Is there a way to reduce the risk
of gun violence? Economists aren’t
likely to know the answer, but
they might be able to suggest a
mechanism making it more likely
that the answer can be found. What’s
needed: provide an incentive.
One proposal: impose a special tax
on guns and ammunition, designed so
that the total revenue from the tax
matches the cost to society from
gun violence (medical care, compensation
for lives lost, and police investigative
resources). The important thing is
to make sure that the tax rate is
adjusted annually so that it goes up
or down depending on whether the cost
of gun violence goes up or down. That
will provide an incentive for gun
sellers to find the best way to keep
guns out of the hands of criminals.
The place to start would be to keep
guns away from those with previous
convictions. It would be harder to
prevent a shooting such as the one in
Las Vegas, but it seems that a system
could be developed to identify people
purchasing an unusually large number of
guns (making it unlikely they are
ordinary law-abiding citizens purchasing
a gun for self-defense). I don’t
know what the best system for doing
this would be, but with the right
incentive somebody’s bound to figure
it out.
……………..
–Douglas Downing
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