Law Commons^™

Is Widespread Gun Ownership Worth The Price Of More Violence?, John J. Donohue

John Donohue

No abstract provided.

The 10-Day Waiting Period Is Reasonable, John J. Donohue

John Donohue

Rarely will the conservative majority on the Supreme Court issue a decision so objectionable that it draws harsh rebukes from sitting conservative, Regan-appointed federal appellate court judges; but 2008's Heller decision, creating an individual constitutional right to keep and bear arms, elicited just that. Jusges Richard Posner and Harvie Wilkinson strongly criticized the decision as an unwise "snow job" of unprincipled rhetoric that violated established principles of constitu­tional interpretation, federalism, and the proper role of thejudiciary in dealing with issues best left to the political branches. The Aug. 22 decision of a federal district court judge in California, who ruled …

Reflections On The Newtown Shooting One Year Later, John J. Donohue

John Donohue

One year has passed since the horrific Newtown school shooting of December 14, 2012, and we have likely learned all that will be known about the tragic events of that day. As we reflect back on the event and the subsequent political and legislative responses, a few points should be noted.

Why The Nra Fights Background Checks, John J. Donohue

John Donohue

"We think it's reasonable to provide mandatory instant criminal background checks for every sale at every gun show. No loopholes anywhere for anyone." Did President Barack Obama say that? No, that's from an advertisement taken out by the NRA in USA Today in 1999.

But a more powerful NRA today is in no mood to follow the slogan of their "be reasonable" ad campaign of 14 years ago. This relatively small group -- the NRA boasts that it has 4.5 million members, which is peanuts compared to the roughly 40 million AARP members -- might have the political power to …

Substance Vs. Sideshows In The More Guns, Less Crime Debate: A Comment On Moody, Lott, And Marvell, John J. Donohue

John Donohue

We are grateful to authors Carlisle Moody, John Lott, and Thomas Marvell (hereafter MLM) for their close attention to our article “The Impact of Right-to- Carry Laws and the NRC Report: Lessons for the Empirical Evaluation of Law and Policy,” which was published in the American Law and Economics Review (Aneja, Donohue, and Zhang 2011), and then re-issued as a National Bureau of EconomicResearch working paper with some substantively unimportant errors corrected (Aneja, Donohue, and Zhang 2012). (Henceforth, we too will use the abbreviation ADZ to refer to our jointly authored work.) We think the attention to this work is …

Outlier Nation: Homicides, Incarceration, Guns And Gun Culture, John J. Donohue

John Donohue

The killing of 20 children and 6 teachers at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut has shaken the nation enough so that the issue of how to combat America’s unusual level of gun violence is now on the agenda for the first time in almost two decades. In 1994, President Clinton succeeded in getting two major gun control measures: 1) a national background check program that was designed to keep guns away from felons and the mentally ill, and 2) a ban on the type of “assault weapons” used by Adam Lanza, the Newtown shooter. Unfortunately, the National Rifle Association …

When Will America Wake Up To Gun Violence?, John J. Donohue

John Donohue

Last night's shooting rampage at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, was a nightmare. Authorities have

already arrested a suspect. Four weapons were recovered in the shooting scene, including a shotgun and two

handguns. Twelve people have been killed, with many more injured. According to law enforcement officials, the

weapons were purchased legally by the suspect in the last six months.

The shooting was senseless. And it makes us think once again about how we can address the horrific problem of

gun violence in America.

Better Laws Might Have Helped In Tucson, John J. Donohue

John Donohue

In an ideal world, stable, cautious law-abiding citizens would have access to guns and others would not. We would like wise regulation and prudent personal decisions about carrying and using guns. Deciding on the elements of wise laws and consumer decisions requires extensive data analysis beyond any single episode, like the horrific killings in Tucson. But this tragedy highlights some relevant issues.

The Impact Of Right-To-Carry Laws And The Nrc Report: Lessons For The Empirical Evaluation Of Law And Policy, John J. Donohue

John Donohue

For over a decade, there has been a spirited academic debate over the impact on crime of laws that grant citizens the presumptive right to carry concealed handguns in public— so-called right-to-carry (RTC) laws. In 2005, the National Research Council (NRC) offered a critical evaluation of the ‘‘more guns, less crime’’ hypothesis using county-level crime data for the period 1977–2000. Seventeen of the eighteen NRC panel members essentially concluded that the existing research was inadequate to conclude that RTC laws increased or decreased crime. The final member of the panel, though, concluded that the NRC_s panel data regressions supported the …

The Impact Of Right To Carry Laws And The Nrc Report: The Latest Lessons For The Empirical Evaluation Of Law And Policy, John J. Donohue, Abhay Aneja, Alexandria Zhang

John Donohue

For over a decade, there has been a spirited academic debate over the impact on crime of laws that grant citizens the presumptive right to carry concealed handguns in public – so-called right-to-carry (RTC) laws. In 2004, the National Research Council (NRC) offered a critical evaluation of the “More Guns, Less Crime” hypothesis using county-level crime data for the period 1977-2000. 15 of the 16 academic members of the NRC panel essentially concluded that the existing research was inadequate to conclude that RTC laws increased or decreased crime. One member of the panel thought the NRC's panel data regressions showed …

More Guns, Less Crime Fails Again: The Latest Evidence From 1977 – 2006, John Donohue, Ian Ayres

John Donohue

No abstract provided.

Yet Another Refutation Of The More Guns, Less Crime Hypothesis – With Some Help From Moody And Marvell, Ian Ayres, John Donohue

John Donohue

No abstract provided.

Guns, Crime, And The Impact Of State Right-To-Carry Laws, John Donohue

John Donohue

No abstract provided.

The Latest Misfires In Support Of The ‘More Guns, Less Crime’ Hypothesis, John Donohue, Ian Ayres

John Donohue

No abstract provided.

Shooting Down The ‘More Guns, Less Crime’ Hypothesis, John Donohue, Ian Ayres

John Donohue

No abstract provided.

The Final Bullet In The Body Of The More Guns, Less Crime Hypothesis, John Donohue

John Donohue

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Concealed-Carry Laws, John J. Donohue

John Donohue

Thirty-three states have “shall-issue” laws that require law enforcement authorities to issue permits to carry concealed weapons to any qualified applicant who requests one—that is, to adults with no documented record of significant criminality or mental illness. A spirited academic debate has emerged over whether these laws are helpful or harmful. While it is fairly easy to list the possible consequences of the passage of these laws, it has not been easy to come to agreement about which effects dominate in practice. Many scholars fear that these laws will stimulate more ownership and carrying of guns, leading to adverse effects …

Nondiscretionary Concealed Weapons Law: A Case Study Of Statistics, Standards Of Proof, And Public Policy, John Donohue, Ian Ayres

John Donohue

No abstract provided.