Mass Shootings and Politician Behavior: Evidence from U.S. State Legislatures

• In Event: Legislative Behavior across the United States

Abstract

The United States leads the world in the number of violent mass shootings that occur each year, yet policy making on gun violence prevention efforts remains stagnant and polarized along party lines. Are legislators responsive to mass shootings? We collect data on roll-call voting records from state legislators and combine it with a unique dataset that assesses all firearm-related bills introduced in the U.S. state legislatures from 2011 to 2022. Using a synthetic difference-in-differences design, we find that the occurrence of a mass shooting within or near a Democratic legislator’s district prompts them to support more restrictive gun control policies, while no such effect is found for Republican members. The magnitude of this effect, however, is not uniform and varies by the extent of media coverage of the shooting. While past work has shown that public opinion is largely stable following mass shootings, our results suggest a different dynamic in legislative behavior, showing responsiveness to such violent and tragic events.

Authors

• Haotian Chen, University of California, Los Angeles

• Jack Kappelman, University of California, Los Angeles