How well do firearm markets comply with firearm restrictions? The Massachusetts Attorney General issued an Enforcement Notice in 2016 to announce a new interpretation of the key phrase “copies and duplicates” in the state’s assault weapons ban. The Enforcement Notice increased assault rifle sales by 1349 (+560%) within 5 days, followed by a reduction of 211 (−58%) over the next 3 weeks. Assault rifle sales were 64%–66% lower in 2017 than in comparable earlier periods, suggesting that the Enforcement Notice reduced assault weapon sales but also that many banned weapons continued to be sold.

The concept of liquidity is complex and multi-dimensional, and has been extensively studied in economic and financial research. To quantify liquidity, researchers have employed a range of proxies, with household income frequently used as a primary indicator of household liquidity. This paper questions the reliability of household income as a proxy for liquidity. By leveraging demographic and shopping behavior data, it provides an alternative estimate of household liquidity and validates this approach by examining the influence of Economic Stimulus Payments on spending behavior. The findings indicate that integrating shopping behavior with demographic data offers a more nuanced and accurate assessment of household liquidity.