Concealed Carry Means Fewer Murders, Says New Study

Quinnipiac University economist Mark Gius has
published a new study, “An
examination of the effects of concealed weapons laws and assault
weapons bans on state-level murder rates,” in the journal
Applied Economics Letters. From the abstract:

The purpose of the present study is to determine the effects of
state-level assault weapons bans and concealed weapons laws on
state-level murder rates. Using data for the period 1980 to 2009
and controlling for state and year fixed effects, the results of
the present study suggest that states with restrictions on the
carrying of concealed weapons had higher gun-related murder rates
than other states. It was also found that assault weapons bans did
not significantly affect murder rates at the state level. These
results suggest that restrictive concealed weapons laws may cause
an increase in gun-related murders at the state level. The results
of this study are consistent with some prior research in this area,
most notably Lott and Mustard (1997).

Intriguing.

For more background: The most recent Reason-Rupe poll reports
that
63 percent of Americans don’t believe that stricter gun laws
would keep weapons out of the hands of criminals.