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Homicide and Suicide Rates Associated With Implementation of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act
Abstract
CONTEXT: In February 1994, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act established a nationwide requirement that licensed firearms dealers observe a waiting period and initiate a background check for handgun sales. The effects of this act have not been analyzed. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether implementation of the Brady Act was associated with reductions in homicide and suicide rates. DESIGN AND SETTING: Analysis of vital statistics data in the United States for 1985 through 1997 from the National Center for Health Statistics. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Total and firearm homicide and suicide rates per 100,000 adults (>/=21 years and >/=55 years) and proportion of homicides and suicides resulting from firearms were calculated by state and year. Controlling for population age, race, poverty and income levels, urban residence, and alcohol consumption, the 32 "treatment" states directly affected by the Brady Act requirements were compared with the 18 "control" states and the District of Columbia, which had equivalent legislation already in place. RESULTS: Changes in rates of homicide and suicide for treatment and control states were not significantly different, except for firearm suicides among persons aged 55 years or older (-0.92 per 100,000; 95% confidence interval [CI], -1.43 to -0.42). This reduction in suicides for persons aged 55 years or older was much stronger in states that had instituted both waiting periods and background checks (-1.03 per 100,000; 95% CI, -1.58 to -0.47) than in states that only changed background check requirements (-0.17 per 100,000; 95% CI, -1.09 to 0.75). CONCLUSIONS: Based on the assumption that the greatest reductions in fatal violence would be within states that were required to institute waiting periods and background checks, implementation of the Brady Act appears to have been associated with reductions in the firearm suicide rate for persons aged 55 years or older but not with reductions in homicide rates or overall suicide rates. However, the pattern of implementation of the Brady Act does not permit a reliable analysis of a potential effect of reductions in the flow of guns from treatment-state gun dealers into secondary markets. JAMA. 2000;284:585-591
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“Ludwig and Cooke observed that in the years following implementation of the legislation there was a significantly greater reduction suicides with a handgun by people over the age of 55 years in those states that newly implemented background checks and waiting periods for gun purchase than states in which no changes in procedures were necessary (67).”
From Suicide in older adults (2011) · cites this paper as [67]
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“To address this concern, Ludwig and Cook (2000) examine whether the implementation of the Brady Act, which required that licensed firearms dealers observe a 5-day waiting period and initiate a background check for handgun sales, was associated with a reduction in the suicide rate in the 32 states…”
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“In that year, the Brady Act instituted a federal requirement that FFLs conduct a criminal background check on buyers (25).”
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“In a well-known study, Ludwig and Cook (2000) concluded there was no evidence the Brady Law was associated with a reduction in GMs.”
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“This is referred to as method substitution, and it is particularly common in younger age groups who may be less tied to a single option, e.g., in one study from USA reducing access to firearms only saw an impact on older age groups [85].”
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“Despite the intuitive appeal of this strategy, and the political struggle that surrounded its enactment, evaluations showed that the law had no overall effect on homicide or suicide rates ( Ludwig & Cook, 2000 ).”
BackgroundDescriptive Methods for Evaluation of State-Based Intervention Programs
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Gun ControlPreprint
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To Authors and Peer Reviewers—Thank You
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Suicide guns: why collect this information?
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“Information on whether the victim was the first purchaser and the time interval between purchase of the firearm and the suicide may be important in stimulating the development of more effective efforts to restrict the purchase of guns by persons with a history of mental illness. A history of mental illness is a known…”
BackgroundEffect of the Brady Act on Homicide and Suicide Rates
Marx, J. (2000) · Journal watch · doi:10.1056/em200009190000010
An Intractable Issue? Gun Control in America, 1968-Present
Mardeusz, J. (2016) · Trinity College Digital Repository (Trinity College, Hartford CT)
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Increased Suicide Rate in Young Black Children
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Berkeley Program in Law and Economics
Acuña, M., & Pierre, J. (2006)
Por Quu No Bajan Las Tasas De Criminalidad En Chile?. (Why Do Not Crime Rates Go Down in Chile?)Preprint
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State-Level Firearm Transfer Policy
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“Some research indicates that it is associated with less firearm violence (Ludwig & Cook, 2000), while other work has found no association (e.g., Kleck et al., 2016).”
ResultSuicide among Young African American Males
Crosby, A. E., & Jack, S. P. D. (2018) · Research in race and ethnic relations · doi:10.1108/s0195-744920180000020006 · Cited by 1
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“This is consistent with international evidence from the US (Ludwig & Cook, 2000), Europe (Lewiecki & Miller, 2013; Reisch, Steffen, Habenstein, & Tschacher, 2013), and the United Kingdom (Haw et al., 2004; Lewiecki & Miller, 2013), which collectively demonstrate that tighter gun control policies…”
ResultReducing Violence?: Examining the Impact of Gun Control Legislation in Massachusetts
Iwama, J. (2021) · Justice Quarterly · doi:10.1080/07418825.2021.1985593
Carter, C., & Mahoney, A. (2022) · Behavior and Social Issues · doi:10.1007/s42822-021-00089-5 · Cited by 1
(2000) · Injury Prevention · doi:10.1136/ip.6.4.246
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Coward, A., Plurad, D. S., & Callahan, D. S. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-47006-6_94
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Nanney, J. T., & Constans, J. I. (2024) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-95272-9.00038-3
Have U.S. gun buyback programs misfired?
Ferrazares, T., Sabia, J. J., & Anderson, D. M. (2025) · Journal of Policy Analysis and Management · doi:10.1002/pam.70045
Impact of the Brady Act on Homicide and Suicide Rates
Kleck, G., & Marvell, T. B. (2000) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.284.21.2718-a
Impact of the Brady Act on Homicide and Suicide Rates
Lott, J. R. (2000) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.284.21.2717-b
Impact of the Brady Act on Homicide and Suicide Rates
Wintemute, G. J. (2000) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.284.21.2718-c
Impact of the Brady Act on Homicide and Suicide Rates
Bennett, J. A. (2000) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.284.21.2718-d
Impact of the Brady Act on Homicide and Suicide Rates
Blackman, P. H. (2000) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.284.21.2718-b
Powell, D. (2026) · Journal of Applied Econometrics · doi:10.1002/jae.70035 · Cited by 1
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Boehme, H. M., & Vaughn, P. E. (2026) · American Journal of Criminal Justice · doi:10.1007/s12103-026-09901-7
“Policymakers must adopt and prioritize evaluating gun control tactics that show promise in lowering firearm availability among high-risk individuals, such as background checks (Ludwig & Cook, 2000 ; Wintemute et al., 1999 ).”
Extreme Risk Protection Order Policies and Suicide Risk Among Handgun Owners
Tran, N. T., Zhang, Y., Handy, J., MacAllister, S. A., Miller, M., Pear, V. A., Studdert, D. M., & Swanson, S. A. (2026) · JAMA Network Open · doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.34833
Metadata
- Authors
- Ludwig, J.
- Affiliations
- Georgetown University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ludwig, Jens
- ORCID
- Ludwig, Jens
- Venue
- JAMA
- Publisher
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- Published
- 2000-08-02
- Volume
- 284
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 585
- ISSN
- 0002-9955 (ISSN-L)
- 0098-7484
- OpenAlex
- W2155368426
- Cited by
- 287
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 11.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- JAMA (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Gun Ownership and Violence Research
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Keywords
- firearm homicide, firearm suicide, waiting period, background checks, firearms dealers, gun control legislation, older adults, state comparison
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Commerce, Firearms, Homicide, Humans, Middle Aged, Suicide, United States, Violence
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