Assessing the Effect of Firearms Regulations Using Partial Identification Methods: A Case Study of the Impact of Stand Your Ground Laws on Violent Crime

Empirical research has struggled to reach consensus about the impact of firearms regulations on crime. Consider, for example, the recent research on Stand Your Ground (SYG) laws that allow a person to use lethal force in selfdefense in places outside of the home without first attempting to retreat. Using repeated cross-sectional data on annual state crime rates, recent studies have examined the impact of these laws on murder and other violent crimes. Unfortunately, this research has been inconclusive, with some studies finding positive effects, others reporting negligible or insignificant effects, and still others concluding that SYG laws decrease violent crime. Lott, for example, concludes SYG laws reduce murder rates by nine percent and overall violent crime by eleven percent, while Cheng and Hoekstra find that these laws increase the