, 312-474-1740 for Evaluating Gun Policy

WASHINGTON, May 20 -- Why do homes in communities with higher rates of gun ownership stand a greater chance of being burglarized? Is there a connection between handgun ownership and suicide rates? Are there really more than 20,000 gun laws in the United States, as is often reported? Does "Project Exile," a stiffer-sentencing program for gun possession, deserve credit for reducing the number of homicides in Richmond, Va.?

These questions and others are the subject of Evaluating Gun Policy, a collection of studies examining the consequences and public policy implications of gun possession and gun commerce in the United States.

Recently released by Brookings Institution Press, Evaluating Gun Policy offers a reasoned analysis of topics that are usually the focus of impassioned debate. Each article is written by an expert in the field of public policy research.

The book's co-editors are Philip J. Cook, Ph.D., ITT/Sanford Professor of Public Policy at Duke University, and Jens Ludwig, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Public Policy at Georgetown University.

Evaluating Gun Policy includes the following studies and analysis:

Introduction 1. Pragmatic Gun Policy Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig

Part I: Gun Prevalence 2. Guns and Suicide Mark Duggan

3. Guns and Burglary Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig

Part II: Regulating Ownership 4. Australia: A Massive Buyback of Low-Risk Guns Peter Reuter and Jenny Mouzos

5. Disarming Batterers: The Impact of Domestic Firearm Laws Elizabeth Richardson Vigdor and James A. Mercy

Part III: Restricting Gun Carrying 6. Policing Crime Guns Jacqueline Cohen and Jens Ludwig

7. Prison Sentence Enhancements: The Case of Project Exile Steven Raphael and Jens Ludwig

8. The Impact of Concealed-Carry Laws John J. Donohue

Part IV: Facilitating Research 9. State and Federal Gun Laws: Trends for 1970-99 Jon S. Vernick and Lisa M. Hepburn

10. Data on Violent Injury Deborah Azrael, Catherine Barber, David Hemenway and Matthew Miller

Part V: The Policy Process 11. Continuity and Change in the American Gun Debate Franklin E. Zimring

Compared with other developed nations, the United States is unique in its high rates of both gun ownership and murder. Although widespread gun ownership does not have much effect on the overall crime rate, gun use does make criminal violence more lethal and has a unique capacity to terrorize the public. Gun crime accounts for most of the costs of gun violence in the United States, which are on the order of $100 billion per year.

To schedule an interview with any of the studies' authors, please contact Scott Vogel at Mark Karlin & Associates: 312-474-1740.