Gun laws can make a difference: Among the many issues in the presidential campaign: Should the government tighten gun ownership laws? Research from Columbia University shows that there is good reason to do just that.
Gun violence tends to decline after countries pass restrictions on gun purchasing and ownership, according to new research. The review involved 130 studies conducted from 1950 to 2014 in 10 countries that had overhauled gun laws. Researchers found evidence of reduction in the firearm death rates in most of the countries after the laws were enacted, a university news release said.
The study, published in the February issue of Epidemiologic Reviews, did not prove conclusively that restrictions reduce gun deaths. But researchers found that specific laws -- background checks and rules on storage -- can reduce certain kinds of gun deaths, such as intimate partner homicides and unintentional deaths in children.
Laws that allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons or so-called “stand-your-ground” laws either had no effect or increased gun violence. The countries studied included the U.S., Australia, Austria, Brazil, Colombia and South Africa. Julian Santaella-Tenorio, a doctoral student in Epidemiology at Columbia University's Mailman School, is the study's lead author.
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