@article{f05ee4693e0b48d6b9d3d92cf6af9d06,
title = "Self-Protection versus Fear of Stricter Firearm Regulations: Examining the Drivers of Firearm Acquisitions in the Aftermath of a Mass Shooting",
abstract = "Discovering causal mechanisms underlying firearm acquisition can provide critical insight into firearm-related violence in the United States. Here, we established an information-theoretic framework to address the long-disputed dichotomy between self-protection and fear of firearm regulations as potential drivers of firearm acquisition in the aftermath of a mass shooting. We collected data on mass shootings, federal background checks, media output on firearm control and shootings, and firearm safety laws from 1999 to 2017. First, we conducted a cluster analysis to partition States according to the restrictiveness of their firearm-related legal environment. Then, we performed a transfer entropy analysis to unveil causal relationships at the State-level in the Wiener-Granger sense. The analysis suggests that fear of stricter firearm regulations is a stronger driver than the desire of self-protection for firearm acquisitions. This fear is likely to cross State borders, thereby shaping a collective pattern of firearm acquisition throughout the Nation.",
keywords = "DSML 5: Mainstream: Data science output is well understood and (nearly) universally adopted, firearm, information theory, mass shooting, media, newspaper, policy, spatial data, symbolic dynamics, time-series, transfer entropy",
author = "Maurizio Porfiri and Roni Barak-Ventura and Mar{\'i}n, {Manuel Ruiz}",
note = "Funding Information: This study is part of the collaborative activities carried out under the programs of the region of Murcia (Spain): “Groups of Excellence of the region of Murcia, the Fundaci{\'o}n S{\'e}neca, Science and Technology Agency” project 19884/GERM/15 and “Call for Fellowships for Guest Researcher Stays at Universities and OPIS” project 21144/IV/19. The work of R.B.V. was funded in part by a scholarship from the Mitsui-USA foundation. M.P. would like to express his gratitude to the Technical University of Cartagena for hosting him during a Sabbatical leave and to acknowledge support from the New York University Research Challenge Fund Program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The authors express their gratitude to Alain Boldini for useful discussion on the topic, to Gianluca Astudillo and Maria Grillo for assistance with the verification of the dataset, and to Jorge Ruiz Lopez for his help with the graphical abstract. Funding Information: This study is part of the collaborative activities carried out under the programs of the region of Murcia (Spain): ?Groups of Excellence of the region of Murcia, the Fundaci?n S?neca, Science and Technology Agency? project 19884/GERM/15 and ?Call for Fellowships for Guest Researcher Stays at Universities and OPIS? project 21144/IV/19. The work of R.B.V. was funded in part by a scholarship from the Mitsui-USA foundation. M.P. would like to express his gratitude to the Technical University of Cartagena for hosting him during a Sabbatical leave and to acknowledge support from the New York University Research Challenge Fund Program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The authors express their gratitude to Alain Boldini for useful discussion on the topic, to Gianluca Astudillo and Maria Grillo for assistance with the verification of the dataset, and to Jorge Ruiz Lopez for his help with the graphical abstract. Conceptualization, M.P. and M.R.M.; Methodology, M.P. and M.R.M.; Software, M.R.M.; Validation, M.P. and R.B.-V.; Formal Analysis, M.P. and M.R.M.; Investigation, M.P. R.B.-V. and M.P.; Data Curation, R.B.-V.; Writing ? Original Draft, M.P.; Writing ? Review & Editing, M.P. R.B.-V. and M.R.M.; Visualization, M.P. and M.R.M.; Supervision, M.P.; Project Administration, M.P.; Funding Acquisition, M.P. and M.R.M. The authors declare no competing interests. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 The Authors",
year = "2020",
month = sep,
day = "11",
doi = "10.1016/j.patter.2020.100082",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "1",
journal = "Patterns",
issn = "2666-3899",
publisher = "Cell Press",
number = "6",
}