A 2017 study in the "Journal of Human Resources" found that Stand Your Ground laws led to an increase in homicides and hospitalizations related to firearm-inflicted injuries. The study estimated that at least 30 people died per month due to the laws. A 2013 study in the "Journal of Human Resources" found that Stand Your Ground laws in states across the U.S. "do not deter burglary, robbery, or aggravated assault. In contrast, they lead to a statistically significant 8 percent net increase in the number of reported murders." A 2016 study in the "Social Science Journal" found that stand-your-ground laws were not associated with lower crime rates. A 2016 study in the "Journal of the American Medical Association" compared homicide rates in Florida following the passage of its "stand your ground" self-defense law to the rates in four control states, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Virginia, which have no similar laws. It found that the law was associated with a 24.4% increase in homicide and a 31.6% increase in firearm-related homicide, but no change in rates of suicide or suicide by firearm, between 2005 and 2014. It noted that, "unique to Florida may have contributed to our findings, including those that we could not identify," and "[our study examined the effect of the Florida law on homicide and homicide by firearm, not on crime and public safety". The study was criticized by researcher and gun rights advocate John Lott, for studying only one state and focusing on a narrow definition of effectivness. Studies conducted by Lott’s Crime Prevention Research Center found that the loosening of restrictions on defensive gun use, including “stand your ground laws”, led to a decrease in crime overall. Gun rights activist Andrew Branca was critical of the AMA study for not distinguishing between justifiable homicides and murder, and for relying solely on statutory laws while overlooking case law (i.e. Virginia) in determining the data set. The study's methodology was defended by Duke University professor Jeffrey Swanson for its use of other states as controls, saying "hey look at comparable trends in states that didn't pass the law and don't see the effect.".