Preferences for Firearms and Their Implications for Regulation

This paper estimates consumer demand for (cid:28)rearms with the aim of evaluating the likely impacts of (cid:28)rearm regulations. We (cid:28)rst conduct a stated-choice-based conjoint analysis and estimate an individual-level demand model for (cid:28)rearms. We validate our estimates using aggregate moments from observational data. Next, we use our estimates to simulate changes in the number and types of guns in circulation under alternative regulations. Importantly, we (cid:28)nd that bans or restrictions that speci(cid:28)cally target (cid:16)assault weapons(cid:17) increase demand for handguns, which are associated with the vast majority of (cid:28)rearm-related violence. We provide distributions of consumer surplus under counterfactuals and discuss how those distributions could be useful for crafting policy. preparing results