Homicides and Open Usage of Guns: A Case of Louisiana, USA

Abstract

Louisiana is known as the state with the highest per capita murder rate or homicides rates (12.4 per 100,000) among all U.S. states in 2017 for the 29th consecutive year (1989–2017). Despite the fact that the United States of America is known as the leading country in the world security, yet its sub-cities, provinces, and states are battling with security issues regarding internal murder or killing rates or homicides of which Louisiana is not in an exception. Meanwhile, the country has several gun policies, which allow the adult citizens to openly use or hold gun without restrictions. In light of these gun polices in some of the states including Louisiana, this study investigates the relationship between the open usages of gun and murder or homicides rates in Louisiana. The study uses secondary sources of data ranging between 1990 and 2012. The study applies a simple regression and correlation analysis to establish the relationship between open gun use and homicides. The study finds a weak significant positive relationship between the homicides rates and the open usages of gun among adult citizens in the state based on limited data. I therefore, recommend that both the federal and the local or state government should put restrictions on the open usages of guns in order to control the high murder or homicides rates across the provinces, cities, and the states.

Keywords: Homicides, Gun, Murder, Crime, and Regression

DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/82-07