DISRUPTING ILLEGAL FIREARMS MARKETS IN BOSTON: THE EFFECTS OF OPERATION CEASEFIRE ON THE SUPPLY OF NEW HANDGUNS TO CRIMINALS*

Anthony A. Braga · Glenn L. Pierce

100 citations0/0 files storedCriminology & Public Policy

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

Gun Ownership and Violence Research Crime Patterns and Interventions Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance

Abstract

Research Summary: The question of whether the illegal firearms market serving criminals and juveniles can be disrupted has been vigorously debated in policy circles and in the literature on firearms and violence. To the extent that prohibited persons, in particular, are supplied with guns through systematic gun trafficking, focused regulatory and investigative resources may be useful in disrupting the illegal supply of firearms to criminals. In Boston, a gun market disruption strategy was implemented that focused on shutting down illegal diversions of new handguns from retail sources. Multivariate regression analyses were used to estimate the effects of the intervention on new handguns recovered in crime. Our results suggest that focused enforcement efforts, guided by strategic analyses of ATF firearms trace data, can have significant impacts on the illegal supply of new handguns to criminals. Policy Implications: The problem-oriented policing approach provides an appropriate framework to uncover the complex mechanisms at play in illicit firearms markets and to develop tailor-made interventions to disrupt the illegal gun trade. Strategic enforcement programs focused on the illegal diversion of new firearms from primary markets can reduce the availability of new guns to criminals. However, the extent to which criminals substitute older guns for new guns and move from primary markets to secondary markets in response to an enforcement strategy focused on retail outlets remains unclear. Our evaluation also does not provide policy makers with any firm evidence on whether supply-side enforcement strategies have any measurable impacts on gun violence. Jurisdictions suffering from gun violence problems should implement demand-side violence prevention programs to complement their supply-side efforts.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 100 citations exist upstream.

References

1963Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research 1991Problem-Oriented Policing 2004Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990s: Four Factors that Explain the Decline and Six that Do Not 2004What Can Police Do to Reduce Crime, Disorder, and Fear?2001Problem-Oriented Policing, Deterrence, and Youth Violence: An Evaluation of Boston's Operation Ceasefire 2007What Can Police Do to Reduce Crime, Disorder, and Fear?2006Police Innovation: Contrasting Perspectives 1996Youth Violence in Boston: Gun Markets, Serious Youth Offenders, and a Use-Reduction Strategy

Cited by

2012The Effects of “Pulling Levers” Focused Deterrence Strategies on Crime 2018THE TRADE IN TOOLS: THE MARKET FOR ILLICIT GUNS IN HIGH‐RISK NETWORKS 2012Interpreting the Empirical Evidence on Illegal Gun Market Dynamics 2012Correlates of Handgun Carrying Among Adolescents in the United States 2013State Gun Policy and Cross-State Externalities: Evidence from Crime Gun Tracing

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.