Reducing Gun Violence in America – Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis - Softcover

Webster, Daniel W.; Vernick, Jon S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1421411105 ISBN 13: 9781421411101

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Authors

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.

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.

From the Back Cover

"The rate of firearms homicides in America is twenty times higher than it is in other economically advanced nations. We have got to change that."--From the Foreword by Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City

"Gun violence is a public health issue. This isn't about ideology. It's about human dignity."--Martin O'Malley, Governor of Maryland

"Although gun violence in America falls disproportionately on people of color, it is an epidemic that affects all of us. This book provides solid research relevant to key prevention policies as well as evidence-based recommendations that can begin to solve this national crisis."--David Satcher, 16th Surgeon General of the United States

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 mandatory universal background check system for all persons purchasing a firearm from any seller. - High-risk individuals: Expand the set of conditions which disqualify an individual from legally purchasing a firearm. - Mental health: Focus federal restrictions for persons with serious mental illness on the dangerousness of the individual.- Trafficking and dealer licensing: Appoint a permanent director to the 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.- Research funds: Provide adequate federal funds to the CDC, NIH, and NIJ 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.

Edition details

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1421411105
• ISBN 13: 9781421411101
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176