Articles and Analysis
What’s behind a recent surge in U.S. gun violence — and how to stop it
PBS News Hour, July 7, 2020
What’s behind the recent surge in gun violence? Amna Nawaz talks to Pastor Mike McBride of the Live Free Campaign, a faith-based movement committed to reducing gun violence and ending mass incarceration of people of color, and Thomas Abt of the Council on Criminal Justice and an author of the nationwide homicide study.
Protecting America’s Schools: A U.S. Secret Service Analysis of Targeted School Violence
By the United States Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center, Nov. 2019
This report analyzed K-12 school shootings between 2008 and 2017, looking closely at the motives and behaviors of the attackers, among other details. The report suggests that many of these tragedies could have been prevented and stresses the importance of schools establishing comprehensive targeted violence prevention programs.
Study: More handguns are in the homes of families with children – and kids are dying because of it
By Jorge L. Ortiz and Ashley May, USA Today, Jan. 28, 2018
A study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Pediatrics shows the rate of gun-related mortality among American kids 1-4 years of age nearly doubled from 2006-2016. That’s despite a decrease in the percentage of people in the U.S. who own firearms
By Jaqui Shine, New York Times, Aug. 11, 2018
Americans care about being nice. How do we disagree with our neighbors about guns?
John Paul Stevens: Repeal the Second Amendment
Editorial, The New York Times, March 27, 2018
This weekend’s marches make it clear: To enact real gun control, we need to change the Constitution.
VIDEO: Students Calling for Change After the Parkland Shooting
CBS News, 60 Minutes, March 18, 2018
A group of survivors of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who refer to themselves as the “mass-shooting generation” have made it their mission to bring about gun reform.
“Action Options Against Gun Violence and For Gun Sanity”
B.J. Schlacter, IHM Associate, St. John Fisher Chapel University Parish
IHM Associate B.J. Schlacter put together this list of resources for her parish social justice Group
Five Gun Control Bills That Could Pass Right Now
By Marie Solis, Newsweek, Feb. 22, 2018
As lawmakers debate the best way to prevent another school shooting, dozens of federal gun control bills present potential solutions—but most of them have been stalled in Congress since the country’s last mass shooting, or even the one before it.
We’re All Gun Owners, and Here’s Why
By Reshma Kapadia, Barron’s, Feb. 23, 2108
How Banks Could Control Gun Sales if Washington Won’t
Behold the Reckoning of a Gun Culture in Collapse
By William Rivers Pitt, Truthout, Feb. 24, 2018
It has been 19 years since Columbine, 6 years since Sandy Hook, 5 months since Las Vegas and 4 months since Sutherland Springs. In all that time and after all that blood, the script has not wavered an inch, when it comes to the NRA, the GOP and the mainstream Democratic Party. Can the student activists who survived the Parkland massacre spark a groundswell of change?
As Country Listens to Florida Teens, Black Lives Matter Youths Feel Ignored
By Dahleen Glanton, Chicago Tribune, Feb. 26, 2018
“The young people of Black Lives Matter are hurt. And they have every right to be.”
Another School Shooting, and the Political Script Repeats
By Kelly Hayes, Truthout, Feb. 15, 2018
Yesterday’s school shooting provoked yet another round of rote responses from both conservatives and liberals alike that we know from experience will go nowhere. Until we acknowledge that we are a society that both glorifies and saturates itself with violence, we will never be able to address gun violence in a transformative manner.
It’s Time to End Legal Immunity for the Gun Industry
By Ramsin Canon, Truthout, Nov. 7, 2017
“Guns, like cigarettes, are a public health crisis in the United States: Intentional gun violence, accidents and suicides are rampant. But Congress has effectively exempted the gun industry from liability for the foreseeable misuse of its products. It’s time to demand the same level of accountability from the gun manufacturers as we did from makers of cigarettes.
VIDEO: Extreme Risk Protection Order to Reduce Gun Violence, Protect Michigan Families
Michigan House Democrats, YouTube, June 6, 2017
State Rep. Robert Wittenberg introduced legislation to allow judges to issue protective orders for individuals that law enforcement or family members assert pose a threat. His proposal would target those individuals who pose a clear and present risk of harm to themselves or others, but who are not otherwise restricted from purchasing or possessing guns.
Gun Vote Moves Michigan Closer to Scrapping Training, Permit Rules
By Paul Egan, The Detroit Free Press, May 30,2017
A House Panel approved a controversial package of bills that would allow Michigan residents to carry concealed weapons without obtaining permits or receiving training.
Guns in America: What is Concealed Carry Reciprocity?
By Michelle Gorman, Newsweek, March 3, 2017
This article breaks down national concealed carry reciprocity, including what each side says about the idea.
2016 Gun Law State Scorecard
By The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
How does your state score?
A Congressional Bill Could Allow Veterans Deemed Mentally Incompetent to Own Guns
By Kristine Phillips, The Washington Post, March 22, 2017
A bill moving through Congress could make it easier for veterans who can be considered mentally incompetent to carry a firearm.
Trump Set to Overturn a Mental Health Regulation on Gun Purchases
By Michele Gorman, Newsweek, Feb. 15, 2017
Four Democratic senators and an independent who are up for re-election in 2018 sided with their Republican colleagues by voting to revoke a two-month-old Obama administration gun regulation that prevents certain individuals with mental health conditions from buying firearms.
Compare These Gun Death Rates: The U.S. is a Different World
By Kevin Quealy and Margot Sanger-Katz, The New York Times, June 13, 2016
In most advanced countries, gun homicides are as rare as deaths from falling tree limbs or plane crashes.
Effective Firearms Regulation is Constitutional
By Abner Mikva and Lawrence Rosenthal, New York Times, Feb. 24, 2016
“The principal objection to tough gun laws is that they violate the Second Amendment. Opponents of gun control cite the 2008 Heller decision as proof that the Supreme Court agrees.”
There is reason to doubt the soundness of that opinion. But even if the decision is not reversed, we believe it poses no obstacle for much stronger gun laws.”
Why Guns Don’t Belong In Our Classrooms
tobecomeateacher.org, Dec. 21, 2015
A teacher’s stance on guns in our classrooms.
Sandy Hook Promise: There Will Be Change
Bill Moyers and Michael Winship, Moyers and Company, May 3, 2013
In the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, families in Newtown Connecticut began “The Sandy Hook Promise,” a coalition committed to sensible solutions that can help prevent gun violence.
Restoring Peace: Six Ways Nature In Our Lives Can Reduce Violence in Our World
Richard Louv, The New Nature Movement, Jan. 10, 2013
The natural world has the power to heal human hearts and prevent violence.
Websites
American Psychological Association
APA understands gun violence as an urgent, complex and multifaceted problem, requiring evidence-based, multifaceted solutions. Psychology can make important contributions to policies that prevent gun violence. Toward this end, in Feb. 2013 the American Psychological Association commissioned this report by a panel of experts to convey research-based conclusions and recommendations (and to identify gaps in such knowledge) on how to reduce the incidence of gun violence — whether by homicide, suicide, or mass shootings — nationwide.
American Public Health Association
Gun violence is a leading cause of premature death in the United States. Guns kill almost 30,000 people and cause 60,000 injuries each year. As a longtime advocate for violence prevention policies, APHA recognizes that a comprehensive public health approach to addressing this growing crisis is necessary.
“It’s time for gun manufacturers to do their part to prevent illegal gun sales and to create a new generation of gun safety technologies.”
The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence is a national law center focused on providing comprehensive legal expertise in support of gun violence prevention and the promotion of smart gun laws that save lives. As a nonprofit organization founded by attorneys, the are dedicated to preventing the loss of lives caused by gun violence through educating the public, free of charge, on America’s gun laws and the solutions that will reduce the epidemic of gun violence in this country. Key resources include:
Second Amendment Basics
The 2015 Gun Law State Scorecard
Gun Violence Statistics
Michigan Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence
The Michigan Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence is an affiliate of States United to Prevent Gun Violence. The goal of the Michigan Coalition is to increase public awareness of existing state gun laws, as well as to advocate for the passage of new legislation aimed at reducing gun violence.
States United to Prevent Gun Violence
States United to Prevent Gun Violence is an affiliation of 30 state gun-violence-prevention groups working to make our communities safer through common sense laws and anti-violence education. Through our cooperative efforts, we are building an authentic grassroots movement and are making real progress state by state – and in Washington, DC.
The Trace is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to expanding coverage on guns and gun violence in the United States. Trace believes that our country’s epidemic rates of firearm-related violence are coupled with a second problem: a shortage of information about the issue at large.
Everytown is a movement of Americans working together to end gun violence and build safer communities. Resource provides information, statistics and strategies for action.
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America
Much like Mothers Against Drunk Driving was created to reduce drunk driving, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America was created to demand action from legislators, state and federal; companies; and educational institutions to establish common-sense gun reforms.
An article titled “Gun Violence Is ‘A Problem We Don’t Need to Have’ – The Public Health Approach.”
Huffington Post Gun Violence Page
Provides a series of informative articles on gun violence problems and prevention.
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
The Brady Campaign works to pass, enforce and protect sensible laws and public policy that address gun violence at the federal and state level.