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Abstract
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INTRODUCTION: The number of states with existing Stand Your Ground laws (SYG) have been increasing since Florida first passed this law in 2005. The aims of this study are to investigate the relationship of CCL issuing rates in SYG and non-SYG states on justifiable homicide rates, non-justifiable homicide rates, and gun sales to determine the impact of state policy on gun violence.
Methods: Retrospective cohort study conducted to evaluate the JHR, NJHR, HHR, CCL issue rate, and handgun sales rate with respect to SYG and non-SYG states for the years 2000-2017. A total of 15 SYG and 7 non-SYG states were included in our study.
Results: States with SYG laws exhibited significantly greater JHR (0.1 vs 0.04, p < 0.001), HHR (3.7 vs 2.2, p < 0.001), but not NJHR (4.2 vs 2.2, p = 0.083) per 100,000 than states without SYG laws. SYG states exhibited significantly greater handgun sale rates (4,555.8 vs 2,315.4, p = 0.021), and increased overall CCL (5,234 vs 4,655, p = 0.414) and CCL issue rate (1066 vs 846, p = 0.353) per 100,000 than states without SYG laws. When analyzing handgun sale rate and CCL issuing rate, there was a strong, significant correlation (r=0.974, p < 0.001) per 100,000.
Conclusion: SYG laws were associated with a significant increase in JHR and HHR. The implementation of SYG laws was also found to significantly increase handgun sales rate, the total number of CCL issued, and the issuing rate of CCL when compared with non-SYG states throughout the study period.
Language: en |