Publications [#266448] of Philip J. Cook

Journal Articles

1. Cook, PJ, The Effect of Gun Availability on Violent Crime Patterns, in Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 455 no. 1 (May, 1981), pp. 63-79, SAGE Publications, ISSN 0002-7162 (and in Federal Regulation of Firearms (A Report prepared by Congressional Research Service for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee) USGPO, May 1982; and in Neil Alan Weiner, Margaret A. Zahn and Rita J. Sagi, eds., Violence: Patterns, Causes, Public Policy (San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1990.) [doi]
   (last updated on 2024/04/25)

   Abstract:
   Social scientists have started to find answers to some of the questions raised in the ongoing debate over gun control. The basic factual issue in this debate concerns the effect of gun availability on the distribution, seriousness, and number of violent crimes. Some evidence is available on each of these dimensions of the violent crime problem. The distribution of violent crimes among different types of victims is governed in part by the "vulnerability pattern" in weapon choice. The seriousness of robbery and assault incidents is influenced by weapon type, as indicated by the objective dangerousness and instrumental violence pattern. A reduc tion in gun availability would cause some weapon substitution and probably little change in overall robbery and assault rates—but the homicide rate would be reduced.