Strengthening laws which take guns out of the hands of domestic abusers will help prevent future mass shootings.

Last week a gunman killed 26 and wounded 20 in a Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Like many mass shooters, the gunman, Devin Kelley, had a record of domestic abuse. Sierra Smucker writes that the irrefutable link between domestic abuse and mass shootings means that lawmakers now need to focus on new and stronger measures, as well as strengthening ..

Obama’s executive orders on guns may be more suggestions than policy but we shouldn’t discount the power of executive pressure on state policy making.

President Obama’s recent actions on gun control illustrate just how limited such measures are, despite Republican accusations of ‘executive overreach’. Using the example of gun laws enacted to address domestic violence, Sierra Smucker argues that despite these limitations, the federal attention that such executive directions bring can push states to develop their own legislation to address problems such as gun violence

How North Carolina’s controversial bathroom bill provides a window into the complexities of public policymaking in a federalist system

In March, the North Carolina House of Representatives passed a bill to overturn an earlier non-discrimination ordinance in Charlotte, North Carolina, which had expanded protections for the transgendered. Sierra Smucker writes that the situation shows the complexities of the US federal system, which was established as a compromise between the national government and the states. This federal system allows the states – and even cities and local constituencies – to make their own policies, but these policies can still lead to conflict with the laws and norms of the rest of the country, and the federal government

How the Orlando mass shooting may be the catalyst for a new coalition to overcome the power of the gun lobby

Sunday saw the worst mass shooting in US history, with a gunman murdering 49 people in a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and injuring many others. Sierra Smucker, visiting research student at the US Centre, writes on why we should not expect any gun policy changes following shooting. She does, however, suggest that if leaders in the gun control movement are able to form a coalition with those in the LGBTQ movement, together they may be able to overcome the pro-gun lobby

State initiatives on gun control and the minimum wage mean that a Trump presidency may not be as bad as some fear

As half of the country ponders how they underestimated Trump’s advantage, it is important to remember the state level propositions that passed across the United States last night. Sierra Smucker writes that victories of state ballot initiatives highlight the fact that a Trump victory is not necessarily a sign that American citizens are moving toward a conservative platform. Victories for gun violence prevention policies and minimum wage increases even in states that voted for Trump suggest that Americans are looking for ways to change their immediate circumstance and increase public safety. Shaking up Washington is part of that but that does not mean citizens have rejected the policies that Clinton ran on

Why lawmakers want more guns after yet another mass shooting

After another mass shooting, this time targeting Republican lawmakers, pro-gun politicians argue for more firearms instead of less. Sierra Smucker explains the thought process behind this argument, its historical foundations and its modern-day implications for policy making around guns in the United States

Three more dead in California: why the US political system is to blame

On April 10th the city of San Bernadino in California entered headlines for gun violence once again as a man shot his wife, who was a teacher at a school; and one of her students, before shooting himself. Sierra Smucker argues that this is part of a much wider trend of intimate partner homicides, caused by the country’s grip on the Second Amendment and lax gun laws across states

Donald Trump accepts the presidential nomination for the Republican Party: LSE experts react

Last Thursday evening Donald Trump gave his speech to the Republican National Convention accepting the party’s presidential nomination. We asked LSE’s experts to comment on the speech

Development of the RAND State Firearm Law Database and Supporting Materials

The RAND Corporation launched the Gun Policy in America initiative in January 2016 with the goal of creating objective, factual resources for policymakers and the public on the effects of gun laws. Research in this area has often consisted of cross-sectional studies examining how firearm outcomes differ in a particular year across states with different policies. Many fewer studies have used more-powerful longitudinal research designs for evaluating the effects of gun laws, partly because longitudinal data on most state gun laws are not widely available and are difficult and time-consuming to construct. Therefore, as part of the Gun Policy in America initiative, RAND developed a longitudinal data set of state firearm laws that is free to the public, including other researchers, to support improved analysis and understanding of the effects of various laws. In addition, the database is accompanied by a paper that documents the methods that RAND researchers used to construct the database and provides definitions and other information that will facilitate its use

The Science of Gun Policy: A Critical Synthesis of Research Evidence on the Effects of Gun Policies in the United States, Third Edition

In this report, part of the RAND Corporation's Gun Policy in America initiative, researchers seek objective information about what scientific literature reveals about the likely effects of various gun laws. In the third edition of this report, the authors incorporate more-recent research in their synthesis of the available scientific data regarding the effects of 18 state firearm policies on firearm deaths, violent crime, suicides, the gun industry, defensive gun use, and other outcomes. By highlighting where scientific evidence is accumulating, the authors hope to build consensus around a shared set of facts that have been established through a transparent, nonpartisan, and impartial review process. In so doing, they also illuminate areas in which more and better information could make important contributions to establishing fair and effective gun policies