%0 Journal Article
%T Do Gun Buybacks Save Lives? Evidence from Panel Data
%J American law and economics review
%D 2010
%A Leigh, Andrew
%A Neill, Christine
%V 12
%N 2
%P 509-557
%X In 1997, Australia implemented a gun buyback program that reduced the stock of firearms by around one-fifth (and nearly halved the number of gun-owning households). Using differences across states, we test whether the reduction in firearms availability affected homicide and suicide rates. We find that the buyback led to a drop in the firearm suicide rates of almost 80%, with no significant effect on non-firearm death rates. The effect on firearm homicides is of similar magnitude but is less precise. The results are robust to a variety of specification checks and to instrumenting the state-level buyback rate.<p />
%G 
%I Oxford University Press
%@ 1465-7252
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/aler/ahq013