Three things to know about gun mortality

 I have three ideas that I am pursuing about the gun problem in the US.

First, being a New York State resident I am proud of the fact that New York is in the top five states with the lowest gun mortality rates and I am curious about the discrepancies in gun mortality rates in the different states in US. One reason among others that New York has a low gun mortality rate is that New York also has a very low suicide rate, the biggest category of gun deaths is suicide as you probably know. I don't know how knowledgeable the general public is of this fact. The public health data is very clear that the possession of guns is one of the biggest predictors of death by a gun. So owning a gun does not make you safe, it puts you at more risk of death by a gun. This fact is not well known enough and perhaps it would improve the chances of not dying by a gun if more people knew this and didn't own guns.

Second, gun safety laws matter and have a significant impact on gun mortality rates. New York State is a good example of this as well as other states with effective gun safety laws. Perhaps more can be done showing the impact that gun safety laws have on gun mortality.

Third, political campaigns have significant financing by gun manufacturers who buy our politicians to pass laws favorable or not pass laws unfavorable to their business and profit. The end to the gun problem in the US would be to decrease the number of guns among the population and to govern their use as we do with automobiles, airplanes, and chemical substances.

The three big ways gun mortality can be decreased is to change social norms and attitudes about gun possession, decrease access to guns, and improve regulatory enforcement of their possession, storage, and use.

Gun mortality in the US: Who Profits?

President Donald Trump continually says that violent crime is out of control in America’s major cities. While his claims aren’t backed by data, his administration continues to cut funding for the programs and research that helped the country recover from record-high levels of shootings, and helped some of those same major cities reach record-low homicide rates. Under Trump, crucial federal funding to combat America’s gun violence crisis is drying up.

But that doesn’t mean the work to end the crisis has stopped. States, cities, and community members across the country are still taking action to reduce shootings — you just might not hear about it from most news outlets.

Enter The Trajectory, a newsletter about the people, policies, and programs grappling with America’s gun violence epidemic. Sign up to receive stories about the people and communities taking action to reduce gun violence, along with the innovative programs and policies that are making a difference. Because America’s gun violence epidemic will never abate if we focus only on the problem — we have to look at potential solutions, too.

Social policies and social programs matter and can make a difference. New York State has the fourth lowest gun mortality rate in the nation because it has some of the nation's best gun safety laws.

The Republicans are heavily supported by gun and weapons manufacturers in the United States who make money by selling guns. If you want to understand what fuels political campaigns find out who is financing them and who the candidate then is beholden to.

When it comes to gun violence you are far safer living in New York than most other states in the Union.

If we are going to solve the gun mortality problem in the United States we must address the source of the problem which is who is profiting from gun sales and who is shaping policy when it comes to gun safety.

New York State ranks fourth lowest in the US in gun deaths

Ranking US on guns per person

 

Is this what they mean by "American exceptionalism?" pic.twitter.com/QW1tk2EXVt

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) July 6, 2022

Evidence Based Social Policy - Guns, Living with a gun owner makes you less safe.

 

Column: Live with a gun owner? Researchers say that makes you less safe https://t.co/7IKmI8QERO #GunSafetyNow

— David Markham (@DavidMa03737241) June 3, 2022

This fact is not widely known and not communicated in the mainstream media. Pass the word so people can know the truth. 

Evidence Based Social Policy - Guns, 5 talking points to counter the pro-gun lobby

 

Evidence based social policy - guns, 100 people in U.S. die every day from guns, over 36,500 per year.

&n

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data notes that just over 100 people, on average, are killed by firearms in the U.S. every day. https://t.co/XqLz6wQFq3 pic.twitter.com/kT61CfufEE

— NPR (@NPR) May 27, 2022

bsp;

Evidence Based Social Policy - guns, Would stricter gun laws have prevented the Buffalo shooting?

 

In 2020, gun violence overtook car accidents as the No. 1 cause of death for American kids and adolescents.

 

In 2020, gun violence overtook car accidents as the No. 1 cause of death for American kids and adolescents.

And while overall firearm-related deaths increased 13.5% between 2019 and 2020, they surged a staggering 30% among children.https://t.co/7rnjulmKmQ

— NPR (@NPR) May 28, 2022

Evidence Based Social Policy - Guns, "The Atrocity Of American Gun Culture" by Jelani Cobb in The New Yorker 05/29/22

Two years ago, a study published in the journal Justice Quarterly examined the effects of gun laws in every state. Emma Fridel, an assistant professor of criminology at Florida State University, looked at gun-ownership rates and the proliferation of concealed-carry laws between 1991 and 2016. State lawmakers pushing for laxer laws have tended to argue that a more broadly armed public would serve as a deterrent to violence. Fridel found the opposite: gun-homicide rates in states with more permissive carry policies were eleven per cent higher than in states with stricter laws, and the probability of mass shootings increased by roughly fifty-three per cent in states with more gun ownership.

The most obvious indicator of the absurdist thinking on this subject can be seen in the fact that the latest massacre happened in Texas, a state that has more than eight thousand gun dealers, and where an estimated thirty-seven per cent of the population owns firearms. Last year, Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill that allowed most Texans to carry handguns without a license or mandatory training. This legislation did not prevent the Uvalde carnage any more than previous legislation allowing easier access to guns prevented the 2019 shooting that killed twenty-three people at an El Paso Walmart, or the 2017 attack in the town of Sutherland Springs, which took the lives of twenty-six worshippers in a rural church.

https://bit.ly/3wXHoHE

Evidence Based Social Policy - Armed School officials does not reduce fatal school shootings

 JAMA Network Open includes a study: "Presence of Armed School Officials and Fatal and Nonfatal Gunshot Injuries During Mass School Shootings, United States, 1980-2019.”

The authors are Jillian Peterson, PhD1; James Densley, DPhil2; & Gina Erickson, PhD1.

Here’s how it opens:

[begin excerpt]

After deadly school shootings at Columbine, Sandy Hook, and Parkland, many states mandated School Resource Officers or provided funding for districts to hire them.1 Lawmakers also considered arming teachers. Florida now requires a law enforcement officer or trained school guardian in every school.2

By examining every recorded incident where one or more people was intentionally shot in a school building during the school day, or where a perpetrator came to school heavily armed with the intent of firing indiscriminately, we examine the association between the presence of an armed officer on scene and the severity of shootings in K-12 (kindergarten through 12th grade) schools.

[end excerpt]

Another excerpt: "This study examined a total of 133 cases of school shootings and attempted school shootings from 1980 to 2019. Perpetrators’ ages ranged from 10 to 53; however, only 16 shooters (11%) were aged 22 years or older. Ninety-four perpetrators (70%) were current students, and 21 perpetrators (15%) were former students. Of all perpetrators, 83 (76%) were White and 148 (98%) were male. Of 121 cases with full information, 57 (47.11%) were targeted shootings. There were 134 shootings, 12 with more than one shooter. A mean (SD) of 1.34 (3.25) people per case were killed and 3.15 (5.06) per case were injured, with a mean (SD) of 1.63 (1.22) weapons per shooting (primarily handguns; 68.66% [92 of 134]). An armed guard was on scene in 23.58% of shootings (29 of 123) (Table 1).”

Here’s how the article concludes: “The data suggest no association between having an armed officer and deterrence of violence in these cases. An armed officer on the scene was the number one factor associated with increased casualties after the perpetrators’ use of assault rifles or submachine guns.  The well-documented weapons effect explains that the presence of a weapon increases aggression.6 Whenever firearms are present, there is room for error, and even highly trained officers get split-second decisions wrong. Prior research suggests that many school shooters are actively suicidal, intending to die in the act, so an armed officer may be an incentive rather than a deterrent.4 The majority of shooters who target schools are students of the school, calling into question the effectiveness of hardened security and active shooter drills. Instead, schools must invest in resources to prevent shootings before they occur."

TO OBTAIN A COPY OF THE ARTICLE: Contact info for reprint requests and questions or other correspondence about this article: Jillian Peterson, PhD, Department of Criminal Justice, Hamline University, 1536 Hewitt Ave, St Paul, MN 55104 (jpeterson68@hamline.edu).

Ken Pope

Ken Pope, Melba J.T. Vasquez, Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, & Hector Y. Adames:

Ethics in Psychotherapy & Counseling: A Practical Guide, 6th Edition (Wiley, 2021)

Evidence based social policy - guns. This is only true in the U.S.

 

a gut-wrenching stat:
the leading cause of death among children in the united states is now guns (stat shows under 19, not exactly children. also true under 18 but closer) pic.twitter.com/k2c7aXGG7A

— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) May 27, 2022