Development of the RAND State Firearm Law Database and Supporting Materials
ToolPublished Mar 10, 2025
RAND launched its Gun Policy in America initiative in January 2016 with the goal of creating objective, factual resources for lawmakers and the public on the effects of gun policies. Research in this area has often consisted of cross-sectional studies examining how firearm outcomes differ in a particular year across states with different policies. Many fewer studies have used more-powerful longitudinal research designs to evaluate the effects of gun laws, partly because the longitudinal data on states' gun laws are not widely available and are difficult and time-consuming to construct. Therefore, as part of its Gun Policy in America initiative, RAND developed a longitudinal database of state firearm laws that would be made free to the public to support improved analysis and understanding of the effects of such laws. This document presents the methods that RAND researchers used to construct the RAND State Firearm Law Database and provides definitions and other information that facilitates the database's use. This document updates an earlier version with information about new laws and fields that were added to version 4.0 of the database in summer 2021.
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- Release Date: Mar 10, 2025
- Last Modified: Mar 10, 2025
- Version: 5.0
- Copyright: RAND Corporation
- Status: Active
- Document Number: TL-A243-2-v3
Citation
RAND Style Manual
Hoch, Emily, Amy Nabel, Andrew R. Morral, Terry L. Schell, and Sierra Smucker, Development of the RAND State Firearm Law Database and Supporting Materials, RAND Corporation, TL-A243-2-v3, 2025. As of April 30, 2025: https://www.rand.org/pubs/tools/TLA243-2-v3.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Hoch, Emily, Amy Nabel, Andrew R. Morral, Terry L. Schell, and Sierra Smucker, Development of the RAND State Firearm Law Database and Supporting Materials. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2025. https://www.rand.org/pubs/tools/TLA243-2-v3.html.
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The research described in this report was funded by a grant from Arnold Ventures and conducted by the Justice Policy Program within RAND Social and Economic Well-Being.
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