Impulse Purchases, Gun Ownership and Homicides : Evidence from a Firearm Demand Shock

Do firearm purchase delay laws reduce aggregate homicide levels? Using quasi-experimentalevidence from a 6-month countrywide gun demand shock starting in late 2012, we showthat U.S. states with legislation preventing immediate handgun purchases experiencedsmaller increases in handgun sales. Our findings are hard to reconcile with entirely rationalconsumers, but suggest that gun buyers behave time-inconsistently. In a second step, wedemonstrate that states with purchase delays also witnessed 3% lower homicide ratesduring the same period compared to states allowing instant handgun access. We reportsuggestive evidence that lower handgun sales primarily reduced impulsive assaults anddomestic violence