More guns, less crime? A dynamical systems approach

Abstract

The laws regulating the ownership and use of firearms by civilians have been debated in several countries. The debate arises because the relations among firearm accessibility, right to self-defense, firearm-related mortality, and violent crime statistics can suggest divergent strategies to combat criminality. Here, a model written in terms of differential equations is proposed to answer the question: do more legal guns mean less crime committed by illegal guns? From this model, the impact of distinct gun-control policies on the rate of gun-related crimes is investigated. It is analytically shown that strong gun-control leads to the minimum number of illegal guns; however, this policy does not assure a crime-free society. Weak gun-control can lead to a crime-free society; however, this policy requires the maximum number of legal guns in the hands of the civil society.