Abstract
Higher availability of firearms has been connected to higher rates of interpersonal violence in previous studies. Yet, those studies have focused mainly on the United States, or used aggregated international data to study firearm violence. Whether those aggregated findings are applicable to understanding the phenomenon in continental Europe specifically remains unclear. The aim of this systematic review is to bring together all studies that exclusively use European data. Nine databases were searched, resulting in more than 1900 individual studies. These studies were assessed on relevance and eligibility for this study, based on their title, abstract and full text. Information on study characteristics, operationalizations of main concepts and study results were extracted from the six eligible studies. Four studies assessed the impact of firearm restrictive regulations on the rate of firearm homicides. Two other studies correlated rates of firearm availability and -violence. Results vary: some studies show a clear decline once availability of firearms is restricted, while others indicate a limited effect on only a very specific subgroup, such as female victims, or national guards with weapons at home. Moreover, studies used various operationalizations for firearm availability, thereby decreasing the comparability of findings. Empirical research exclusively using European data is still lacking. To increase comparability of future studies, methodological inconsistencies and regional gaps need to be overcome. Assessing how firearm availability can be measured with reliable and valid proxies across countries will be a crucial first step to improve future research on the link between firearms and firearm violence.
Highlights
It is estimated that around 7000 people (0.9 per 100.000 population) die of gunshot wounds each year in continental Europe, including suicides, unintentional accidents involving firearms, and criminal homicides [1]
Four studies assessed the impact of firearm restrictive regulations on the rate of firearm homicides
Most research to date focuses on the firearm availability hypothesis, which assumes that an increase in firearm availability leads to an increase in violent crime [5,6,7]
Summary
It is estimated that around 7000 people (0.9 per 100.000 population) die of gunshot wounds each year in continental Europe, including suicides, unintentional accidents involving firearms, and criminal homicides [1]. Member states of the European Union follow the same framework of regulations regarding civilian access to firearms, which leaves room for proportionate national variations between the member states [9, 10] Such national variations between member states seem irreconcilable, given the difference in gun culture not just on a global scale, and amongst European countries, as exemplified by the challenging approval of the 2017 Firearm Directive in the European Council in which Poland and the Czech Republic voted against the amendment for being too strict, whereas Luxembourg wished for harsher restrictions [10]. Europe does differ significantly from the US in terms of existing gun cultures and firearms legislation [11], and in terms of other cultural and socio-economic factors, such as the overall crime rate or levels of inequality [12] Such factors have been found to act as moderators in violent crime rates [13, 14]. The aim of this systematic review is to bring together all studies that exclusively use European data
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