We estimate several models of handguns and crime based on state-level panel data for 1977–1998 using both General Social Survey data on gun availability and a new measure of handgun prevalence. We find that handguns have a negligible effect on crime. Apparently, there is either no causation...

While few economists analyzed criminal behaviour and the criminal justice process before Gary Becker’s seminal 1968 paper, an enormous body of economic research on crime has since been produced. This insightful and comprehensive Handbook reviews and extends much of this important...

Personal violence, has declined substantially in Europe from 1200-2010. The conventional wisdom is that the state’s monopoly on violence is the cause of this happy result. I find some evidence that does not support this hypothesis. I suggest an alternative hypothesis that could explain at...

Although control variables are the reason for multiple regression, surprising little attention is given to the process of locating and selecting the controls. If important controls are omitted, estimates can be biased and inconsistent whereas using too many controls can reduce efficiency and...

“Shall-issue†laws require authorities to issue concealed-weapons permits to anyone who applies, unless the applicant has a criminal record or a history of mental illness. A large number of studies indicate that shall-issue laws reduce crime. Only one study, an influential paper in the...

In the September 2008 issue of this journal we criticized work by Ian Ayres and John Donohue on the relation between right-to-carry gun laws and crime rates. They replied in the January 2009 issue. Here we respond to their reply.