NCJ Number
125433
Journal
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: (1990) Pages: 94-98
Date Published
1990
Length
5 pages
Annotation
As an alternative to gun control legislation, which has engendered widespread public opposition, this article suggests that weapons available to public citizens should be redesigned to make them less lethal. The currently high rates of accidental shootings, homicides, and suicides committed with privately owned handguns could be reduced if available weapons were less lethal.
Abstract
Some recommendations for redesigning handguns include improving the trigger-safety mechanism, adding a color coded display to indicate when the gun is loaded, modifying bullets, rethinking electronic weapons including the Taser gun, and producing alternative kinds of ammunition such as tranquilizers or anesthetic bullets. Government could help create less lethal weapons by funding private or public research and development efforts, by promoting such a weapon, and by taxing the sales of current lethal weapons or subsidizing purchases of the less lethal ones. More lethal handguns could possibly be outlawed following development of an alternative weapon. Previous experience indicates that making a product safer can reduce the number of related injuries and fatalities. 15 references.