Effects of restricting alcohol sales on fatal violence: Evidence from Sunday sales bans

Abstract

IntroductionHomicides and suicides are the second- and third-leading causes of death among young people (aged 10–24) in the US. While a substantial share of these deaths involve alcohol, evidence is needed on whether specific alcohol policies, such as day-based sales restrictions, help prevent these deaths. MethodsWe constructed total and firearm-related homicide and suicide counts by state, year, and day-of-week from the Multiple Cause of Death Micro-data 1990–2019. Repeals of Sunday bans were taken from the Alcohol Policy Information System. Two-way fixed effects Poisson models with standard errors clustered at state-level and population offset control for state, year and day-of-the-week fixed effects and state time-varying covariates. ResultsRepealing Sunday bans is associated with an increase in homicides (IRR=1.125; 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.02–1.24) and firearm homicides (IRR=1.17; 95% CI:1.03–1.33). Analyses by day-of-the-week show significant associations with homicides not only on Sundays, but also other days, consistent with delays in death. There was no significant relationship for suicides. ConclusionRestricting alcohol availability may prove a useful policy tool to reduce homicides, given that day-based restrictions are associated with changes in deaths rather than only shifting across days-of-the-week.