Abstract
Despite recent calls for increased taxation of firearms, there has been little quantification of the impact that this would have on the market. Using tax receipts and recent estimates of supply and demand elasticities, this paper measures the size of the U.S. gun market at equilibrium, and the effects of current and higher tax rates. Baseline estimates indicate that market equilibrium is $14.11 billion and current taxes reduce sales by 14.5 percent. Taxing firearms at rates comparable to taxes on alcohol would cut sales to roughly three-quarters of equilibrium and increase tax revenue by 58 percent; raising gun taxes to the rate on tobacco would reduce sales to about half of the equilibrium level and double federal tax revenue.
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© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Asymmetric Performance Evaluation Under Quantity and Price Competition with Managerial Delegation
- Incentive-Induced Social Tie and Subsequent Altruism and Cooperation
- University Admission: Is Achievement a Sufficient Criterion?
- Taxing Firearms Like Alcohol or Tobacco
- The Growing Importance of Social Skills for Labor Market Outcomes Across Education Groups
- The Impact of the Affordable Care Act in Puerto Rico
- Strategic Individual Behaviors and the Efficient Vaccination Subsidy
- Is Family-Priority Rule the Right Path? An Experimental Study of the Chinese Organ Allocation System
- Letters
- Real-effort in the Multilevel Public Goods Game
- Initial Payment and Refunding Scheme for Climate Change Mitigation and Technological Development Among Heterogeneous Countries
- Edutainment and Dwelling-Related Assets in Poor Rural Areas of Peru
- Biased Voluntary Nutri-Score Labeling
- Decompositions of Inequality and Poverty by Income Source
- Job Loss and Migration: Do Family Connections Matter?
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Asymmetric Performance Evaluation Under Quantity and Price Competition with Managerial Delegation
- Incentive-Induced Social Tie and Subsequent Altruism and Cooperation
- University Admission: Is Achievement a Sufficient Criterion?
- Taxing Firearms Like Alcohol or Tobacco
- The Growing Importance of Social Skills for Labor Market Outcomes Across Education Groups
- The Impact of the Affordable Care Act in Puerto Rico
- Strategic Individual Behaviors and the Efficient Vaccination Subsidy
- Is Family-Priority Rule the Right Path? An Experimental Study of the Chinese Organ Allocation System
- Letters
- Real-effort in the Multilevel Public Goods Game
- Initial Payment and Refunding Scheme for Climate Change Mitigation and Technological Development Among Heterogeneous Countries
- Edutainment and Dwelling-Related Assets in Poor Rural Areas of Peru
- Biased Voluntary Nutri-Score Labeling
- Decompositions of Inequality and Poverty by Income Source
- Job Loss and Migration: Do Family Connections Matter?