This week, Professor Topher McDougal at the Kroc School released an article examining new research conducted on firearm markets in the United States. The article titled, Modeling the U.S. Firearms Market: The Effects of Civilian Stocks, Legislation, and Crime, was written in collaboration with Professors Jurgen Brauer of Chulalongkorn University and Daniel Montolio of the University of Barcelona.
By modeling the U.S. firearms market with econometrics for the first time, their research shows among other things that the demand curve is U-shaped — meaning that past a certain point, more firearms on the market actually increases demand and may generate some new market demand in a positive feedback loop. Additionally, they find that other than the 10-year assault weapons ban (‘94-’04), federal firearms legislation does not influence firearms sales and that violent crime, including homicide and mass shootings, boosts domestic sales.