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A new approach to examining the gun-crime relationship
Carson, J. V., Dierenfeldt, R., & Fisher, D. (2022). Country-level firearm availability and terrorism: A new approach to examining the gun-crime relationship. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 59(4), 449-486. https://doi.org/10.1177/00224278211046255
Objectives: This study examines the association between a country's gun availability and firearm-related terrorism. Methods: Employing data from 140 countries, we assess the possible relationship between a country's rate of suicide by firearm and their count of terrorist attacks involving a firearm through a series of structural equation models. Results: Collectively, we find that there is a positive relationship between gun availability and firearm-related terrorism in 2016 and 2017. However, this result fails our robustness check and is sensitive to the inclusion of the U.S. Conclusion: With important caveats, we believe the U.S. to be unique in terms of both gun availability and terrorism.