A Plan for Reducing Gun Violence in the US by Marc Brenman
There should be more federal control over gun policy, particularly because the federal government is going to better internalize cross-state spillovers in gun trafficking.
Trafficking flows respond to gun regulations, with guns flowing from states with weak gun laws into nearby states with strict laws.
Proximity matters: Trafficking flows are more significant between two nearby states than between two distant states. Thus, a weakening of gun laws has a more significant effect in nearby states.
The fraction of crimes involving a gun tends to be higher in states exposed to weak gun laws.
(Brown University (2011, October 24). Gun traffickers exploit differences in state laws, economist says. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 4, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2011/10/111024123006.htm)
Raise the Price and Increase the Cost of Illegal Gun Acquisition “Transaction costs in underground gun markets are substantial: prices are high relative to the legal gun market; wait times are considerable; mistrust is common between buyers and sellers; and many transaction attempts go unfulfilled, even by people who are well-connected in the underground economy (Cook, Ludwig, Venkatesh, and Braga, 2007). The underground market seems to work far less smoothly for guns than for drugs, perhaps in part because guns, unlike drugs, are durable goods, so the number of market transactions is lower and exchange becomes more difficult to manage. These patterns suggest opportunities for enforcement efforts that disrupt the illicit gun market. Measures such as buy-and-bust operations or efforts to incentivize arrestees to provide information about buyers and sellers in the gun market may prove more effective than those directed at illegal drugs.” (U. of Chicago) “Diverting high-risk buyers from the primary to the secondary market (by, for example, improving background checks or cracking down on rogue dealers) would further increase prices in the latter by increasing demand (Cook & Leitzel, 1996).” (U. of Chicago)
Train for Safety Mandatory training on gun safety for gun owners and users. Tie this requirement to federal funding of states. If there is no such training, then a withdrawal or deferral of federal funding occurs. Life, health and homeowner insurance companies deny any injury or liability claims caused by unregistered weapons/ammo owned by the claimant, or if the gun owner failed to take the requisite training. Require any person seeking to own, possess, purchase or otherwise acquire a firearm to obtain a firearm safety certificate, which obligates the applicant to successfully complete a safety training course that includes live firing, a safe-handling demonstration and a written test of firearm laws. Require training for concealed carry. There is a critical lack of accountability required for gun ownership, especially for carrying a gun in public. For example, one does not have to be a trained marksman to own a gun or carry a concealed weapon in many states; a course is required for concealed carry in most, but not all, states, most notably in the states that do not require permits for CCW. Require periodic recertification.
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