Author Abstract
There have been dozens of high-profile mass shootings in recent decades. This paper presents three main findings about the impact of mass shootings on gun policy. First, mass shootings evoke large policy responses. A single mass shooting leads to a 15% increase in the number of firearm bills introduced in a state in the year after a mass shooting. Second, mass shootings account for a small portion of all gun deaths but have an outsized influence relative to other homicides. Our estimates suggest that the per-death impact of mass shootings on bills introduced is about 80 times as large as the impact of individual gun homicides on non-mass shooting incidents. Third, when looking at enacted laws, the impact of mass shootings depends on the party in power. A mass shooting increases the number of enacted laws that loosen gun restrictions by 75% in states with Republican-controlled legislatures. We find no significant effect of mass shootings on laws enacted when there is a Democrat-controlled legislature.
Paper Information
- Full Working Paper Text
- Working Paper Publication Date: May 2016 (Revised October 2016)
- HBS Working Paper Number: 16-126
- Faculty Unit(s): Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
