Effects of Restrictive Licensing of Handguns on Homicide and Suicide in the District of Columbia

The effects of a 1976 law which restricted civilian access to handguns in the District of Columbia were evaluated. The adoption of the law coincided with an abrupt decline in Washington, D.C. in both homicides & suicides by firearms. No such decline was observed in homicides or suicides committed by other means, nor were there similar reductions in adjacent metropolitan areas in Maryland & Virginia. Data suggests that an average of 47 deaths were prevented each year after 1976. (30 refs.)