<human>:  Are more store robberies committed with or without a gun?
<bot>:—the federal discount coefficient is positive and statistically significant (0.22) at the 1 percent level. When I control for the federal discount, the PLC coefficient is positive and significant at the 5 percent level. In both models the coefficient for the GCA is negative and significant at the 1 percent level.
The results are consistent with a deterrent effect of firearms, so the GCA may reduce robberies. But the gun controls may reduce the number of people who resist when they are victims of crime, and this effect could be more important than the deterrent effect. My best judgment is that the two effects are about equally important, but more research would be useful."