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Gary Kleck

Professor of Criminology, Florida State University

Areas of Expertise

  • Effects of punishment
  • Deterrence
  • Gun control
  • Victim resistance to crime
  • Violence
  • Crime prevention

Key Findings

  • There were no strong correlations connecting higher punishment rates in a county to higher perceptions of risk to residents of that county. MORE
  • There were no significant differences in criminal and non-criminal responses to perceptions of risk. MORE
  • Of the 90 findings from 41 studies reviewed only four (8%) findings were based on validated measure of gun prevalence used more than five control variables, and correctly used causal order procedures. MORE
  • 17% of the findings were methodologically sound and showed a positive and significant correlation between gun ownership and homicide. MORE
  • Black respondents perceived lower arrests for violent crimes such as homicide, assault, robbery, and burglary than White respondents. MORE
  • Police visibility does not influence the general deterrence of crime. MORE

Biography

Gary Kleck, Professor of Criminology at Florida State University, is an expert in gun control, deterrence, crime control and violence.

Kleck has consulted with the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the National Science Foundation and the Charles E. Culpeper Foundation as well as testified before the U.S. Congress on children, youth and family issues. He has been recognized as one of the Top 25 Criminal Justice Professors in the United States by Forensics Colleges. Kleck is a member of the American Society of Criminology and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

He has been published in numerous academic journals and is the author of Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America, Targeting Guns: Firearms and their Control and Armed: New Perspectives on Gun Control.

Kleck received his Ph.D., M.A. and B.A. in Sociology from the University of Illinois.