Global Real Estate Capital Markets Chair at the Leeds School of Business at CU Boulder and IBS Fellow, Stephen Billings has received the Greenwald Award for Excellence in Research on Firearm Violence Prevention. The award recognizes his pioneering research on the correlation between increased legal concealed carry of firearms and increases in firearm violence.
“I think this award is important to help promote the important research around gun violence that is going on across the country. It is an area that has consistently been underfunded and this type of recognition will help scholars recognize the importance of gun policy research in the US. I am hoping to continue to contribute to our understanding of policies that can lower gun violence.”
– Stephen Billings
Using a comprehensive dataset from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Billings’ research shows that individuals who obtain a concealed handgun permit experience higher rates of property crime, including an increase in firearm theft. These findings were published in June 2023 in the paper, “Smoking Gun? Linking Gun Ownership to Crime Victimization” in the Journal of Public Economics.
Billings found that obtaining a concealed carry permit increased residents’ risk of crime victimization by 46%, an effect driven by a 268% increase in the risk of having a gun stolen. The paper showed that each new concealed carry permit led to a 2% increase in neighborhood crime rates and a 8% increase in crimes involving firearms. By establishing a causal link between legal gun carrying and the unintended distribution of guns into illegal markets, Billings’ paper provides credible evidence to explain how the prevalence of concealed weapons contributes to neighborhood-level violent crime involving firearms.
“There has been mounting evidence that permissive concealed carry laws are associated with increased violent crime,” Dr. Billings said, “but it has not been clear how concealed carry and violence are linked. My paper provides evidence that guns owned by new concealed carry permitholders are being stolen at high rates, and so are entering criminal markets where they are likely to be used in violent crimes.”
The Greenwald Award recognizes a research paper published in the last two years that both advances understanding of firearms violence and prevention and provides clear implications for policy development. Awardees are selected by an independent panel of judges and receive a $5,000 prize. The Greenwald Award is presented by the Research Society for the Prevention of Firearm-Related Harms and sponsored by the Greenwald Family Impact Foundation.
