The effect of stand-your-ground laws on student achievement

Abstract

Objectives: To examine how “stand-your-ground” (SYG) laws affect children’s academic performance. Methods: We analyze 2008–2018 nationwide school district-level math and reading/language arts (RLA) test scores for 3rd-8th grade students combined with information on SYG laws by state and year. We implement two estimation approaches—two-way-fixed effects and group-time average treatment effects—and conduct analyses stratified by student race (Black, White) and area income level. Results: We find negative effects of SYG on math achievement among all students using both estimation approaches (−0.0377 standard deviation decline, p < 0.001 and −0.0493, p < 0.001). We find adverse effects of SYG on math among White students (−0.0315, p = 0.001 and −0.0312, p = 0.08) and among students in low-income districts (−0.0616, p < 0.001 and −0.0903, p < 0.001). The precision of estimates for the effect on math scores among Black students varies across approaches (−0.0666, p = 0.05, −0.0444, p = 0.48). We estimate negative effects of SYG on RLA achievement in only a subset of models. Conclusions: Our findings suggest SYG laws adversely affect math performance among 3rd-8th grade students. Policy implications: These findings underscore the importance of additional work to understand and quantify the relationship between the nation’s gun policies and children’s academic performance.

Keywords

• Stand-your-ground laws
• Gun policy
• Student achievement
• Child well-being
• Math performance