Congratulations to graduate student, Nick Hemauer, on the publication of his article “The Diffusion of State Firearm Regulations” in State Politics & Policy Quarterly. This study examines how firearm regulations spread across the United States between 1991 and 2019, tracking 129 different firearm laws to understand why some states adopt stricter policies while others don’t. The findings highlight that states are most likely to pass new firearm regulations when they’re experiencing high rates of firearm-related suicides and homicides. This suggests that lawmakers tend to respond with restrictive firearm policy when firearm violence becomes a clear public health problem. Additionally, the analysis evidences several other demographic factors that influence states to adopt firearm regulations: having a larger population, a predominantly white population, high rates of firearm ownership, liberal-leaning government leadership, and neighboring states that are also passing similar regulations. Despite rising firearm deaths nationwide, most states have enacted relatively few policies to address this public health issue. This research underscores the state-level factors that produce a public policy response to this phenomenon.
Full article: The Diffusion of State Firearm Regulations | State Politics & Policy Quarterly | Cambridge Core
