Will gun buyback programs increase the quantity of guns?

Gun buyback programs have become widespread in the United States. This pape r offers a model of gun demand in which people make decisions about gun own ership as they would any other durable consumer good. Two insights are gene rated. First, if the buyback program is unanticipated and never-to-be-repea ted, then the buyback program will reduce gun holdings only temporarily, by affecting the timing of consumption. Second, a repeated buyback program, f ormally analyzed as a permanent buyback program, will actually raise Sun ho ldings, since it permanently lowers ownership costs. Current, repeated buyb acks will therefore have the opposite effect of what buyback proponents int end. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. JEL classification : H30; L68.