Small Arms Mortality: Access to Firearms and Lethal Violence

Abstract

There is an intuitive appeal to the notion that the more lethal the weaponry the more lethal the violence. We explore one aspect of lethal weaponry, firearm accessibility. Using nation-level (N = 168) data from the Small Arms Survey and the World Health Organization's measures of mortality we examine whether rates of small arm ownership have a positive effect on rates of homicide and suicide. Contrary to the opportunity model, the accessibility of firearms does not produce more homicide or suicide when other known factors are controlled for. Consistent with past research, structural factors, like deprivation, explain a large portion of the cross-national variation in homicide and suicide, with some interesting differences between the two models. We discuss explanations for our findings and suggest that firearm accessibility may make some structural positions more lethal.

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