Gun Control

1 Pages 193 Words

We compared the incidence of killings by handguns, firearms other than handguns, and nonshooting methods between the United States and Canada for the years 1977 to 1983. Given gun control is more rigorous and pervasive in Canada than the USA, particularly for handguns, we predicted that the rate of killings by guns would be lower in Canada than in the USA and that the difference between the two countries' killing rates would be greater for handgun killings than for those committed by other firearms. Our findings supported the predictions. In addition, our findings did not support the claim that gun control may encourage murderers to use other methods than firearms to kill.

Several studies have not yielded clear or unequivocal evidence for the effectiveness of gun control in the United States (e.g.,7, 8, 10, 11). On the other hand, Sproule and Kennett13 demonstrated a significant decrease in shooting homicide rates in Canada after the introduction of stringent gun control legislation in 1976. We propose that the discrepant findings regarding the benefits of gun control between Canada and the USA are likely the result of differences in the rigour and pervasiveness of gun control....