Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2017
  • Article
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Handgun Waiting Periods Reduce Gun Deaths

By: Michael Luca, Deepak Malhotra and Christopher Poliquin
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Handgun waiting periods are laws that impose a delay between the initiation of a purchase and final acquisition of a firearm. We show that waiting periods, which create a “cooling off” period among buyers, significantly reduce the incidence of gun violence. We estimate the impact of waiting periods on gun deaths, exploiting all changes to state-level policies in the Unites States since 1970. We find that waiting periods reduce gun homicides by roughly 17%. We provide further support for the causal impact of waiting periods on homicides by exploiting a natural experiment resulting from a federal law in 1994 that imposed a temporary waiting period on a subset of states.

Keywords

Gun Policy; Gun Violence; Waiting Period; Injury Prevention; Policy; Safety; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; United States

Citation

Luca, Michael, Deepak Malhotra, and Christopher Poliquin. "Handgun Waiting Periods Reduce Gun Deaths." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114, no. 46 (November 14, 2017).
  • Find it at Harvard

About The Authors

Michael Luca

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

Deepak Malhotra

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • September 25, 2023
    • Wall Street Journal

    Where Have All the Good Men Gone?: Book Review of 'The Two-Parent Privilege' by Melissa S. Kearney

    By: Michael Luca
    • June 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Experimenting with Algorithm Resume Screening

    By: Michael Luca, Jesse M. Shapiro, Adrian Obleton, Evelyn Ramirez and Nathan Sun
    • May 2023
    • Regional Science and Urban Economics

    Gentrification and Retail Churn: Theory and Evidence

    By: Edward L. Glaeser, Michael Luca and Erica Moszkowski
More from the Authors
  • Where Have All the Good Men Gone?: Book Review of 'The Two-Parent Privilege' by Melissa S. Kearney By: Michael Luca
  • Experimenting with Algorithm Resume Screening By: Michael Luca, Jesse M. Shapiro, Adrian Obleton, Evelyn Ramirez and Nathan Sun
  • Gentrification and Retail Churn: Theory and Evidence By: Edward L. Glaeser, Michael Luca and Erica Moszkowski
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College