ABSTRACT
The right-to-carry concealed handgun laws-“shall issue” laws-and their possible effects on crime have been the subject of extensive policy and academic debate as more states adopt such laws.1 From 1977 to 1992 ten states passed such laws making it much easier to obtain licenses to carry concealed handguns, and thirteen states adopted this law between 1992 and 1996. These laws are at odds with the recently passed Federal Brady Bill, which is restrictive in terms of gun ownership, reflecting the conflict among various levels of government regarding the role of handguns in violence. Such conflict also extends to academic circles. Some argue the concealed handgun laws increase criminals’ access to guns through theft, overpowering victims, or black market, thus leading to a civil arms race which can only increase crime (Cook (1991), Kellermann et al. (1995), McDowall, Loftin, and Wiersema (1995), Cook and Ludwig (1996), Cook and Leitzel (1996), Hemenway (1997), and Ludwig (1998)). We call this outcome the “facilitating effect” of concealed handgun laws. The supporters of these laws dispute the facilitating effect, maintaining that the effect is opposite. They argue that allowing citizens to carry firearms will increase criminals’ uncertainty regarding an armed response, thus leading to less crime-the “deterrence effect” (Kleck and Patterson (1993), Polsby (1994, 1995), Lott and Mustard (1997) and Lott (1998)).
