Reducing Gun Violence in America
Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis
Published on 25. March 2013
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-1-4214-1110-1 (ISBN)
Description
The staggering toll of gun violence - which claims 31,000 U.S. lives each year - is an urgent public health issue that demands an effective evidence-based policy response. The Johns Hopkins University convened more than 20 of the world's leading experts on gun violence and policy to summarize relevant research and recommend policies that are both constitutional and have broad public support. Collected for the first time in one volume, this reliable, empirical research and legal analysis will help lawmakers, opinion leaders, and concerned citizens identify policy changes to address mass shootings, along with the less-publicized gun violence that takes an average of 80 lives every day.
Selected recommendations include: Background checks: establish a universal background check system for all persons purchasing a firearm from any seller; High-risk individuals: expand the set of conditions that disqualify an individual from legally purchasing a firearm; Mental health: focus federal restrictions on gun purchases by persons with serious mental illness on the dangerousness of the individual; Trafficking and dealer licensing: appoint a permanent director to ATF and provide the agency with the authority to develop a range of sanctions for gun dealers who violate gun sales or other laws; Personalized guns: provide financial incentives to states to mandate childproof or personalized guns; Assault weapons and high-capacity magazines: ban the future sale of assault weapons and the future sale and possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines. It also include Research funds: provide adequate federal funds to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and National Institute of Justice for research into the causes and solutions of gun violence.
The book includes an analysis of the constitutionality of many recommended policies and data from a national public opinion poll that reflects support among the majority of Americans - including gun owners - for stronger gun policies.
Selected recommendations include: Background checks: establish a universal background check system for all persons purchasing a firearm from any seller; High-risk individuals: expand the set of conditions that disqualify an individual from legally purchasing a firearm; Mental health: focus federal restrictions on gun purchases by persons with serious mental illness on the dangerousness of the individual; Trafficking and dealer licensing: appoint a permanent director to ATF and provide the agency with the authority to develop a range of sanctions for gun dealers who violate gun sales or other laws; Personalized guns: provide financial incentives to states to mandate childproof or personalized guns; Assault weapons and high-capacity magazines: ban the future sale of assault weapons and the future sale and possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines. It also include Research funds: provide adequate federal funds to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and National Institute of Justice for research into the causes and solutions of gun violence.
The book includes an analysis of the constitutionality of many recommended policies and data from a national public opinion poll that reflects support among the majority of Americans - including gun owners - for stronger gun policies.
Reviews / Votes
A masterful, timely, data-driven edited volume on gun control policy options in the U.S. The contributors use a public health lens to examine gun violence and explore issues ranging from mental health concerns to suicide... The strength of this book is the mixed-method approach in compiling information on many policy options related to gun control, which utilizes case studies and quantitative evidence to make the case for policy change... The contributors are optimistic and lay out concrete policy options in ways that are both sophisticated and easily accessible to all. Choice An anthology of studies, condensing and summarizing the actual state of our knowledge about the subject of gun violence in this country-what real, tested social science shows. -- Adam Gopnik New Yorker Surprisingly accessible and startlingly grim. Thankfully, the editors have done an excellent job organizing the material, which moves from current policy shortcomings to proposals for federal reforms. The debate that's raging might leave you feeling hopeless, which this book suggests otherwise. -- John Lewis Baltimore Magazine This is a 'must' for any concerned about gun control. Midwest Book Review We've all heard the saying that when arguing we should 'disagree without being disagreeable' but, when it comes to guns, we often find ourselves disagreeing without actually disagreeing. Most Americans believe in some kinds of gun control. Most Americans recognize the 'right to bear arms'. Most agree that expanded background checks can be useful in keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous or irresponsible people. Considering that there is so much agreement on basic policy, what the gun debate desperately needs is sober clear-headed analysis. Reducing Gun Violence in America edited by Daniel Webster contributes greatly to this need. -- Shawn Hamilton New Books in Public PolicyMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Baltimore, MD
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 228 mm
Width: 151 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
448 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4214-1110-1 (9781421411101)
DOI
10.1353/book.21475
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Daniel W. Webster | Jon S. Vernick
Reducing Gun Violence in America
Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis
E-Book
03/2013
Johns Hopkins University Press
€8.99
Available for download
Persons
Daniel W. Webster, ScD, MPH, is a professor of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he serves as Director of the Center for Gun Policy and Research, Deputy Director of Research for the Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence, and Director of the PhD program in Health and Public Policy. He has published numerous articles on the prevention of gun violence, firearm policy, youth gun acquisition and carrying, intimate partner violence, and the prevention of youth violence. Jon S. Vernick, JD, MPH, is an associate professor of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research. He is committed to translating research findings into policy change, regularly working with legislators, media, courts, and advocates to provide information about effective policies.
Content
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I: Gun Policy Lessons From the United States: Keeping Guns From High-Risk Individuals
Chapter 1. Firearms and Violent Death in the United States
Chapter 2. The Limited Impact of the Brady Act: Evaluation and Implications
Chapter 3. Preventing Gun Violence Involving People with Serious Mental Illness
Chapter 4. Evidence for Optimism: Policies to Limit Batterers' Access to Guns
Chapter 5. Reconsidering the Adequacy of Current Conditions on Legal Firearm Ownership
Chapter 6. Broadening Denial Criteria for the Purchase and Possession of Firearms: Need, Feasibility, and Effectiveness
Chapter 7. Comprehensive Background Checks for Firearm Sales: Evidence from Gun Shows
Chapter 8. Preventing the Diversion of Guns to Criminals throughEffective Firearm Sales Laws
Chapter 9. Spurring Responsible Firearms Sales Practices through Litigation: The Impact of New York City's Lawsuits against Gun Dealers on Interstate Gun Trafficking
Chapter 10. Curtailing Dangerous Sales Practices by Licensed Firearm Dealers: Legal Opportunities and Obstacles
Part II: Making Gun Laws Enforceable
Chapter 11. Enforcing Federal Laws against Firearms Traffickers: Raising Operational Effectiveness by Lowering Enforcement Obstacles
Part III: Gun Policy Lessons From the United States: High-Risk Guns
Chapter 12. America's Experience with the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, 1994- 2004: Key Findings and Implications
Chapter 13. Personalized Guns: Using Technology to Save Lives
Part IV: International Case Studies of Responses to Gun Violence
Chapter 14. Gun Control in Great Britain aft er the Dunblane Shootings
Chapter 15. Rational Firearm Regulation: Evidence- based Gun Laws in Australia
Chapter 16. The Big Melt: How One Democracy Changed aft er Scrapping a Third of Its Firearms
Chapter 17. Brazil: Gun Control and Homicide Reduction
Part V: Second Amendment
Chapter 18. The Scope of Regulatory Authority under the Second Amendment
Part VI: Public Opinion on Gun Policy
Chapter 19. Public Opinion on Proposals to Strengthen U.S. Gun Laws: Findings from a 2013 Survey Consensus Recommendations for Reforms to Federal Gun Policies
Biographies of Contributors
Index
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I: Gun Policy Lessons From the United States: Keeping Guns From High-Risk Individuals
Chapter 1. Firearms and Violent Death in the United States
Chapter 2. The Limited Impact of the Brady Act: Evaluation and Implications
Chapter 3. Preventing Gun Violence Involving People with Serious Mental Illness
Chapter 4. Evidence for Optimism: Policies to Limit Batterers' Access to Guns
Chapter 5. Reconsidering the Adequacy of Current Conditions on Legal Firearm Ownership
Chapter 6. Broadening Denial Criteria for the Purchase and Possession of Firearms: Need, Feasibility, and Effectiveness
Chapter 7. Comprehensive Background Checks for Firearm Sales: Evidence from Gun Shows
Chapter 8. Preventing the Diversion of Guns to Criminals throughEffective Firearm Sales Laws
Chapter 9. Spurring Responsible Firearms Sales Practices through Litigation: The Impact of New York City's Lawsuits against Gun Dealers on Interstate Gun Trafficking
Chapter 10. Curtailing Dangerous Sales Practices by Licensed Firearm Dealers: Legal Opportunities and Obstacles
Part II: Making Gun Laws Enforceable
Chapter 11. Enforcing Federal Laws against Firearms Traffickers: Raising Operational Effectiveness by Lowering Enforcement Obstacles
Part III: Gun Policy Lessons From the United States: High-Risk Guns
Chapter 12. America's Experience with the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, 1994- 2004: Key Findings and Implications
Chapter 13. Personalized Guns: Using Technology to Save Lives
Part IV: International Case Studies of Responses to Gun Violence
Chapter 14. Gun Control in Great Britain aft er the Dunblane Shootings
Chapter 15. Rational Firearm Regulation: Evidence- based Gun Laws in Australia
Chapter 16. The Big Melt: How One Democracy Changed aft er Scrapping a Third of Its Firearms
Chapter 17. Brazil: Gun Control and Homicide Reduction
Part V: Second Amendment
Chapter 18. The Scope of Regulatory Authority under the Second Amendment
Part VI: Public Opinion on Gun Policy
Chapter 19. Public Opinion on Proposals to Strengthen U.S. Gun Laws: Findings from a 2013 Survey Consensus Recommendations for Reforms to Federal Gun Policies
Biographies of Contributors
Index