Grant Recipient: Stanford University
Principal Investigator(s): John Donohue
Term: 2023 – 2024
Funding: $82,717
Summary: In line with a nationwide trend towards increasingly permissive right-to-carry (RTC) legislation, the 2022 Supreme Court case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen struck down New York’s long-standing law that gave authorities discretion to determine whether an individual had just cause to obtain a concealed weapon permit. While researchers have largely converged on the conclusion that RTC laws increase total crimes committed, there is a lack of understanding of which qualities of right-to-carry regimes are most effective at curbing these public safety concerns.
Policymakers in New York and elsewhere retain flexibility in determining how such a policy is implemented; our analysis aims to identify the causal effect of firearm handling, safety, and competency requirements in the RTC application process on accidental, preventable injuries as well as violent and criminal outcomes.
