The Only Way to Stop a Bad Guy with a Gun is a Good Guy with a Gun? Testing the ‘Good Guy with a Gun’ Hypothesis in the Context of Mass Shootings

• In Event: Understanding Lethality across Time and Space: Suicide, Murder, and Police Investigations

Abstract

In response to the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, National Rifle Association executive Wayne LaPierre said there was only one solution to mass shootings: “a good guy with a gun.” Advocates of gun control have vehemently rejected this line of argument, and policies that seek to arm potential victims such as The National School Shield, and most recently President Trump’s proposal of arming schoolteachers. Despite the disagreements, the “good guy with a gun” hypothesis has never been tested in the context of mass shootings. This study aims to fill this gap by examining 285 mass shootings that occurred in the U.S. from 1965 to 2016. Using propensity score matching, and difference-in-differences analysis, this study attempts to estimate the average causal effect of gun-use in self-defense in the course of a mass shooting on the number of fatalities, and injured victims.

Authors

• Joel A. Capellan, Rowan University

• Joshua Brownlie, Rowan University