The Law: The Guns of Boston

"Nobody can get you out," warned the TV spots announcing Massachusetts' new Bartley-Fox law. It imposed a mandatory one-year sentence for those caught carrying guns away from their homes or places of business without the necessary permits. Because registration requirements were unchanged, even gun clubs joined in supporting the law which went into effect April 1, 1975. And up to a point it worked: 100,000 gun owners "living in sin" rushed to get authorization for their weapons that first month—ten times the usual number. But what was the effect on the crime rate?

The first answers have just come from a study...

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