Examining the effect of campus carry legislation on university crime rates

• In Event: Exploring the role of contextual and legal factors influencing interpersonal gun violence

Abstract

Following the Bruen decision, may-issue concealed carry laws are under attack, and
with the growing concern of school shootings, some have argued that CCW on
campuses as a viable solution to deter potential shooters. Therefore, as more states
pass campus carry legislation, it is imperative to understand the implications it has on
campus crime rates. While there is a large body of literature on concealed carry
legislation more broadly, only a handful of prior studies have focused on crime rates and
campus carry in particular, and none has controlled for institutional characteristics that
may confound results. By using a cross-sectional negative binomial regression panel
model with two-way fixed effects, we will examine the impact of campus carry legislation
on the incidence rates of violent and property crime across U.S. colleges and
universities from 2001 to 2021. We expect that campus carry laws will impact
institutions’ crimes rates; specifically, institutions in states with campus carry laws will
have higher violent and property crime in comparison to institutions in states without
campus carry laws.

Authors

• Antonia M. La Tosa, Florida State University

• Emma Fridel, Florida State University