The rate of death caused by shooting in an one-against-one attack, as a function of the gun control policy, , where corresponds to a ban of private firearm possession, and to the “gun availability to all” policy.

Abstract

<p>(a) The fraction of people who possess the gun and have it with them when attacked is relatively low, with . The different lines correspond to different values of . For all values of , the shooting death rate is minimal for . (b) The fraction of people who possess the gun and have it with them when attacked is relatively high, with . As long as condition (5) holds, the shooting death rate is minimal for (ban of private firearm possession, solid lines). If condition (5) is violated, then the shooting death rate is minimized for (“gun availability to all”, dashed lines).</p