ABSTRACT

The policy space occupied by firearms issues is wide and multidimensional. There are several important ways in which the findings of research bear upon the issues, ranging from providing descriptive data on the role of firearms in American life to the direct testing of the efficacy of particular policies for controlling firearms. Whether produced by advocates or by more “neutral” sources, all research on the household possession of firearms shows that around half of American households own some sort of firearms and that about one in four owns handguns. The amount of death, injury, destruction, and generalized terror inflicted in the United States with firearms is a national disgrace—of that, there is no serious question. Firearms filter into the private market from a number of sources, among which American gun manufacturers are an important, but not the sole, supplier.