A comparative study of the preventive effects of mandatory sentencing laws for handgun crimes

The effectiveness of mandatory sentence enhancement for crimes involving guns was examined in case studies of Detroit, MI; Tampa, Jacksonville and Miami, FL; Pittsburg and Philadelphia, PA. When the studies were pooled and the results correlated against crimes not involving guns, the number of homic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of criminal law & criminology 1992-06, Vol.83 (2), p.378-394
Main Authors: McDowall, David, Loftin, Colin, Wiersema, Brian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Crime prevention
Determinate sentences
Firearms
Gun laws
Laws, regulations and rules
Mandatory sentences
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The effectiveness of mandatory sentence enhancement for crimes involving guns was examined in case studies of Detroit, MI; Tampa, Jacksonville and Miami, FL; Pittsburg and Philadelphia, PA. When the studies were pooled and the results correlated against crimes not involving guns, the number of homicides were significantly reduced while the number of robberies and assaults showed no decline. The cities in the study were chosen because they had mandatory sentencing laws, these laws permitted no mitigation of sentence and all three states had advertised the new law.
ISSN:0091-4169