Using quasi-experiments to evaluate firearm law: comment on Britt et al.'s Reassessment of the D.C. gun law.

A commentary on C.L. Britt et al.'s “A Reassessment of the D.C. Gun Law: Some Cautionary Notes on the Use of Interrupted Time Series Designs for Policy Impact Assessment,” which appears in this issue. Britt et al. raise four issues with regard to the interrupted time series design and its use to st...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Law & Society Review Vol. 30; no. 2; pp. 381 - 392
Main Authors: McDowall, David, Loftin, Colin, Wiersema, Brian
Format: Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell 1996
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Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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Summary:A commentary on C.L. Britt et al.'s “A Reassessment of the D.C. Gun Law: Some Cautionary Notes on the Use of Interrupted Time Series Designs for Policy Impact Assessment,” which appears in this issue. Britt et al. raise four issues with regard to the interrupted time series design and its use to study firearm licensing in the District of Columbia, including the selection of comparison groups, the timing of interventions, the form of intervention models, and the stability of estimates. The writers agree with Britt et al.'s recommendation that researchers expand the range of inquiry but disagree with them when they recommend that researchers restrict it. The writers contend that whereas the District of Columbia study is largely consistent with the available evidence, it does not prove that restrictive handgun licensing will always decrease firearm deaths.