causes and effects of gun violence essay

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Address Gun Violence by Going After the Root Causes

Gun violence has an outsized impact on Black communities. Solutions must prioritize economic and social justice, not inequitable retribution.

• Social & Economic Harm
• Second Amendment

After two weeks marred by numerous mass shootings, the air rings again with calls for gun reform in the United States. These calls, though, differ from past calls for reform: we have today a president and Congress inclined to act.

On April 8, President Biden issued a series of executive orders tightening restrictions on untraceable “ ghost guns ,” publishing a model for state red flag legislation, directing the Justice Department to study and report on gun trafficking, and ordering 26 programs to leverage existing grants to combat community violence.

Biden’s responses to these recent mass shootings are, to be sure, laudable. But they do not go far enough. While restricting access to guns will save lives, the president and Congress must home in on the circumstances that breed crime and violence — insufficient economic opportunity and lacking social mobility — to truly tackle the epidemic of gun violence ravaging this country. It has gotten even worse during the pandemic, triggering an increased police response.

The United States reports the 28th highest rate of gun deaths in the world, with an average of 39 people shot and killed by another person daily. Most of these homicides are instances of daily gun violence, not mass shootings which make up less than 1 percent of all U.S. gun deaths. Black Americans make up the largest share of those killed by guns, suffering nearly 10 times more gun homicides and 15 times more gun assaults than white Americans. This disproportionate impact cannot be divorced from institutional racism: studies have found that segregation , gender hierarchy , disinvestment, and poverty all increase the risk of homicide victimization for Black people.

How to confront daily gun violence differs from how to confront mass shootings. Many mass shootings could have been prevented by commonsense gun reforms, such as background checks, mandatory waiting periods, assault weapons bans, age limits, and red flag laws. In Charleston, South Carolina , for instance, the shooter received his gun without completing a background check due to the “ Charleston Loophole .” In Atlanta , to take another example, the shooter purchased his gun on the same day he committed the shootings. And in Parkland, Florida , the shooter bought an AR-15 at 18-years-old despite multiple police reports about his troubling behavior.

Such straightforward policies, however, are powerless to stem the tide of daily gun violence. When a person obtains a firearm illegally, waiting periods cannot prevent shootings, nor can background checks guarantee the legality of future behavior. And assault weapons bans cannot prevent the thousands of homicides by handgun.

Previous federal attempts to confront daily gun violence have relied heavily on the criminal legal system, and all have failed to significantly decrease gun homicides. In 2020, President Trump launched Operation Legend , a nine-city law enforcement initiative to address violent crime, resulting in over 2,000 arrests within its first two months. In 2016 , President Obama issued executive orders calling on state attorneys general to focus on prosecuting gun trafficking and violent offenders of gun crimes.

These attempts to address daily gun violence erred by depending on a racist and otherwise biased criminal legal system to address a problem that is perpetuated by inequality. Gun violence and mass incarceration are both propagated and reinforced by policies that punish lower income communities of color . In other words, the solution to one problem cannot be achieved by exacerbating the other.

Instead, reforms should prioritize addressing the root causes of gun violence in addition to limiting access to firearms through common sense reforms. The World Health Organization and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice both released similar recommendations to reduce violence without reliance on incarceration. Among the notable proposals are changing cultural and social norms around violence and promoting prosocial bonds. They also include identifying and supporting victims with the aim of preventing reoccurring violence, mitigating financial stress, and engaging youth.

Biden’s recent executive orders take steps to address some of these recommendations by directing federal agencies to leverage existing grants for community violence intervention programs. This funding will support restorative, community-oriented programs like group violence intervention and hospital-based intervention — strategies that develop anti-violence norms among peers by identifying individuals at high risk for committing gun crimes and connecting potential offenders with social services.

However, the funding from Biden’s executive orders is just a drop in the bucket compared to what is needed to significantly reduce daily gun violence. To adequately support community violence intervention, Congress must pass the American Jobs Plan which allocates $5 billion over eight years to community violence prevention programs and billions more to improving schools, expanding access to higher education, making homeownership more affordable, providing job training to young people, and promoting equitable infrastructure development.

If Congress wants to reduce gun homicides, it must address economic inequality and pass the American Jobs Plan with full funding. Furthermore, Congress should consider investing in neighborhood greening and cleaning initiatives, substance use treatment , co-responder models to minimize police interactions, and targeted welfare programs to reduce poverty.

Incorporating economic justice into violence prevention policy is a necessary step, and legislators should be cognizant of the preventative potential of policies like the American Jobs Plan. Gun violence is a distinctively American crisis, and the costs of pursuing incremental, limited-scope reforms are simply too great.

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Gun Violence - Essay Samples And Topic Ideas For Free

Gun violence refers to acts of violence committed with the use of firearms. Essays might discuss the causes and consequences of gun violence, the debate around gun control policies, the impact of gun violence on communities, and comparisons of gun violence and gun control measures across different countries. A substantial compilation of free essay instances related to Gun Violence you can find at PapersOwl Website. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

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How To Write an Essay About Gun Violence

Introduction to the issue of gun violence.

Gun violence is a pressing issue in today's society, affecting countless lives and communities. When setting out to write an essay on this topic, it's crucial to first establish a comprehensive understanding of what gun violence entails. This involves not just looking at the statistics and incidents of shootings, but also understanding the various forms of gun violence – from mass shootings to domestic incidents and suicides. The introduction of your essay should present the topic's relevance and urgency, outlining the scope of the issue and its impact on society. This stage is about laying the groundwork for your argument, identifying the key aspects of gun violence that you will explore in the rest of your essay.

Developing Your Argument

The body of your essay should be dedicated to developing a well-structured argument. Start by defining your thesis statement clearly. What aspect of gun violence are you focusing on? Are you examining its causes, the effectiveness of gun control laws, or the societal impact of gun-related incidents? Each paragraph should tackle a specific point that supports your thesis, with evidence and examples to back up your claims. This might include data on gun violence rates, analysis of legislation and its effectiveness, or case studies of particular incidents. It's also important to consider and address counterarguments, as this demonstrates a thorough understanding of the topic and strengthens your own position.

Ethical and Societal Implications

An essay on gun violence should also delve into the ethical and societal implications of the issue. This is where you can explore the broader context of gun violence, such as its impact on public health, the ethical debates surrounding gun ownership and rights, and the societal factors that contribute to the prevalence of gun violence. Discuss the balance between individual rights and public safety, the role of mental health, and the impact of cultural and societal norms around guns. This part of the essay challenges readers to think beyond the immediate effects of gun violence and consider the larger societal structures that enable it.

Concluding the Discussion

In your conclusion, bring together all the threads of your argument, reaffirming your thesis and summarizing the key points you've discussed. This is your opportunity to leave a lasting impression on the reader. You might want to reflect on the broader implications of gun violence for future societal and legislative changes. Suggest possible solutions or areas for further research, and encourage your readers to think critically about their stance on gun violence. A strong conclusion will not only wrap up your essay neatly but will also provoke further thought and discussion on this critical issue.

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Introduction

• Why non-carceral community-based investments are key for preventing gun violence
• How state and local leaders are leveraging ARP funds to invest in non-carceral safety strategies
• Recommendations from the field: Maximizing ARP funds to promote holistic community safety

In June 2022, the most significant piece of gun violence prevention legislation in decades, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act , became law. Alongside several common-sense gun regulations, the law allocates $250 million for community-based violence prevention initiatives—a promising step toward promoting safety through non-carceral and community-centered approaches. 1  

This federal action is important, but it only scratches the surface of what can be done to keep communities safe from gun violence. From investing in youth employment programs to revitalizing vacant lots to improving the quality of neighborhood housing, a wealth of community-based safety interventions are proven to reduce violent crime—including gun violence—in the places most impacted by it, and tackle the conditions of inequality that allow violence to concentrate in the first place. 2 But far too often, these community-based interventions are under-funded, particularly when compared to more punitive approaches. 3

Luckily, another source of federal aid can fund community-based safety investments: the American Rescue Plan’s (ARP) $350 billion in Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. In addition to helping states and localities recover from the pandemic, the funds also provide local leaders with an unparalleled opportunity to address the public health crisis of gun violence. Indeed, President Joe Biden recently called on state and local leaders to use portions of this funding to address gun violence, including by “expanding evidence-based community violence intervention programs, and preventing crime by making our neighborhoods stronger with more educational and economic opportunities.” 4    

This research brief documents how state and local leaders are leveraging ARP funds to invest in non-carceral community-based safety initiatives; presents perspectives and case studies from leaders on-the-ground innovating on such strategies; and offers recommendations for how state and local leaders can maximize ARP funds to promote community safety prior to 2024 (when all funds must be obligated) and 2026 (when all funds must be spent). This is an unparalleled—and time-limited—window of opportunity, and states and localities should be thinking strategically right now about how to not only invest in proven strategies to reduce gun violence, but also promote life-affirming safety investments that  support thriving communities. 

Why non-carceral community-based investments are key for preventing gun violence 

Despite news headlines to the contrary, the U.S. is not in the midst of a crime wave . But it is experiencing an unprecedented and alarming increase in murders, driven largely by gun homicides. 5 Between 2019 and 2020, murder rates nationwide rose nearly 30%, while other forms of crime went down. 6 Since then, homicides, gun assaults, and other forms of violent crime have continued to trend upward, and as of June 2022, the homicide rate was 39% higher than it was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. 7 For this reason, this brief focuses primarily on the role that community-based safety investments can play in addressing gun violence but it is important to note that these investments can also have broader impacts on public safety and community well-being.  

To understand the effectiveness of community-based safety investments, it helps to look at where most gun violence occurs. 8 Within cities and towns, gun violence is spatially concentrated—disproportionately occurring within a select set of high-poverty and disinvested neighborhoods, and within these neighborhoods, a select set of streets. 9  These are also the places where indicators of structural disadvantage (such as poverty, racial segregation, lower educational attainment, and high unemployment) cluster. 10 This pattern held during the recent nationwide increase in gun violence. 11   

The spatial concentration of violence stems from generations of policies and public and private investment decisions. Numerous studies have found a connection between state-sponsored racial segregation and gun violence, with the same places historically deemed unworthy of economic investment (through redlining) being more likely to be where gun violence concentrates today. 12 Research has also identified a link between concentrated poverty, densely crowded housing, and vacant buildings with higher rates of violent crime, including gun homicides. 13   

Given the many place-based factors that contribute to gun violence, there is growing recognition that just like improving public health in other ways, reducing gun violence requires addressing its social determinants and looking outside traditional systems (such as courts or hospitals) to tackle its root causes. 14   This approach is consistent with the preferences of survivors of violent crime, who overwhelmingly prefer investments in non-punitive crime prevention over criminal legal system responses. 15 As the John Jay College of Criminal Justice recently pointed out , this approach is also consistent with an emerging and growing body of research that elevates the effectiveness of non-carceral public safety investments that put communities at the center and builds their capacity to advance safety, health, and economic opportunity. 16  

The next section of this brief examines four categories of non-carceral community safety investments that ARP funds are being used for. Before introducing examples of investments in each category, we provide further empirical justification for specific investments within that category. But while the empirical evidence matters, the underlying moral argument does as well: Mass incarceration is not a morally acceptable solution to systemic disinvestment . 17 Local leaders should support non-carceral community safety interventions not only because they are effective, but because investing in struggling communities is the right thing to do. 

Methodology   This brief pulls from public data state and local governments reported to the U.S. Treasury Department regarding ARP spending. 18 We filtered projects by “Expense Category Group- 3-Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities,” and further filtered by “Category-3.16-Social Determinants of Health: Community Violence Interventions.” 19 These filters, which Treasury has since recategorized as “Category 1 Public Health, 1.11 Community Violence Intervention,” document instances in which state and local leaders are purposefully aiming to reduce violence by addressing social determinants. We recognize that there are many more projects that are not coded as violence interventions that can still have an outsized impact in reducing violence, such as those designed to restore vacant lots or pilot universal basic incomes. However, we believe it is important to highlight how states and localities are explicitly thinking about violence prevention through community-centered approaches.   Within the Community Violence Intervention designation, we also filtered out funding allocated to victim services. While such projects are commendable and necessary, they are responses to violence, whereas our brief is concerned with interventions that prevent violence. Additionally, this brief focuses entirely on non-carceral safety uses of ARP funds, meaning we excluded uses that expand the reach of the criminal legal system (such as increasing the size of the police force or acquiring new public safety technology). The justification behind this approach is to highlight forward-looking and life-affirming visions of community safety, rather than carceral approaches that produce negative intergenerational consequences (such as mental health ramifications, family separation, poor educational performance, and racialized class stratification). 20 Finally, we conducted qualitative interviews with 14 government and civic leaders working at the state, county, and city level. 21 In selecting interviewees, we balanced attention to government and civil society and sought to center Black voices, particularly in localities with a large Black population.

How state and local leaders are leveraging ARP funds to invest in non-carceral safety strategies 

While the most straightforward uses of the American Rescue Plan’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds are to replace lost tax revenue or shore up general funds, the Treasury Department’s rules allow for a broad range of uses that “build a strong, resilient, and equitable recovery by making investments that support long-term growth and opportunity.” 22 Treasury also makes clear that community safety interventions are valid expenditure types for all communities, particularly those that have suffered an uptick in violence. 23 And as analysts at Civil Rights Corps , Alliance for Safety and Justice , the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities , and other organizations have pointed out, these flexible funds offer the largest-ever influx of federal dollars to support states and localities advance non-carceral interventions that promote a holistic vision of community safety. 24  

Below is a curated list of state and local investments in non-carceral community safety interventions, categorized along four key dimensions of community well-being. 25 While there are many more examples, our list represents a diverse set of locations with distinct approaches.  

Enhancing economic opportunity to promote safety 

A place’s economic health has a significant influence on its rates of violence; neighborhoods with higher poverty rates, unemployment, and income inequality have higher rates of violent crime. 26 On the other side of this relationship, a promising body of evidence demonstrates that by enhancing economic opportunity and reducing inequality within neighborhoods, places can significantly reduce crime. 27 For instance, evidence shows that youth workforce development and employment programs can reduce youth involvement in violent crime by as much as 45%. 28 Improving school quality has also been found to reduce violent crime arrests. 29 Finally, helping families avoid financial stress has been found to reduce crime and produce numerous other community benefits. 30   

Figure 1 illustrates how state and local governments are heeding this body of evidence and using ARP funds to advance community safety through economic mobility. For example, Illinois allocated $60 million investment toward youth employment programming, which subsidizes wages for high-risk youth and allows them to gain employability skills, participate in career development and apprenticeship programming, and receive wraparound services to address the root causes of employment barriers.  

Case study: How a small city in Virginia is using ARP funds to reduce violent crime through youth workforce development   Danville is a Black-majority (49%) city in southern Virginia with a population of approximately 42,000 . In 2016, it had the state’s highest per capita homicide rate , largely driven by gang-related violence . To tackle this, the city implemented a variety of community-centered programs to build trust in high-violence neighborhoods and prevent violence among at-risk youth. As Danville’s City Manager Ken Larking told us, “The best way to reduce crime is to prevent it and intervene before it happens.”  In 2020 (the year with the most recently reported data ), Danville saw a 50% reduction in violent crime from 2016. The city’s focus on prevention is also central to how it’s using ARP funds. Larking said that Danville is allocating funds on both “direct” violence prevention (including $236,000 on community violence initiatives) as well as “indirect” violence prevention, such as $1 million to address blight and additional grants to help residents of disinvested neighborhoods start businesses.   Of particular note is Project Imagine , a youth workforce development and violence prevention initiative that received $36,000 in ARP funding. Project Imagine provides gang-involved or at-risk youth with mentorship, apprenticeships, and employment opportunities, and enables former participants to become “ambassadors” who represent their neighborhoods in city meetings and provide input on the city’s strategic plan.  “One thing I knew coming into this city is that there was no voice from the Black community that was being heard,” Robert David, who leads Project Imagine, told us. When David was brought on in 2018, he had no staff or budget, but was able to access unused city funds from the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to begin offering paid jobs to youth. He also turned everyday community spaces into hubs to promote workforce development. “We made the barbershop a haven,” he said, noting when one of his outreach workers isn’t there, people will ask the barber, “Where’s my man with the jobs?”  The infusion of ARP funds has helped David hire permanent outreach workers to connect with more youth, which has since significantly increased enrollment in the initiative. The funds have also enabled him to acquire a permanent building for Project Imagine, which will serve as a safe drop-in space and community center for youth. 

Investing in the built environment and public health to promote safety  

The most consistent evidence on the relationship between violence prevention and place exists in the realm of the built environment. Numerous studies find that the renovation of housing, vacant buildings, land, and lots as well as efforts to add greenery and improve air quality significantly reduce violent crime. 31 These place-based strategies aim to counter decades of public and private disinvestment by revitalizing the physical environment and improving the health and safety of entire communities, rather than focusing on a sub-set of high-risk individuals (which many violence prevention programs, such violence interrupters, tend to focus on). 32 These interventions also align with a public health approach to preventing violence, which addresses the environmental factors that increase susceptibility to violence and advances protective environments that nurture safety, health, and well-being. 33 Examples range from addressing air pollution to increasing Medicaid coverage to expanding access to substance abuse and mental health treatment. 34  

Figure 2 highlights how state and local governments are using ARP funds to advance built environment improvements in communities and bolster public health system responses to community violence. For example, Chicago allocated ARP dollars to fund public realm improvements, building restorations, the preservation of safe and affordable housing, and the reactivation of city-owned land in the 15 areas with the highest rates of homicide and nonfatal shootings. 

It is important to note that while Figure 2 includes built environment and public health interventions explicitly categorized as “community violence interventions,” there are many other examples of state and local governments investing in built environment improvements that have the potential to prevent violence and are not categorized as such. These include city beautification and a revitalized community park in Milwaukee , streetlight repair in Los Angeles , and weatherization efforts to remove lead and mold in Washington, D.C . 35  

Case study: How Multnomah County, Ore. is taking a public health approach to violence prevention Multnomah County is home to Portland, Oregon’s most populous city. During the pandemic, gun violence in the city nearly tripled . In response to this sharp uptick and an over-burdened social service system, county officials allocated over $61 million of their ARP funds to violence prevention, including $4 million in public health approaches .    “We drew a one-to-one connection between the uptick and gun violence and the pandemic,” said Adam Renon, senior policy advisor to the Multnomah County chair. “The loss of social cohesion, the isolation, the breakdown of traditional society norms. So, we said, let’s use ARP funds to address that.” The county allocated $300,000 to hire “community health specialists” who provide families directly impacted by gun violence with safety plans and trauma support. An additional $1.2 million went toward creating a behavioral health response team of clinicians and peers to serve youth and families affected by gun violence. And the county expanded existing programs, including the Habilitation, Empowerment, Accountability, Therapy (H.E.A.T.) curriculum —a cognitive behavioral therapy program meant to address generational traumas for justice-involved people.    Raffaele Timarchi, policy advisor to the county chair, explained the importance of embedding public health approaches to violence prevention across multiple county departments: “[Just because] we take a public health approach to violence prevention doesn’t mean that all of our investments have to be in a public health department…We want to spread the tools of public health into these other departments, including people working at the community level.” This approach ran through Multnomah County’s ARP safety allocations, which included significant investments to strengthen communities through emergency rental assistance, community organization incubators, and a $4.8 million investment in direct assistance to help pay for residents’ pressing financial needs, including food, child care, transportation, and living expenses 

“We drew a one-to-one connection between the uptick and gun violence and the pandemic. The loss of social cohesion, the isolation, the breakdown of traditional society norms. So, we said, let’s use ARP funds to address that.” Adam Renon, Senior Policy Advisor, Multnomah County

Nurturing social cohesion to promote safety  

A significant body of evidence demonstrates that social cohesion and feelings of belonging to a neighborhood are associated with lower violent crime rates. 36 Research has also found that increasing the number of spaces for informal contact between neighbors (e.g., parks, community centers) is linked to a greater sense of safety for people in urban areas. 37 A growing body of evidence even indicates that creative placemaking can enhance community safety. 38

The evidence linking social cohesion with reduced violence forms the basis for many evidence-based community violence intervention programs, such as Cure Violence or Advance Peace , 39 which rely on community outreach to reach individuals in neighborhoods at the highest risk for violence. 40 These violence interrupting programs have contributed to significant declines in violence in high-crime neighborhoods in Richmond, Calif., Stockton, Calif., Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Baltimore, and others. 41  

Figure 3 highlights how state and local governments are using ARP funds to either invest in community violence interruption programs or in activities and programs that promote social cohesion. For example, Elkhart, Ind. is using ARP dollars to host summer events with music and food, present talks by credible messengers (e.g., people who have formerly been involved with the criminal legal system and now work in violence prevention), distribute anti-gun-violence yard signs, and provide COVID-19 information. Cincinnati is funding the Save Our Youth: Kings & Queens program, in which at-risk teens participate in a three-month program involving field trips and speakers focusing on Black history.  

Case study: How St. Louis is preventing violence by investing in safe youth spaces St. Louis is a midsized city (45.7% Black) with a population of roughly 300,000 . Even with a slight decline in 2021, St. Louis continues to have one of the highest homicide rates in the nation . In recent years, there has been growing recognition among city officials that to prevent violence, they must target its root causes—starting with offering resources to those who are most at-risk for committing and be victims of violence, including youth in disinvested neighborhoods.  “We have over 50 kids that have been shot since the beginning of this year,” said Wilford Pinkney Jr., director of the Mayor’s Office of Children, Youth, and Families. “Most of our car jackings and car thefts are all juveniles…There was no one engaging with them to determine what is happening, why they engaged in that behavior, and to try to deal with addressing it early on. We need to deal with that before we get to the point that they’re car jacking and shooting people.”    As part of its ARP allocation, St. Louis devoted $5.5 million to violence interruption initiatives. One is Safer Summer St. Louis, which funds youth- and grassroots-led organizations to plan pop-up events aimed at providing safe, community-building spaces. Jessica Meyers, director for the St. Louis Area Violence Prevention Commission , said that motivation for the program came from youth themselves: “We heard from the youth that they feel like they do not have access to their whole neighborhood. They do not have access to safe spaces in their neighborhood. The spaces that should be safe, like parks, aren’t safe because of gun violence or drug dealing or gang activity. Or the spaces that are safe—like a recreation center or a YMCA or a business—they don’t feel welcome in them, or they feel there are barriers, whether that’s a fee or transportation.” Safer Summer St. Louis seeks to tackle this by providing funding (up to $5,000 per event) to youth in neighborhoods most impacted by gun violence to host events like block parties, bike rides, fitness events, and other activities of their choosing.  Meyers said that while the program is based on evidence about what works to prevent violence, it is really about showing St. Louis youth that the city is invested in their future. “[Safer Summer St. Louis] is about investing in youth and telling them we value them enough that we’re taking this $1 million in [ARP] funding and we’re going to put it directly to events that allow you to be young and have fun in St. Louis—in a safer St. Louis.” 

“[Safer Summer St. Louis] is about investing in youth and telling them we value them enough that we’re taking this $1 million in [ARP] funding and we’re going to put it directly to events that allow you to be young and have fun in St. Louis—in a safer St. Louis.” Jessica Meyers, Director of the St. Louis Area Violence Prevention Commission

Strengthening civic infrastructure to promote safety  

Nearly every non-carceral community-based safety intervention requires the leadership and dedication of civic and community-based organizations to be implemented. 42 And aside from that, research indicates that the mere presence of such organizations within a neighborhood leads to reductions in violent crime. 43 The challenge, however, is that while city resources are plentiful for increasing police in high-crime neighborhoods, cities routinely fail to fund the community infrastructure (such as grassroots organizations) that stabilize communities. 44  

Figure 4 highlights how state and local governments are using ARP funds to enhance the capacity of community-based and civic organizations to prevent violence. For example, New Haven, Conn. used $785,000 of its ARP funds to create Civic Space , a centralized public forum for citizens and grassroots organizations to share input on ARP investments, learn about new community-centered violence prevention initiatives, and partner with other organizations working on similar aims. 

Case study: How Minnesota is supporting locally led grassroots organizations prevent violence Minnesota has a population of 5.7 million , with the largest concentrations in the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Despite relatively strong gun laws, firearms are the leading cause of death for youth in the state. With Minneapolis being the site of George Floyd’s murder and the catalyst for global protests against racial injustice, the state knew it needed to act boldly in allocating ARP funds toward non-carceral public safety approaches—ultimately obligating $16.8 million for violence prevention and intervention activities as well as survivor support.   As part of this, state leaders allocated $5 million toward a new Innovation in Community Safety grant program . Kate Weeks, executive director of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, said the program is “a new way for Minnesota to push out money that was community-focused,” where “decisions about where funds would go come directly from the community.” The grant program provides local organizations in targeted neighborhoods with up to $1 million for community safety programming, prioritizing areas with the highest rates of violent crime. According to Weeks, the recipients have been “virtually all nonprofits.”   The state made another $2.5 million available through Violence Intervention Grants , with a maximum per-grant amount of $250,000. These grants were designed to have a more equitable distribution of applicants, with a fiscal agent administering smaller funding amounts more quickly to grassroots organizations.

Recommendations from the field: Maximizing ARP funds to promote holistic community safety  

The state, county, and local leaders we interviewed offered five primary recommendations on how to more equitably and effectively allocate ARP spending toward non-carceral community safety interventions. These recommendations, which align with emerging research on best practices for the equitable use of ARP funds, include:  

• Build the capacity of smaller, grassroots nonprofits to deploy funds. States and municipalities rely on nonprofit partners to execute ARP obligations; small and grassroots nonprofits (which often serve and hold greater trust with disinvested communities) are at a structural disadvantage in becoming aware of and applying for federal funds, as well as in navigating the reporting requirements tied to federal dollars. 45 As Robert David explained, prior to Danville’s efforts to invest in violence prevention, there was a disconnect between grassroots organizations and “where the funding was,” which made the city “resource-rich but collaboratively poor.” Our interviewees explained how solving this mismatch requires direct outreach to nonprofits in disinvested communities to make them aware of ARP funds, simplifying the application process or dedicating state or municipal resources to support grassroots partners through the process, and loosening reporting requirements. For example, in St. Louis, the city hired a consultant to help grassroots nonprofits apply for funds. And in Minnesota, the state allocated different funding streams through a “social compact” model to allow some smaller nonprofits to pool their applications to make a stronger case for funding.  
• Employ participatory and community-informed processes to guide investment decisions . To be true to the White House’s directive to use ARP funds equitably , disproportionately impacted communities should be engaged in determining how these federal dollars are spent. A variety of traditional mechanisms can be used to do so, including surveys, online forms, public meetings, and listening sessions. But these tools alone can often exclude citizens who are not already highly engaged or who have limited broadband access. Leaders must be intentional about diversifying the forms of community engagement and ensuring engagement is meaningful. Some strategies include targeted outreach in disadvantaged census tracts, using paid community reviewers (including youth) to review proposals and help make grantmaking decisions, conducting outreach to incarcerated and returning citizens, and launching longer-term processes such as participatory budgeting . For example, the St. Louis Area Violence Prevention Commission hired youth to review proposals for their Safer Summer St. Louis program, and Danville leveraged previous community engagement processes to guide the allocation of ARP funds. Stakeholders across all cities emphasized the importance of engaging youth.

“When we give power to young people to use their voice, to be able to co-create, that is more powerful than [when] we are just ordaining from on high and not letting them be effective partners,” Devanshi Patel, CEO of the Center for Youth and Family Advocacy in Virginia. 

• Prioritize equity in the allocation, implementation, and evaluation of ARP funds. The Treasury Department explicitly urged states and localities to prioritize equity in their distribution of ARP funds. In terms of funding allocations, equity can mean ensuring funding flows to census tracts with disproportionate rates of violence or to organizations whose leadership and staff are demographically representative of the communities they serve (for example, by requiring grant seekers to disclose this information in applications, as Minnesota did). In terms of implementation, interviewees explained that equity means trusting community-based organizations—particularly those with deep ties to underserved places—to use their funding in nimble ways that respond to communities’ evolving needs. Equity also means recognizing that people involved in implementation might not have standard resumes or may have criminal records, but their lived experiences and community ties are valuable assets for expanding the success and impact of these interventions. As Multnomah County’s Adam Renon told us, “We need to learn from the individuals who have been incarcerated or who have committed gun violence, and ask them, ‘What would have prevented you from entering that life?’” Finally, in terms of evaluation, equity means thinking expansively about compliance requirements and reporting metrics—including incorporating qualitative data and perspectives from directly impacted communities—as burdensome requirements can strain capacity and limit the ability of smaller organizations to access funding.

“ We need to learn from the individuals who have been incarcerated or who have committed gun violence, and ask them, ‘What would have prevented you from entering that life?’” Adam Renon, Senior Policy Advisor, Multnomah County

• Use data to not just understand program effectiveness, but to respond to evolving community needs. Upticks in violence can be unpredictable and send shockwaves across entire communities—disrupting school, family, and social life even for residents who may not have been directly victimized themselves. For this reason, interviewees stressed the importance of using public safety indicators not just to gauge whether prevention initiatives are working, but also as a way to shift implementation and resource allocation to respond to communities’ needs. “We really tried to take a look at the data in front of us,” Multnomah County’s Raffaele Timarchi said. “We knew that mental health concerns were up, we knew youth were disconnected from school and social supports…The safety net had been frayed.” Timarchi explained how the intersecting challenges of rising gun homicide rates, school closures, and frontline workers’ burnout guided their cross-disciplinary approach to violence prevention. Wilford Pinkney Jr. described using St. Louis’ crisis response data to craft programs that better fit community needs: “If you’re doing crisis response right, you’re engaging people and gathering a lot of data that’s hard for people to refute in terms of what the needs are in the community. We don’t have to guess what people need. We have 6,000 interactions from people in this community saying what they need.” Interviewees stressed this imperative to use data not as a way to judge high-violence communities, but rather as a tool to more deeply understand their shifting needs.

“If you’re doing crisis response right, you’re engaging people and gathering a lot of data that’s hard for people to refute in terms of what the needs are in the community. We don’t have to guess what people need. We have 6,000 interactions from people in this community saying what they need.” Wilford Pinkney Jr., St. Louis

• Create dedicated and sustainable funding streams—including as line items in city budgets—and braid funding streams whenever possible to increase scale. ARP provides state and local leaders with a once-in-a-generation influx of funds, but it is time-limited. Multiple interviewees expressed their concern that too great a reliance on this one-time funding could lead to programmatic cliffs. They noted that creating line items in city, county, or state budgets, and/or creating permanent agencies devoted to community safety could provide stability in financing—especially since political cycles and new administrations can disrupt initiatives that lack permanency. 46 Our Brookings colleagues have also suggested braiding or blending funding streams to increase sustainability, which could involve braiding ARP dollars with  private funding , funding from  surrounding regional jurisdictions , or major new federal investments like those in the  Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act . Finally, municipalities should harness revenue from traditional economic development initiatives to sustain public priorities. For example, Danville City Manager Ken Larking outlined a vision for current development that includes the goal of never being “in a budget crisis where a neighborhood park has to be sacrificed because there isn’t enough money to do police services or whatever else.” And as an added benefit, by tying revenue to priorities that reflect established city values and priorities, governments are held accountable to steering development that benefits the entire community.  

Conclusion 

At the end of 2021, cities and counties had budgeted only 40% of their total ARP allocation (82% of the first of two funding tranches). While more money has been budgeted this year, there is still plenty of funding left to be allocated prior to the 2024 deadline and spent prior to the 2026 deadline. It is vital that state and local leaders seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in community-based violence prevention efforts now, as these programs can take time to establish roots at the local level and scale up. 

By investing in critical community safety infrastructure before the next rise in gun violence, communities will be better supported and equipped to avoid such violence, while also averting the intergenerational consequences that accompany punitive responses to it. As Devanshi Patel of Virginia’s Center for Youth and Family Advocacy said, it is imperative to invest in “restorative justice and community-based programming now to help kids stay out of the legal system” because system-involvement and incarceration can create harms for people and communities that are felt for generations. 

Ultimately, the benefits of addressing the root causes of gun violence go far beyond the shots you don’t hear. In addition to the lives saved, the benefits can be seen in the children playing in parks, the youth finding employment, the sick accessing treatment, the entrepreneurs launching businesses, or neighbors hosting block parties. By investing in economic opportunity, bolstering social cohesion, upgrading the built environment, and strengthening neighborhoods’ civic ties, state and local leaders can create the conditions necessary for long-lasting individual and collective flourishing. 

Acknowledgments:

The authors express their sincere gratitude to the state and local leaders who participated in research interviews to inform this piece: Gregory Baldwin, Thomas Carr, Robert David, Patrick Hogan, Tricia Hummel, Ken Larking, Jessica Meyers, Ahna Minge, Dr. Kiah E. Nyame, Devanshi Patel, Wilford Pinkney Jr., Adam Renon, Raffaele Timarchi, and Kathryn Weeks. The authors also thank the following experts for their review of various drafts of the research brief: Alan Berube, Jennifer S. Vey, and Eli Byerly-Duke (of Brookings Metro), Sam Washington and Thea Sebastian (of Civil Rights Corps), and Leah Sakala (of Alliance for Safety and Justice).  

About the Authors

Research associate – brookings metro, anthony barr, senior research assistant – brookings metro, oluwasekemi odumosu, research intern – brookings metro.

• “Non-carceral” safety interventions are those that exist outside of the formal criminal justice system, and are implemented by actors who are not part of the criminal justice system.
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Home > Topics > Gun Violence: The Impact on Society

Infographics

Gun Violence: The Impact on Society

Social Determinants of Health

Published on: January 16, 2024. Updated on: February 15, 2024.

This infographic explores the rapidly increasing health and economic costs of gun violence across the United States.

The number of firearm deaths grew by nearly 43% between 2010 and 2020 - reaching over 45,000 deaths by the end of the decade. Suicide by firearms have also continued to rise alarmingly. For every person who dies by firearm, more than two survive.

Gun violence is a public health problem: American Public Health Association, Gun Violence is a Public Health Crisis, 2021

42,967 total gun deaths : Gun Violence Archive, Gun Violence Archive 2023, January 2024

43% increase from 2010 to 2020 : John Gramlich, Pew Research Center, What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S., February 2022

327 people are shot each day : The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Key Statistics, December 2023

Average yearly breakdown : The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Gun Violence in the United States, December 2023

For every one person who dies by firearm, more than two survive : The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, Nonfatal Gun Violence, July 2020

Expensive and long-term mental and physical injuries : Alice Miranda Ollstein and Nicholas Wu, Politico , “Health costs of gun violence exceed $1 billion a year, GAO says”, July 2021

Gun violence has significant health and economic consequences, especially among child and adolescent survivors. Gun violence can place a strain on health care systems, with survivors increasing hospitalizations and spending by 1,449% and 1,713% respectively.

Health outcomes following non-fatal firearm injury : Zirui Song et al., in Health Affairs, Firearm Injuries In Children And Adolescents: Health And Economic Consequences Among Survivors And Family Members, Vol. 42, No. 11, November 2023

Gun violence in the US has steep economic consequences, totaling $557 billion in 2022. Most significant are the quality-of-life costs, which include the value of pain and well-being lost by survivors of firearm injuries, decedents, and their families.

$557 billion - Zirui Song, JAMA, The Business Case for Reducing Firearm Injuries, 2022

Economic cost of gun violence : Everytown Research, The Economic Cost of Gun Violence, July 2022

Price Per Individual and Taxpayers : Everytown Research, How does gun violence impact the communities you care about?, 2023

Medicaid and other public programs : Zirui Song et al., Annals of Internal Medicine, Changes in Health Care Spending, Use, and Clinical Outcomes After Nonfatal Firearm Injuries Among Survivors and Family Members, June 2022

Recent studies and cost per person post-injury:

Source 1 : Zirui Song et al., Annals of Internal Medicine, Changes in Health Care Spending, Use, and Clinical Outcomes After Nonfatal Firearm Injuries Among Survivors and Family Members, June 2022

Source 2 : Zirui Song et al., Health Affairs, Firearm Injuries In Children And Adolescents: Health And Economic Consequences Among Survivors And Family Members, November 2023

Between 2018 and 2023, there was a yearly average of around 603 mass shooting events. While mass shootings are often the most publicized events, they are not the primary source of gun violence.

As of February 15, 2024, there have been nearly 50 mass shootings this year alone, resulting in 88 deaths and over 170 injuries.

656 mass shootings in 2023 : Gun Violence Archive, Gun Violence Archive 2023, January 2024

Gun violence definition : Gun Violence Archive, General Methodology, 2022

Mass shootings January 1 - December 31 (2019 - 2022) : Gun Violence Archive, Past Summary Ledgers, December 2023

Historically, mass shootings typically occur in the latter half of the year : Shayanne Gal and Madison Hall, Insider , “The US has had 214 mass shootings so far in 2022. Here's the full list.”, May 2022

Mass shootings account for less than 2% of gun deaths: Gun Violence Archive, Past Summary Ledgers, January 2024

More typical acts of gun violence: German Lopez, The New York Times , “America’s Gun Problem”, May 2022

Prior to 2020, motor vehicle accidents were consistently the leading cause of death for children and adolescents in the US. Since then, gun-related deaths have remained the leading cause of death among this age group.

In response to the number of deaths and injuries caused by motor vehicle accidents, numerous legislative steps have been taken to improve car and motor vehicle safety over time. Until recently, there had not been any widespread federal legislation in response to gun violence since 1994.

Guns are the leading cause of death for American children and adolescents : Jason E Goldstick et al., New England Journal of Medicine , Current Causes of Death in Children and Adolescents in the United States, May 2022

Note: Children and adolescents are defined as persons 1 to 19 years old.

For the first time, guns surpassed motor vehicle accidents as cause of death : Daniel J Flannery and Ruth W Begun, “Guns surpass motor vehicles as top cause of death for U.S. children: What parents should know”, Case Western Reserve University, Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences

Guns have remained the leading cause of death:

Source 1: Bailey K. Roberts et al., American Academy of Pediatrics, Trends and Disparities in Firearm Deaths Among Children, August 2023

Source 2 : The Children’s Defense Fund, The State of America’s Children, 2023 Gun Violence, December 2023

Firearm vs. motor vehicle deaths : Dan Keating, The Washington Post , “Guns killed more young people than cars did for the first time in 2020”, May 2022

Data in the above article is from the Centers for Disease Control and Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System ( WISQARS ).

Half of all gun deaths occurred in 10 states : The Children’s Defense Fund, The State of America’s Children, 2023 Gun Violence, December 2023

Breakdown of gun deaths Bailey K. Roberts et al., American Academy of Pediatrics, Trends and Disparities in Firearm Deaths Among Children, August 2023

Overall, incidents of gunfire on school grounds have been on the rise since 2013. Across the US, Texas has the highest number of gunfire occurrences on school grounds in this timeframe, resulting in 65 deaths and 88 injuries.

This year alone, there have been 25 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, responsible for over 10 deaths (as of February 15, 2024) .

At least 1,165 cases of gunfire on school grounds : Everytown, Gunfire on School Grounds in the United States, January 2024

School shootings over time : Everytown, Gunfire on School Grounds in the United States, January 2024

Only high-income country in which guns are the leading cause of child and adolescent deaths: Matt McGough, Krutika Amin, Nirmita Panchal, and Cynthia Cox, KFF, Child and Teen Firearm Mortality in the US and Peer Countries, July 2023

Firearm deaths account for 20% of all child deaths : Matt McGough, Krutika Amin, Nirmita Panchal, and Cynthia Cox, KFF, Child and Teen Firearm Mortality in the US and Peer Countries, July 2023

Mental illness is often stigmatized as being the cause of gun violence. However, only a minority of mass shooters have experienced serious mental illness. It is estimated that 96% of the common violence that occurs would continue even if the elevated risk of violence among people with mental illness was eliminated.

Mental Illness is not a predictor of violence towards others : Mental Health Alliance, Gun Deaths, Violence, and Mental Health, 2022

Mental illness is not a significant risk factor for gun violence : The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, Mental Illness and Gun Violence, 2020

Mental illness is blamed as the cause : The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, Mental Illness and Gun Violence, 2020

Only a minority of mass shooters have experienced serious mental illness : Jennifer Skeem and Edward Mulvey, Criminology and Public Policy , “What role does serious mental illness play in mass shootings, and how should we address it?”, December 2019

People with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violence : Katie O’Connor, Psychiatric News , “Mental Illness Too Often Wrongly Associated With Gun Violence”, June 2021

Gun violence may cause mental health issues : The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, Mental Illness and Gun Violence, 2020

Suicide among those with a diagnosis is rare:

Source 1 : Deborah M. Stone et al., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vital Signs: Trends in State Suicide Rates — United States, 1999–2016 and Circumstances Contributing to Suicide — 27 States, 2015, June 2018

Source 2 : Joseph C. Franklin et al., American Psychological Association, Psychological Bulletin, Risk Factors for Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis of 50 Years of Research, 2017

Increased risk of suicide with a gun in the home : Matthew Miller and David Hemenway, The New England Journal of Medicine, Guns and Suicide in the United States, 2008

Nearly half of all suicides involve a gun : Wojciech Kaczkowski et al., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Notes from the Field: Firearm Suicide Rates, by Race and Ethnicity — United States, 2019–2022, December 2023

United States rates of mental illness vs. gun violence compared to other countries : The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, Mental Illness and Gun Violence, 2020

Comparison to other high-income countries : Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, On gun violence, the United States is an outlier, May 2022

Deaths per 100,000 population by country:

Source 1 : Wisevoter, Gun Deaths by Country, December 2023

Source 2 : Katherine Leach-Kemon and Rebecca Sirull, University of Washington, The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, On gun violence, the United States is an outlier, October 2023

25 times as often : The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, Mental Illness and Gun Violence, 2020

On June 25, 2022, President Biden signed the bipartisan gun safety bill. This new legislation aims to improve mental health support and school safety, restrict firearm access for domestic violence offenders, enable states to put in place laws that will allow authorities to take weapons from those deemed “dangerous,” and toughen background checks for young gun buyers.

A 2022 US Supreme Court ruling has been interpreted by lower courts in such a way as to call some of these aspects of legislation into question. Clarification on whether these and similar restrictions are Constitutionally permissible is likely to come in June 2024.

Bipartisan Safer Communities Act : Congress.Gov, S.2938 - Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, June 2022

Most significant federal legislation since 1994 : Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, Statement of Administration Policy: S.2938 - Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, June 2022

Expanded background checks, “boyfriend loophole”, red flag laws, and illegal gun purchases : Stephanie Lai and Emily Cochrane, The New York Times , “Here’s what is in the Senate’s gun bill - and what was left out.”, June 2022

Federally licensed gun dealers: Aaron Sanchez-Guerra, The News & Observer , “How the Senate’s bipartisan gun bill would affect firearm buyers and sellers in NC”, June 2022

Mental health and school safety: Kelsey Snell, NPR , “Senators reach final bipartisan agreement on a gun safety bill”, June 2022

2023 Court Rulings

New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen : Oyez, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022)

United States v. Rahimi : SCOTUS Blog, United States v. Rahimi, 61 F. 4 th 443 (5 th Cir. 2023), cert. granted 143 S.Ct. 2688 (2023)

This infographic was reviewed by:

• Paul Helmke, JD, P rofessor of Practice at Indiana University's O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Founding Director of the Civic Leaders Living-Learning Center
• Zirui Song, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Health Care Policy and Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Massachusetts General Hospital and Director of Research at the HMS Center for Primary Care

To learn more about covering important health care and public health topics, such as gun violence, read the recent work by NIHCM Grantee, Association for Health Care Journalists .

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Article Contents

Introduction, the burden of firearm violence, understanding and reducing firearm violence is complex and multi-factorial, interventions and recommendations, conclusions, research ethics.

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Firearm Violence in the United States: An Issue of the Highest Moral Order

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Chisom N Iwundu, Mary E Homan, Ami R Moore, Pierce Randall, Sajeevika S Daundasekara, Daphne C Hernandez, Firearm Violence in the United States: An Issue of the Highest Moral Order, Public Health Ethics , Volume 15, Issue 3, November 2022, Pages 301–315, https://doi.org/10.1093/phe/phac017

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Firearm violence in the United States produces over 36,000 deaths and 74,000 sustained firearm-related injuries yearly. The paper describes the burden of firearm violence with emphasis on the disproportionate burden on children, racial/ethnic minorities, women and the healthcare system. Second, this paper identifies factors that could mitigate the burden of firearm violence by applying a blend of key ethical theories to support population level interventions and recommendations that may restrict individual rights. Such recommendations can further support targeted research to inform and implement interventions, policies and laws related to firearm access and use, in order to significantly reduce the burden of firearm violence on individuals, health care systems, vulnerable populations and society-at-large. By incorporating a blended public health ethics to address firearm violence, we propose a balance between societal obligations and individual rights and privileges.

Firearm violence poses a pervasive public health burden in the United States. Firearm violence is the third leading cause of injury related deaths, and accounts for over 36,000 deaths and 74,000 firearm-related injuries each year ( Siegel et al. , 2013 ; Resnick et al. , 2017 ; Hargarten et al. , 2018 ). In the past decade, over 300,000 deaths have occurred from the use of firearms in the United States, surpassing rates reported in other industrialized nations ( Iroku-Malize and Grissom, 2019 ). For example, the United Kingdom with a population of 56 million reports about 50–60 deaths per year attributable to firearm violence, whereas the United States with a much larger population, reports more than 160 times as many firearm-related deaths ( Weller, 2018 ).

Given the pervasiveness of firearm violence, and subsequent long-term effects such as trauma, expensive treatment and other burdens to the community ( Lowe and Galea, 2017 ; Hammaker et al. , 2017 ; Jehan et al. , 2018 ), this paper seeks to examine how various evidence-based recommendations might be applied to curb firearm violence, and substantiate those recommendations using a blend of the three major ethics theories which include—rights based theories, consequentialism and common good. To be clear, ours is not a morally neutral paper wherein we weigh the merits of an ethical argument for or against a recommendation nor is it a meta-analysis of the pros and cons to each public health recommendation. We intend to promote evidence-based interventions that are ethically justifiable in the quest to ameliorate firearm violence.

It is estimated that private gun ownership in the United States is 30% and an additional 11% of Americans lived with someone who owed a gun in 2017 ( Gramlich and Schaeffer, 2019 ). Some of the reported motivations for carrying a firearm include protection against people (anticipating future victimization or past victimization experience) and hunting or sport shooting ( Schleimer et al. , 2019 ). A vast majority of firearm-related injuries and death occur from intentional harm (62% from suicides and 35% from homicides) versus 2% of firearm-related injuries and death occurring from unintentional harm or accidents (e.g. unsafe storage) ( Fowler et al. , 2015 ; Lewiecki and Miller, 2013 ; Monuteaux et al. , 2019 ; Swanson et al. , 2015 ).

Rural and urban differences have been noted regarding firearms and its related injuries and deaths. In one study, similar amount of firearm deaths were reported in urban and rural areas ( Herrin et al. , 2018 ). However, the difference was that firearm deaths from homicides were higher in urban areas, and deaths from suicide and unintentional deaths were higher in rural areas ( Herrin et al. , 2018 ). In another study, suicides accounted for about 70% of firearm deaths in both rural and urban areas ( Dresang, 2001 ). Hence, efforts to implement these recommendations have the potential to prevent most firearm deaths in both rural and urban areas.

The burden of firearm injuries on society consists of not only the human and economic costs, but also productivity loss, pain and suffering. Firearm-related injuries affect the health and welfare of all and lead to substantial burden to the healthcare industry and to individuals and families ( Corso et al. , 2006 ; Tasigiorgos et al. , 2015 ). Additionally, there are disparities in firearm injuries, whereby firearm injuries disproportionately affect young people, males and non-White Americans ( Peek-Asa et al. , 2017 ). The burden of firearm also affects the healthcare system, racial/ethnic minorities, women and children.

Burden on Healthcare System

Firearm-related fatalities and injuries are a serious public health problem. On average more than 38 lives were lost every day to gun related violence in 2018 ( The Education Fund to Stop Gun Violence (EFSGV), 2020 ). A significant proportion of Americans suffer from firearm non-fatal injuries that require hospitalization and lead to physical disabilities, mental health challenges such as post-traumatic stress disorder, in addition to substantial healthcare costs ( Rattan et al. , 2018 ). Firearm violence and related injuries cost the U.S. economy about $70 billion annually, exerting a major effect on the health care system ( Tasigiorgos et al. , 2015 ).

Victims of firearm violence are also likely to need medical attention requiring high cost of care and insurance payouts which in turn raises the cost of care for everyone else, and unavoidably becomes a financial liability and source of stress on the society ( Hammaker et al. , 2017 ). Firearm injuries also exert taxing burden on the emergency departments, especially those in big cities. Patients with firearm injuries who came to the emergency departments tend to be overwhelmingly male and younger (20–24 years old) and were injured in an assault or unintentionally ( Gani et al. , 2017 ). Also, Carter et al. , 2015 found that high-risk youth (14–24 years old) who present in urban emergency departments have higher odds of having firearm-related injuries. In fact, estimates for firearm-related hospital admission costs are exorbitant. In 2012, hospital admissions for firearm injuries varied from a low average cost of $16,975 for an unintentional firearm injury to a high average cost of $32,237 for an injury from an assault weapon ( Peek-Asa et al. , 2017 ) compared with an average cost of $10,400 for a general hospital admission ( Moore et al. , 2014 ).

Burden on Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Women and Children

Though firearm violence affects all individuals, racial disparities exist in death and injury and certain groups bear a disproportionate burden of its effects. While 77% of firearm-related deaths among whites are suicides, 82% of firearm-related deaths among blacks are homicides ( Reeves and Holmes, 2015 ). Among black men aged 15–34, firearm-related death was the leading cause of death in 2012 ( Cerdá, 2016 ). The racial disparity in the leading cause of firearm-related homicide among 20- to 29-year-old adults is observed among blacks, followed by Hispanics, then whites. Also, victims of firearms tend to be from lower socioeconomic status ( Reeves and Holmes, 2015 ). Understanding behaviors that underlie violence among young adults is important. Equally important is the fiduciary duty of public health officials in creating public health interventions and policies that would effectively decrease the burden of gun violence among all Americans regardless of social, economic and racial/ethnic backgrounds.

Another population group that bears a significant burden of firearm violence are women. The violence occurs in domestic conflicts ( Sorenson and Vittes, 2003 ; Tjaden et al. , 2000 ). Studies have shown that intimate partner violence is associated with an increased risk of homicide, with firearms as the most commonly used weapon ( Leuenberger et al. , 2021 ; Gollub and Gardner, 2019 ). However, firearm threats among women who experience domestic violence has been understudied ( Sullivan and Weiss, 2017 ; Sorenson, 2017 ). It is estimated that nearly two-thirds of women who experience intimate partner violence and live in households with firearms have been held at gunpoint by intimate partners ( Sorenson and Wiebe, 2004 ). Firearms are used to threaten, coerce and intimidate women. Also, the presence of firearms in a home increases the risk of women being murdered ( Campbell et al. , 2015 ; Bailey et al. , 1997 ). Further, having a firearm in the home is strongly associated with more severe abuse among pregnant women in a study by McFarlane et al. (1998) . About half of female intimate partner homicides are committed with firearms ( Fowler, 2018 ; Díez et al. , 2017 ). Some researchers reported that availability of firearms in areas with fewer firearms restrictions has led to higher intimate partner homicides ( Gollub and Gardner, 2019 ; Díez et al. , 2017 ).

In the United States, children are nine times more likely to die from a firearm than in most other industrialized nations ( Krueger and Mehta, 2015 ). Children here include all individuals under age 18. These statistics highlight the magnitude of firearm injuries as well as firearms as a serious pediatric concern, hence, calls for appropriate interventions to address this issue. Unfortunately, children and adolescents have a substantial level of access to firearms in their homes which contributes to firearm violence and its related injuries ( Johnson et al. , 2004 ; Kim, 2018 ). About half of all U.S. households are believed to have a firearm, making firearms one of the most pervasive products consumed in the United States ( Violano et al. , 2018 ). Consequently, most of the firearms used by children and youth to inflict harm including suicides are obtained in the home ( Johnson et al. , 2008 ). Beyond physical harm, children experience increased stress, fear and anxiety from direct or indirect exposure to firearms and its related injuries. These effects have also been reported as predictors of post-traumatic stress disorders in children and could have long-term consequences that persist from childhood to adulthood ( Holly et al. , 2019 ). Additionally, the American Psychological Association’s study on violence in the media showed that witnessing violence leads to fear and mistrust of others, less sensitivity to pain experienced by others, and increases the tendency of committing violent acts ( Branas et al. , 2009 ; Calvert et al. , 2017 ).

As evidenced from the previous sections, firearm violence is a complex issue. Some argue that poor mental health, violent video games, substance abuse, poverty, a history of violence and access to firearms are some of the reasons for firearm violence ( Iroku-Malize and Grissom, 2019 ). However, the prevalence and incidence of firearm violence supersedes discrete issues and demonstrates a complex interplay among a variety of factors. Therefore, a broader public health analysis to better understand, address and reduce firearm violence is warranted. Some important factors as listed above should be taken into consideration to more fully understand firearm violence which can consequently facilitate processes for mitigation of the frequency and severity of firearm violence.

Lack of Research Prevents Better Understanding of Problem of Firearm Violence

A major stumbling block to understanding the prevalence and incidence of firearm related violence exists from a lack of rigorous scientific study of the problem. Firearm violence research constitutes less than 0.09% of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual budget ( Rajan et al. , 2018 ). Further research on firearm violence is greatly limited by the Dickey Amendment, first passed in 1996 and annually thereafter in budget appropriations, which prohibits use of federal funds to advocate or promote firearm control ( Rostron, 2018 ). As such, the Dickey Amendment impedes future federally funded research, even as public health’s interest in firearm violence prevention increased ( Peetz and Haider, 2018 ; Rostron, 2018 ). In the absence of rigorous research, a deeper understanding and development of evidence-based prevention measures continue to be needed.

Lack of a Public Health Ethical Argument Against Firearm Use Impedes Violence Prevention

We make an argument that gun violence is a public health problem. While some might think that public health is primarily about reducing health-related externalities, it is embedded in key values such as harm reduction, social justice, prevention and protection of health and social justice and equity ( Institute of Medicine, 2003 ). Public health practice is also historically intertwined with politics, power and governance, especially with the influence of the states decision-making and policies on its citizens ( Lee and Zarowsky, 2015 ). According to the World Health Organization, health is a complete physical, mental and social well-being that is not just the absence of injury or disease ( Callahan, 1973 ). Health is fundamental for human flourishing and there is a need for public health systems to protect health and prevent injuries for individuals and communities. Public health ethics, then, is the practical decision making that supports public health’s mandate to promote health and prevent disease, disability and injury in the population. It is imperative for the public health community to ask what ought to be done/can be done to curtail firearm violence and its related burdens. Sound public health ethical reasoning must be employed to support recommendations that can be used to justify various public policy interventions.

The argument that firearm violence is a public health problem could suggest that public health methods (e.g. epidemiological methods) can be used to study gun violence. Epidemiological approaches to gun violence could be applied to study its frequency, pattern, distribution, determinants and measure the effects of interventions. Public health is also an interdisciplinary field often drawing on knowledge and input from social sciences, humanities, etc. Gun violence could be viewed as a crime-related problem rather than public health; however, there are, of course, a lot of ways to study crime, and in this case with public health relevance. One dominant paradigm in criminology is the economic model which often uses natural experiments to isolate causal mechanisms. For example, it might matter whether more stringent background checks reduce the availability of guns for crime, or whether, instead, communities that implement more stringent background checks also tend to have lower rates of gun ownership to begin with, and stronger norms against gun availability. Therefore, public health authorities and criminologists may tend to have overlapping areas of expertise aimed to lead to best practices advice for gun control.

Our paper draws on three major theories: (1) rights-based theories, (2) consequentialism and (3) the common good approach. These theories make a convergent case for firearm violence, and despite their significant divergence, strengthen our public health ethics approach to firearm. The key aspects of these three theories are briefly reviewed with respect to how one might use a theory to justify an intervention or recommendation to reduce firearm injuries.

Rights-Based Theories

The basic idea of the rights framework is that people have certain rights, and that therefore it is impermissible to treat people in certain ways even if doing so would promote the overall good. People have rights to safety, security and an environment generally free from risky pitfalls. Conversely, people also have a right to own a gun especially as emphasized in the U.S.’s second amendment. Another theory embedded within our discussion of rights-based theories is deontology. Deontological approaches to ethics hold that we have moral obligations or duties that are not reducible to the need to promote some end (such as happiness or lives saved). These duties are generally thought to specify what we owe to others as persons ( rights bearers ). There are specific considerations that define moral behaviors and specific ways in which people within different disciplines ought to behave to effectively achieve their goals.

Huemer (2003) argued that the right to own a firearm has both a fundamental (independent of other rights) and derivative justification, insofar as the right is derived from another right - the right to self-defense ( Huemer, 2003 ). Huemer gives two arguments for why we have a right to own a gun:

People place lots of importance on owning a gun. Generally, the state should not restrict things that people enjoy unless doing so imposes substantial risk of harm to others.

People have a right to defend themselves from violent attackers. This entails that they have a right to obtain the means necessary to defend themselves. In a modern society, a gun is a necessary means to defend oneself from a violent attacker. Therefore, people have a right to obtain a gun.

Huemer’s first argument could be explained that it would be permissible to violate someone’s right to own or use a firearm in order to promote some impersonal good (e.g. number of lives saved). Huemer’s second argument also justifies a fundamental right to gun ownership. According to Huemer, gun restrictions violate the right of individual gun owners to defend themselves. Gun control laws will result in coercively stopping people to defend themselves when attacked. To him, the right to self-defense does seem like it would be fundamental. It seems intuitive to argue that, at some level, if someone else attacks a person out of the blue, the person is morally required to defend themselves if they cannot escape. However, having a right to self-defense does not entail that your right to obtain the means necessary to that thing cannot be burdened at all.

While we have a right to own a gun, that right is weaker than other kinds of rights. For example, gun ownership seems in no way tied to citizenship in a democracy or being a member of the community. Also, since other nations/democracies get along fine without a gun illustrates that gun ownership is not important enough to be a fundamental right. Interestingly, the UK enshrines a basic right to self-defense, but explicitly denies any right to possess any particular means of self-defense. This leads to some interesting legal peculiarities where it can be illegal to possess a handgun, but not illegal to use a handgun against an assailant in self-defense.

In the United States, implementing gun control policies to minimize gun related violence triggers the argument that such policies are infringements on the Second Amendment, which states that the rights to bear arms shall not be infringed. The constitution might include a right to gun ownership for a variety of reasons. However, it is not clear from the text itself that the right to bear arms is supposed to be as fundamental as the right to freedom of expression. Further, one could argue, then, that any form of gun regulation is borne from the rationale to retain our autonomy. Protections from gun violence are required to treat others as autonomous agents or as bearers of dignity. We owe others certain protections and affordances at least in part because these are necessary to respect their autonomy (or dignity, etc.). We discuss potential recommendations to minimize gun violence while protecting the rights of individuals to purchase a firearm if they meet the necessary and reasonable regulatory requirements. Most of the gun control regulations discussed in this article could provide an opportunity to ensure the safety of communities without unduly infringing on the right to keep a firearm.

Consequentialism

Consequentialism is the view that we should promote the common good even if doing so infringes upon some people’s (apparent) rights. The case for gun regulation under this theory is made by showing how many lives it would save. Utilitarianism, a part of consequentialist approach proposes actions which maximize happiness and the well-being for the majority while minimizing harm. Utilitarianism is based on the idea that a consequence should be of maximum benefit ( Holland, 2014 ) and that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness as the ultimate moral norm. If one believes that the moral purpose of public health is to make decisions that will produce maximal benefits for most affected, remove or prevent harm and ensure equitable distribution of burdens and benefits ( Bernheim and Childress, 2013 ), they are engaging in a utilitarian theory. Rights, including the rights to bear arms, are protected so long as they preserve the greater good. However, such rights can be overridden or ignored when they conflict with the principle of utility; that is to say, if greater harm comes from personal possession of a firearm, utilitarianism is often the ethical theory of choice to restrict access to firearms, including interventions that slow down access to firearms such as requiring a gun locker at home. However, it is important to note that utilitarians might also argue that one has to weigh how frustrating a gun locker would be to people who like to go recreationally hunting. Or how much it would diminish the feeling of security for someone who knows that if a burglar breaks in, it might take several minutes to fumble while inputting the combination on their locker to access their gun.

Using a utilitarian approach, current social statistics show that firearm violence affects a great number of people, and firearm-related fatalities and injuries threaten the utility, or functioning of another. Therefore, certain restrictions or prohibitions on firearms can be ethically justifiable to prevent harm to others using a utilitarian approach. Similarly, the infringement of individual freedom could be warranted as it protects others from serious harm. However, one might argue that a major flaw in the utilitarian argument is that it fails to see the benefit of self-defense as a reasonable benefit. Utilitarianism as a moral theory would weigh the benefits of proposed restrictions against its costs, including its possible costs to a felt sense of security on the part of gun owners. A utilitarian argument that neglects some of the costs of regulations wouldn’t be a very good argument.

One might legitimately argue that if an individual is buying a firearm, whether for protection or recreation, they are morally responsible to abide by the laws and regulations regarding purchasing that firearm and ensuring the safety of others in the society. Additionally, vendors and licensing/enforcement authorities would have the responsibility to ensure the safety of the rest of the society by ensuring that the firearm purchase does not compromise the safety of the community. Most people who own firearms would not argue against this position. However, arguments in support of measures that will reduce the availability of firearms center around freedom and liberty and are not as well tolerated by those who argue from a libertarian starting point. Further, this would stipulate that measures against firearm purchase or use impinge upon the rights of individuals who have the freedom to pursue what they perceive as good ( Holland, 2014 ). However, it seems as though the state has a fundamental duty to help ensure an adequate degree of safety for its citizens, and it seems that the best way to do that is to limit gun ownership.

Promoting the Common Good

A well-organized society that promotes the common good of all is to everyone’s advantage ( Ruger, 2015 ). In addition, enabling people to flourish in a society includes their ability to be healthy. The view of common good consists of ensuring the welfare of individuals considered as a group or the public. This group of people are presumed to have a common interest in protection and preservation from harms to the group ( Beauchamp, 1985 ). Health and security are shared by members of a community, and guns are an attempt to privatize public security and safety, and so is antithetical to the common good. Can one really be healthy or safe in a society where one’s neighbors are subject to gun violence? Maybe not, and so then this violence is a threat to one’s life too. If guns really are an effective means of self-defense, they help one defend only oneself while accepting that others in one’s community might be at risk. One might also argue that the more guns there are, the more that society accepts the legitimacy of gun ownership and the more that guns have a significant place in culture etc., and consequently, the more that there is likely to be a problem.

Trivigno (2018) suggests that the willingness to carry a firearm indicates an intention to use it if the need arises and Branas et al (2009) argue that perpetually carrying a firearm might affect how individuals behave ( Trivigno, 2018 ; Branas et al. , 2009 ). When all things are equal, will prudence and a commitment to the flourishing of others prevail? Trivigno (2013) wonders if such behaviors as carrying or having continual access to a firearm generates mistrust or triggers fear of an unknown armed assailant, allowing for aggression or anger to build; the exact opposite of flourishing ( Trivigno, 2013 ). One could suggest, then, that the recreational use of firearms is also commonly vicious. Many people use firearms to engage in blood sport, killing animals for their own amusement. For example, someone who kicks puppies or uses a magnifying glass to fry ants with the sun seems paradigmatically vicious; why not think the same of someone who shoots deer or rabbits for their amusement?. Firearm proponents might suggest that the fidelity (living out one’s commitments) or justice, which Aristotle holds in high regard, could justify carrying a firearm to protect one’s life, livelihood, or loved ones insofar as it would be just of a person to defend and protect the life of another or even one’s own life when under threat by one who means to do harm. Despite an argument justifying the use of a firearm against another for self-defense after the fact, the action might not have been right when evaluated through the previous rationale, or applying the doctrine of double effect as described by Aquinas’ passage in the Summa II-II, which mentions that self-defense is quite different than taking it upon one’s self to mete out justice ( Schlabach, n.d. ). The magistrate is charged with seeing that justice is done for the common good. At best, if guns really are an effective means of self-defense, they help one defend only oneself while accepting that others in one’s community might be at risk. They take a common good, the health and safety of the community, and make it a private one. For Aquinas and many other modern era ethicists, intention plays a critical part in judgment of an action. Accordingly, many who oppose any ownership of firearms do so in both a paternalistic fashion (one cannot intend harm if they don’t have access to firearms) and virtuous fashion (enabling human flourishing).

Classical formulations of the double doctrine effect include necessity and proportionality conditions. So, it’s wrong to kill in self-defense if you could simply run away (without giving up something morally important in doing so), or to use deadly force in self-defense when someone is trying to slap you. One thing the state can do, in its role of promoting the common good, is to reduce when it is necessary to use self-defense. If there were no police at all, then anyone who robs you without consequence will probably be back, so there’s a stronger reason to use deadly force against them to feel secure. That’s bad, because it seems to allow violence that truly isn’t necessary because no one is providing the good of public security. So, one role of the state is to reduce the number of cases in which the use of deadly force is necessary for our safety. Since most homicides in the United State involve a firearm, one way to reduce the frequency of cases in which deadly force is necessary for self-defense is to reduce the instances of gun crime.

We have attempted to lay the empirical and ethical groundwork necessary to support various interventions, and the recommendations aimed at curbing firearm violence that will be discussed in this next section. Specifically, by discussing the burden of the problem in its various forms (healthcare costs, disproportionate violence towards racial/ethnic minority groups, women, children, vulnerable populations and the lack of research) and the ethics theories public health finds most accessible, we can now turn our attention to well-known, evidence-based recommendations that could be supported by the blended ethics approach: rights-based theories, consequentialism and the common-good approach discussed.

Comprehensive, Universal Background Checks for Firearm Sales

Of the 17 million persons who submitted to a background check to purchase or transfer possession of a firearm in 2010, less than 0.5% were denied approval of purchase ( Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2014 ). At present, a background check is required only when a transfer is made by a licensed retailer, and nearly 40% of firearm transfers in recent years were private party transfers ( Miller et al. , 2017 ). As such, close to one-fourth of individuals who acquired a firearm within the last two years obtained their firearm without a background check ( Miller et al. , 2017 ). Anestis et al. , (2017) and Siegel et al. , (2019) evaluated the relationship between the types of background information required by states prior to firearm purchases and firearm homicide and suicide deaths ( Anestis et al. , 2017 ; Siegel et al. , 2019 ). Firearm homicide deaths appear lower in states checking for restraining orders and fugitive status as opposed to only conducting criminal background checks ( Sen and Panjamapirom, 2012 ). Similarly, suicide involving firearm were lower in states checking for a history of mental illness, fugitive status and misdemeanors ( Sen and Panjamapirom, 2012 ).

Research supports the evidence that comprehensive universal background checks could limit crimes associated with firearms, and enforcement of such laws and policies could prevent firearm violence ( Wintemute, 2019 ; Lee et al. , 2017 ). Comprehensive, universal background check policies that are applicable to all firearm transactions, including private party transfers, sales by firearm dealers and sales at firearm shows are justifiable using a blend of the ethics theories we have previously discussed. With the rights-based approach, one could still honor the right to own a firearm by a competent person while also enforcing the obligation of the firearm vendor to ensure only a qualified individual purchased the firearm. To further reduce gun crime, rather than ensure only the right people own guns, we can just reduce the number of guns owned overall. Consequentialism could be employed to ensure the protection of the most vulnerable such as victims of domestic violence and allowing a firearm vendor to stop a sale to an unqualified individual if they had a history of suspected or proven domestic violence. Also, having universal background checks that go beyond the bare minimum of assessing if a person has a permit, the legally required training, etc., but delving more deeply into a person’s past, such as the inclusion of a red flag ( Honberg, 2020 ), would be promoting the common good approach by creating the conditions for persons to be good and do good while propelling community safety.

Renewable License Before Buying and After Purchase of Firearm and Training Firearm Owners

At present, federal law does not require licensing for firearm owners or purchasers. However, state licensing laws fall into four categories: (1) permits to purchase firearms, (2) licenses to own firearms, (3) firearm safety certificates and (4) registration laws that impose licensing requirements ( Anestis et al. , 2015 ; Giffords Licensing, n.d. ). A study conducted in urban U.S. counties with populations greater than 200,000 indicated that permit-to-purchase laws were associated with 14% reduction in firearm homicides ( Crifasi et al. , 2018 ). In Connecticut, enforcing a mandatory permit-to-purchase law making it illegal to sell a hand firearm to anyone who did not have an eligible certificate to purchase firearms was associated with a reduction in firearm associated homicides ( Rudolph et al. , 2015 ). This also resulted in a significant reduction in the rates of firearm suicide rates in Connecticut ( Crifasi et al. , 2015 ). Conversely, the permit-to-purchase law was repealed in Missouri in 2007, which resulted in an increase of homicides with firearms and firearm suicides ( Crifasi et al. , 2015 ; Webster et al. , 2014 ). Similarly, two large Florida counties indicated that 72% of firearm suicides involved people who were legally permitted to have a firearm ( Swanson et al. , 2016 ). According to the study findings, a majority of those who were eligible to have firearms died from firearm-related suicide, and also had records of previous short-term involuntary holds that were not reportable legal events.

In addition to comprehensive, universal background checks for firearm purchases, licensing with periodic review requires the purchaser to complete an in-person application at a law enforcement agency, which could (1) minimize fraud or inaccuracies and (2) prevent persons at risk of harming themselves or others to purchase firearms ( Crifasi et al. , 2019 ). Subsequent periodic renewal could further reduce crimes and violence associated with firearms by helping law enforcement to confirm that a firearm owner remains eligible to possess firearms. More frequent licensure checks through periodic renewals could also facilitate the removal of firearms from individuals who do not meet renewal rules.

Further, including training on gun safety and shooting with every firearm license request could also be beneficial in reducing gun violence. In Japan, if you are interested in acquiring a gun license, you need to attend a one-day gun training session in addition to mental health evaluation and background check ( Alleman, 2000 ). This training teaches future firearm owners the steps they would need to follow and the responsibilities of owning a gun. The training completes with passing a written test and achieving at least a 95% accuracy during a shooting-range test. Firearm owners need to retake the class and initial exam every three years to continue to have their guns. This training and testing have contributed to the reduction in gun related deaths in Japan. Implementing such requirements could reduce gun misuses. Even though, this is a lengthy process, it could manage and reduce the risks associated with firearm purchases and will support a well-regulated firearm market. While some may argue that other forms of weapons could be used to inflict harm, reduced access to firearms would lead to a significant decrease in the number of firearm-related injuries in the United States.

From an ethics perspective, again, all three theories could be applied to the recommendation for renewable licenses and gun training. From a rights-based perspective, renewable licensure and gun training would still allow for the right to bear arms but would ensure that the right belongs with qualified persons and again would allow the proper state agency to exercise its responsibility to its citizens. Additionally, a temporary removal of firearms or prohibiting firearm purchases by people involuntarily detained in short-term holds might be an opportunity to ensure people’s safety and does so without unduly infringing on the Second Amendment rights. Renewable licenses and gun training create opportunities for law enforcement to step in periodically to ascertain if a licensee remains competent, free from criminal behavior or mental illness, which reduces the harm to the individual and to the community—a tidy application of consequentialism. Again, by creating the conditions for people to be good, we see an exercise of the common good.

Licensing Firearm Dealers and Tracking Firearm Sales

In any firearm transfer or purchase, there are two parties involved: the firearm vendor and the individual purchaser. Federal law states that “it shall be unlawful for any person, except for a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer, to engage in the business of importing, manufacturing, or dealing in firearms, or in the course of such business to ship, transport, or receive any firearm in interstate or foreign commerce” (18 U.S.C. 1 922(a)(1)(A)(2007). All firearm sellers must obtain a federal firearm license issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). However, ATF does not have the complete authority to inspect firearm dealers for license, revoke firearm license, or take legal actions against sellers providing firearms to criminals ( Vernick and Webster, 2007 ). Depending on individual state laws, typically the firearm purchaser maintains responsibility in obtaining the proper license for each firearm purchase whereas the justice system has the responsibility to enforce laws regulating firearm sales. Firearm manufacturers typically sell their products through licensed distributors and dealers, or a primary market (such as a retail store). Generally, firearms used to conduct a crime (including homicide) or to commit suicide are the product of secondary markets ( Institute of Medicine, 2003 ) such as retail secondhand sales or private citizen transfers/sales. Such secondary firearm transfers are largely unregulated and allow for illegal firearm purchases by persons traditionally prohibited from purchasing in the primary market ( Vernick and Webster, 2007 ; Chesnut et al. , 2017 ).

According to evidence from Irvin et al. (2014) in states that require licensing for firearm dealers and/or allow inspections, the reported rates of homicides were lower ( Irvin et al. , 2014 ). Specifically, after controlling for race, urbanicity, poverty level, sex, age, education level, drug arrest rate, burglary rates and firearm ownership proxy, the states that require licensing for firearm dealers reported ~25% less risk of homicides, and the states that allow inspection reported ~35% less risk of homicides ( Irvin et al. , 2014 ). This protective effect against homicides was stronger in states that require both licensing and inspections compared to states that require either alone. The record keeping of all firearm sales is important as it facilitates police or other authorized inspectors to compare a dealer’s inventory with their records to identify any secondary market transactions or other discrepancies ( Vernick et al. , 2006 ). According to Webster et al. (2006) , a change in firearm sales policy in the firearm store that sold more than half of the firearms recovered from criminals in Milwaukee, resulted in a 96% reduction in the use of recently sold firearms in crime and 44% decrease in the flow of new trafficked firearms in Milwaukee ( Webster et al. , 2006 ).

The licensing of firearm vendors and tracking of firearm sales sits squarely as a typical public health consequentialist argument; in order to protect the community, an individual’s right is only minimally infringed upon. An additional layer, justifiable by consequentialism, includes a national repository of all firearm sales which can be employed to minimize the sale of firearms on the secondary market and dealers could be held accountable for such ‘off-label’ use ( FindLaw Attorney Writers, 2016 ). Enforcing laws, mandating record keeping, retaining the records for a reasonable time and mandating the inspection of dealers could help to control secondary market firearm transfers and minimize firearm-related crimes and injuries.

One could argue from a rights perspective that routine inspections and record keeping are the responsibility of both firearms vendors and law enforcement, and in doing so, still ensure that competent firearm owners can maintain their rights to bear arms. In Hume’s discussion of property rights, he situates his argument in justice; and that actions must be virtuous and the motive virtuous ( Hume, 1978 ). Hume proposes that feelings of benevolence don’t form our motivation to be just. We tend (perhaps rightly) to feel stronger feelings of benevolence to those who deserve praise than to those who have wronged us or who deserve the enmity of humanity. However, justice requires treating the property rights or contracts of one’s enemies, or of a truly loathsome person, as equally binding as the property rights of honest, decent people. Gun violence disproportionately impacts underserved communities, which are same communities impacted by social and economic injustice.

Standardized Policies on Safer Storage for Firearms and Mandatory Education

Results from a cross-sectional study by Johnson and colleagues showed that about 14-30% of parents who have firearms in the home keep them loaded, while about 43% reported an unlocked firearm in the home ( Johnson et al. , 2006 ; Johnson et al. , 2008 ). The risk for unintentional fatalities from firearms can be prevented when all household firearms are locked ( Monuteaux et al. , 2019 ). Negligent storage of a firearm carries various penalties based on the individual state ( RAND, 2018 ). For example, negligent storage in Massachusetts is a felony. Mississippi and Tennessee prohibit reckless or knowingly providing firearms to minors through a misdemeanor charge, whereas Missouri and Kentucky enforce a felony charge. Also, Tennessee makes it a felony for parents to recklessly or knowingly provide firearms to their children ( RAND, 2018 ).

While a competent adult may have a right to bear arms, this right does not extend to minors, even in recreational use. Many states allow for children to participate in hunting. Wisconsin allows for children as young as 12 to purchase a hunting license, and in 2017 then Governor Scott Walker signed into law a no age minimum for a child to participate in a mentored hunt and to carry a firearm in a hunt when accompanied by an adult ( Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 2020 ). The minor’s ‘right’ to use a firearm is due in part to the adult taking responsibility for the minor’s safety. As such, some have argued that children need to know how to be safe around firearms as they continue to be one of the most pervasive consumer products in the United States ( Violano et al. , 2018 ).

In addition to locking firearms, parents are also encouraged to store firearms unloaded in a safe locked box or cabinet to prevent children’s access to firearms ( Johnson et al. , 2008 ). It follows then that reducing children and youth’s access to firearm injuries involves complying with safe firearm storage practices ( McGee et al. , 2003 ). In addition to eliminating sources of threat to the child, it is also important for children to be trained on how to safely respond in case they encounter a firearm in an unsupervised environment. Education is one of the best strategies for firearm control, storage and reduction of firearm-related injuries via development of firearm safety trainings and programs ( Jones, 1993 ; Holly et al. , 2019 ). Adults also need firearm safety education and trainings; as such, inclusion of firearm safety skills and trainings in the university-based curriculum and other avenues were adults who use guns are likely to be, could also mitigate firearm safety issues ( Puttagunta et al. , 2016 ; Damari et al. , 2018 ). Peer tutoring could also be utilized to provide training in non-academic and social settings.

Parents have a duty to protect their children and therefore mandating safe firearm storage, education and training for recreational use and periodic review of those who are within the purview of the law. Given that someone in the U. S. gets shot by a toddler a little more frequently than once a week ( Ingraham, 2017 ), others might use a utilitarian argument that limiting a child’s access to firearms minimizes the possibility of accidental discharge or intentional harm to a child or another. Again, the common good approach could be employed to justify mandatory safe storage and education to create the conditions for the flourishing of all.

Firearm and Ammunition Buy-Back Programs

Firearm and ammunition buy-back programs have been implemented in several cities in the United States to reduce the number of firearms in circulation with the ultimate goal of reducing gun violence. The first launch in Baltimore, Maryland was in 1974. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has conducted a gun buy-back program for nearly eight years to remove more guns off the streets and improve security in communities. Currently there is a plan for a federal gun buy-back program in the United States. The objective of such programs is to reduce gun violence through motivating marginal criminals to sell their firearms to local governments, encourage law-abiding individuals to sell their firearms available for theft by would-be criminals, and to reduce firearm related suicide resulting from easy access to a gun at a time of high emotion ( Barber and Miller, 2014 ).

According to Kuhn et al. (2002) and Callahan et al. (1994) , gun buy-back programs are ineffective in reducing gun violence due to two main facts: 1- the frequently surrendered types of firearms are typically not involved in gun-related violence and 2- the majority of participants in gun buyback programs are typically women and older adults who are not often involved in interpersonal violence ( Kuhn et al. , 2002 ; Callahan et al. , 1994 ). However, as a result of implementation of the ‘‘good for guns’’ program in Worcester, Massachusetts, there has been a decline in firearm related injuries and mortality in Worcester county compared to other counties in Massachusetts ( Tasigiorgos et al. , 2015 ). Even though, there is limited research indicating a direct link between gun buy-back programs and reduction in gun violence in the United States, a gun buy-back program implemented in Australia in combination with other legislations to reduce household ownership of firearms, firearm licenses and licensed shooters was associated with a rapid decline in firearm related deaths in Australia ( Bartos et al. , 2020 ; Ozanne-Smith et al. , 2004 ).

The frequency of disparities in firearm-related violence, injuries and death makes it a central concern for public health. Even though much has been said about firearms and its related injuries, there continues to be an interest towards its use. Some people continue to desire guns due to fear, feeling of protection and safety, recreation and social pressure.

Further progress on reforms can be made through understanding the diversity of firearm owners, and further research is needed on ways to minimize risks while maximizing safety for all. Although studies have provided data on correlation between firearm possession and violence ( Stroebe, 2013 ), further research is needed to evaluate the interventions and policies that could effectively decrease the public health burden of firearm violence. Evidence-based solutions to mitigating firearm violence can be justified using three major public health ethics theories: rights-based theories, consequentialism and common good. The ethical theories discussed in this paper can direct implementation of research, policies, laws and interventions on firearm violence to significantly reduce the burden of firearm violence on individuals, health care systems, vulnerable populations and the society-at-large. We support five major steps to achieve those goals: 1. Universal, comprehensive background checks; 2. Renewable license before and after purchase of firearm; 3. Licensing firearm dealers and tracking firearm sales; 4. Standardized policies on safer storage for firearms and mandatory education; and 5. Firearm buy-back programs. For some of the goals we propose, there might be a substantial risk of non-compliance. However, we hope that through education and sensibilization programs, overtime, these goals are not met with resistance. By acknowledging the proverbial struggle of individual rights and privileges paired against population health, we hope our ethical reasoning can assist policymakers, firearm advocates and public health professionals in coming to shared solutions to eliminate unnecessary, and preventable, injuries and deaths due to firearms.

The conducted research is not related to either human or animal use.

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5 Essays about Gun Violence

Gun violence impacts every part of society. There are certain places in the world where it’s more prevalent. According to a 2018 report, the United States had the 28th highest rate of gun violence deaths in the world. That puts the US above other wealthy countries. Gun violence is also a major issue in places like the Caribbean, Central America, and Venezuela. Here are five essays that address the financial and emotional impact of gun violence, how people use art to cope, and how the problem can be addressed.

“What Does Gun Violence Really Cost?”

Mark Follman, Julia Lurie, Jaeah Lee, and James West

This article opens with the story of a woman and her fiance shot on their way to dinner. After being close to death and staying in a hospital for five months, Jennifer Longdon couldn’t move her body from the chest down. After more hospitalizations, the bills got close to $1 million in just the first year, forcing her to file for personal bankruptcy. More expensive hospital stays followed for problems like sepsis, while wheelchair modifications for her house added up, as well.

For many people, their knowledge of gun violence comes from the news or movies. These venues tend to focus on the moment the violence occurs or the emotional impact. The long-term financial consequences as a result of health issues are less known. This article examines the existing data while telling a personal story.

“I Think of People Who Died At Sandy Hook Every Day”

Mary Ann Jacob

In this essay from 2016, Mary Ann Jacob remembers the horrific elementary school shooting from 2012. She worked at the library at the time and recalls hearing shouting from the intercom on the morning of December 14. Believing someone had pushed it by mistake, she called in, only to have the secretary answer the phone and shout, “There’s a shooter!” Mary Ann Jacob lived through one of the deadliest school shootings in US history. The essay goes on to describe what happened after and the steps survivors took to advocate for better gun control.

“You May Not See Me On TV, But Parkland Is My Story, Too”

Kyrah Simon

In 2018, a gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School killed 17 students and wounded 17 others. Several students became vocal afterwards, challenging the lack of gun control in the face of such violence. They founded an advocacy group and many of the young people became household names. Kyrah Simon, a senior at the school, lost one of her best friends. She also wanted to speak up and share her story but realized that the media wanted certain speeches, certain faces. She writes, “I was just a girl that lost her friend. And it wasn’t enough.” Raw, honest, and enlightening, this personal essay is a must-read.

“Mexican Artist Transforms 1,527 Deadly Guns Into Life-Giving Shovels To Plant Trees”

In Culiacan, Mexico, the city with the highest rate of deaths by gun violence in the country, an artist and activist began a special project. Pedro Reyes used local media and TV ads paid for by the city’s botanical garden to advertise his gun-trading project. In exchange for bringing their weapons, people received electronics and appliances coupons. Reyes made over 1,500 trades. What came next? The guns were crushed by a steamroller and melted down. Reyes used the material to create shovels. He made the same number of shovels as guns, so each gun was represented as something new.

Turning guns into art is not an uncommon action. Reyes has also made instruments while other artists make sculptures. The transformation of an object of death into something that plays a part in fostering life – like planting trees – sends a powerful message.

“Forum: Doing Less Harm”

David Hemenway

What is the best approach to gun violence? David Hemenway, a professor of health policy and director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center and Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center, advocates for a public-health approach. He believes gun violence is a public-safety problem and a problem-health problem, but gun lobbyists dismiss both claims. The gun lobby focuses on the shooter – the individual – so attention is diverted from the firearms industry. In focusing so much on who to blame, prevention is left out of the equation.

A public-health approach returns the attention to prevention and asks everyone to work together on the issue. Hemenway uses motor-vehicle injury prevention as a blueprint for why gun violence prevention can work. Not sure what prevention could look like? Hemenway provides examples of how actors like healthcare workers, consumers, and the federal government can work together.

Learn about the consequences of gun violence in America and which interventions are most effective to reduce gun violence in homes, schools and communities!

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About the author, emmaline soken-huberty.

Emmaline Soken-Huberty is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon. She started to become interested in human rights while attending college, eventually getting a concentration in human rights and humanitarianism. LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and climate change are of special concern to her. In her spare time, she can be found reading or enjoying Oregon’s natural beauty with her husband and dog.

Can gun violence be traced back to socioeconomic root causes?

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Daniel Kim, associate professor of health sciences in the Bouvé College of Health Sciences. Northeastern file photo

Life expectancy in the U.S. has dropped as a result of  gun violence, says Daniel Kim , an associate professor of health sciences at Northeastern.

Despite the critical need for studies that address the underlying causes of gun violence, he says, no comprehensive study has looked at the various factors behind this crisis. 

In a recent study , Kim provides new insight into how different social and economic circumstances could be driving gun violence in the U.S.

The study focuses on socioeconomic status, income inequality, and other similar aspects known as the social determinants of health, and analyzed 13,060 gun deaths in all states of the contiguous U.S.

Kim found that the strongest association was between gun homicides and social mobility, or the ability of people to move to a higher social status than that of their parents.

He discussed how his research can be used to influence policy and address trends of gun violence in the U.S.

Until now there hasn’t been a comprehensive study that links the relationship of societal and economic conditions with gun violence in the U.S. Why is undertaking such a study important?

Gun violence has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. and is a public health crisis. On average, an estimated 100 people in the U.S. are killed with guns every day.  Between 2001 and 2013, firearm injuries took more U.S. lives than the combined number of U.S. people killed by war, AIDS, illegal drug overdoses, and terrorism. 

Evidence on the impacts of gun control policies is growing, but there is a fundamental need to better understand the root social causes of gun violence and homicides. So far, there have only been a limited number of studies on this topic, and the methods used in these studies have fallen short to varying degrees. For example, gun homicide studies have primarily focused on one social determinant and one geographic level at a time, which can give us biased answers.  

In my study, I looked at a wide range of major social determinants of health—social conditions that have been linked to mortality and many other health outcomes. I controlled for multiple social determinants at the same time, and incorporated a range of other factors at the neighborhood level. Using this comprehensive approach enables us to obtain better estimates of the true relationship between any given factor and gun homicides.

Your study analyzes such factors as disparity in income, trust in the government, social mobility, and public welfare in the U.S. How exactly are these conditions associated with gun homicides?

My study found that an increase in average levels of intergenerational social mobility—our ability to climb the economic ladder compared to our parents—was linked to a 25% decrease in neighborhood gun homicide rates. Higher levels of trust in institutions such as the government, media, and corporations were associated with a 19% lower neighborhood gun homicide rate. Meanwhile, higher levels of public welfare spending were related to a 14% lower neighborhood homicide rate, while the rich-poor gap was related to an 8% higher neighborhood homicide rate.

I did not explore why each of these factors might have an effect on gun homicides. Nonetheless, there are plausible hypotheses that support each of these relationships. For example, in communities that have low levels of trust in institutions, such as the police, people may choose to take the law into their own hands, and resort to criminal behaviors, including homicide. Future studies would be helpful in further exploring these mechanisms.

How can your research into socioeconomic conditions and gun violence help address recent declines in life expectancy in the U.S.?

We know that gun homicides are the second leading cause of injury death among youths and young adults. This and other statistics about gun violence in the U.S. are quite sobering and worrisome alone.

These deaths can have a sizeable impact on average life expectancy, which in the U.S. has been in decline for three consecutive years for the first time in a century. By identifying and addressing the root social causes of gun homicides, we have the ability to help reverse these alarming trends in America.

What do your findings tell us about policies that could help address the problem of gun violence?

While the findings of this study do not establish cause and effect relationships, the intriguing relationships that I found suggest some key social drivers of the gun violence epidemic. These social determinants are things that can be modified through social and economic policies.  

For instance, policies that make college more affordable to people from lower income backgrounds could raise levels of social mobility. Levels of income inequality could also be reduced through policies that raise taxes on the rich—something that I have explored previously in my research . Tax policies that further redistribute income to low-income households could additionally reduce poverty, which in my study was associated with a 27% higher neighborhood gun homicide rate.

  These examples of social and economic policies are being discussed on the debate stage of the U.S. presidential race, independently from the topic of gun violence. Ultimately, being able to connect the dots between gun violence and such policies could be an effective way to help tackle the gun violence epidemic. 

For media inquiries , please contact Shannon Nargi at [email protected] or 617-373-5718.

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The Impact of Gun Violence on Children and Adolescents

Nirmita Panchal Published: Feb 22, 2024

Firearm injuries and deaths in the United States have increased  in recent years and adversely affect many children and adolescents. Firearms now kill more children and adolescents than any other cause, surpassing motor vehicle crashes. Additionally, the U.S. has by far the highest rate of child and teen firearm mortality compared to peer countries. Beyond deaths, there are many more youth who survive gunshot wounds or are otherwise exposed to gun violence. These exposures can lead to negative behavioral health outcomes among youth and their family members. This brief explores the impacts of gun violence on children and adolescents (ages 17 and below) by answering the following key questions:

• How have firearm deaths changed in recent years among children and adolescents and how do these deaths vary by demographic characteristics?
• What is known about nonfatal firearm injury and gun exposure among children and adolescents?

How does gun violence affect the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents?

• What policies are in place to address youth exposure to gun violence?

How have firearm deaths changed in recent years among children and adolescents?

Firearm-related deaths have increased among children and adolescents since the pandemic began, with seven children per day dying by firearm in 2022.  From 2012 to 2022, nearly 19,700 children ages 17 and younger died by firearm. 1 During this period, firearm death rates gradually rose until 2017, then slowed through 2019, before sharply rising with the onset of the pandemic and holding steady in 2022 (Figure 1). From 2019 to 2022, the firearm death rate among children and adolescents increased by 46% (from 2.4 to 3.5 per 100,000). This translates to seven children per day dying by firearm in 2022.

Recent increases in firearm deaths were driven by gun assaults, which accounted for two out of three firearm deaths among children and adolescents in 2022. Gun assault deaths among children and adolescents have increased over the past decade, resulting in 1,674 deaths in 2022 (Figure 2). Leading up to the pandemic, gun assaults made up about half of all child and adolescent firearm deaths. However, from 2019 to 2022, the share of these firearm deaths attributed to gun assaults grew from 54% to 66%.

Among child and adolescent firearm deaths in 2022, 27% were due to suicides and 5% were accidental. Suicides by firearm have increased over the past decade among children and adolescents, peaking in 2021 with 827 deaths before declining to 686 deaths in 2022. Despite this decline, firearm suicides made up 27% of all child and adolescent firearm deaths. Further, 43% of total suicide deaths among children and adolescents in 2022 involved firearms. Accidental firearm deaths have shown little variation over the past decade and continue to account for roughly 5% of all child and adolescent firearm deaths.

How do youth firearm deaths vary by demographic characteristics?

Firearm death rates have sharply increased among Black and Hispanic children and adolescents since the pandemic began. In 2022, the rate of firearm deaths among Black youth was 12.2 per 100,000 – substantially higher than any other racial and ethnic group and six times higher than White youth (Figure 3). Additionally, from 2018 to 2022, the rate of firearm deaths doubled among Black youth and increased by 73% among Hispanic youth. While firearm death rates for American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) youth fluctuated over the same period, they remained higher than the rates of their White, Hispanic, and Asian peers throughout the period. White youth experienced relatively stable and lower firearm mortality rates from 2018 to 2022 (2.0 per 100,000), while Asian youth had the lowest firearm mortality rates across the period (Figure 3).

The recent increases in firearm deaths among Black and Hispanic children and adolescents were primarily driven by gun assaults.  Since the onset of the pandemic, the gap in gun assault death rates between Black and White children and adolescents has significantly widened. While the gun assault death rate among Black youth grew from 4.9 to 10.3 per 100,000 between 2018 and 2022, the death rate remained steady and below 1.0 per 100,000 among White youth (Figure 3). The gun assault death rate among Hispanic youth doubled during this period, from 0.9 to 2.0 per 100,000 between 2018 and 2022. Firearm suicide rates have also increased among Black   youth in recent years, from 0.7 to 1.1 per 100,000 from 2018 to 2022. Meanwhile, firearm suicide rates have remained steady among White youth and by 2022, rates were similar between White and Black youth (1.2 vs. 1.1 per 100,000). Firearm suicide and assault rates were not available for other non-Hispanic race groups.

As a result of worsening trends in firearm deaths, in 2022, Black youth accounted for 48% of all youth firearm deaths although they made up only 14% of the U.S. youth population (Figure 4). From 2018 to 2022, the share of firearm deaths attributed to Black children and adolescents grew from 35% to 48%; and the share attributed to Hispanic children and adolescents grew from 16% to 19%.

Firearm death rates for male children and adolescents are over four times higher than their female peers.  From 2018 to 2022, the rate of deaths due to firearms increased by 50% among male children and adolescents but remained lower and stable among females (Figure 5).

Among firearm deaths, suicides by firearm are more common among adolescents compared to younger children; and accidental gun deaths are more common among younger children than adolescents. Gun assaults accounted for roughly two-thirds of firearm deaths among both adolescents and younger children in 2022 (Figure 6). The second most common type of firearm death among adolescents was firearm suicides (31%), and among younger children was accidental gun deaths (19%).

Firearm death rates among children and adolescents vary considerably by state; however, almost all states have seen a growth in these death rates in pandemic years. During the pandemic years, the states with the highest firearm death rates among children and adolescents were Louisiana, Mississippi, and the District of Columbia (8.8, 8.8, and 8.4 per 100,000 respectively for combined years, 2020-2022). The states with the lowest firearm death rates were Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York (0.6, 0.9, and 1.1 per 100,000 respectively for combined years, 2020-2022). Almost all states experienced an increase in firearm death rates from pre-pandemic to pandemic years, with the largest changes seen in North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Montana (104%, 100%, and 84% respectively) (Figure 7).

What do we know about nonfatal firearm injury and exposure among children and adolescents?

The number of nonfatal firearm injuries far exceed the number of firearm fatalities among children and adolescents. However, estimates vary, with research suggesting nonfatal firearm injuries occur anywhere from two to four times more often than firearm fatalities. Recent data also indicates that since the pandemic began, nonfatal firearm injuries among children and adolescents have increased . The majority of youth nonfatal firearm injuries are a result of assaults.

Many children and adolescents are exposed to gun violence, even if they are not directly injured. Data on exposure to gun violence among youth is generally limited. However, a recent analysis found that in 34% of unintentional child and adolescent firearm deaths, at least one other child was present during the incident. Prior data from the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence found that 8% of children and adolescents were exposed to a shooting in their lifetime, with a higher share (13%) reported among adolescents (ages 14-17). Further, in a recent KFF poll , 17% of adults in the U.S. reported witnessing someone being injured by a gun.

Black children and adolescents are more likely to experience firearm injuries and exposures than their White peers. Leading up to the pandemic, Black and male children and adolescents were more likely to experience nonfatal firearm injuries than their peers. This disparity among Black youth firearm injuries and exposures has been exacerbated since the pandemic began. In general,  children  of color are more often exposed to gun violence than their White peers. Children living in areas with a high concentration of poverty are more likely to experience firearm-related deaths and poverty disproportionately affects children of color.

Gun violence can adversely affect the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents. Exposure to gun violence is linked to  post-traumatic stress disorder  and  anxiety , in addition to other mental health concerns among youth. Gun violence may also lead to challenges with  school performance , including increased absenteeism and difficulty concentrating. Children and adolescents are exposed to gun violence in a number of ways, outlined below.

• Neighborhood and community violence. Many children and adolescents experience violence  within their communities. Firearm homicides occurring within an adolescent’s community have been linked to anxiety and depression among adolescents, particularly for females. Other analyses have similarly found an association between incidents of neighborhood firearm homicides and poor mental health outcomes among youth.
• Suicide. Suicides are the second leading cause of death among adolescents and many suicides involve a firearm. Research  has found that access to  firearms , particularly in the home, is a risk factor for  suicide deaths  among  children  and  adolescents . Nearly half of suicide attempts occur within  10 minutes  of the current suicide thought, further underscoring access to  firearms as a risk factor for suicide.
• Domestic or intimate partner violence. Women and children are often the victims of intimate partner violence, which may involve firearms. The presence of a firearm in the home is linked to the escalation of intimate partner violence to homicides. Even when firearms are not used, they may serve as a means to threaten and intimidate victims of domestic violence.
• Mass shootings. Although mass shootings, including school shootings, account for a small portion of firearm-related deaths, they can negatively impact the  mental health  of children and communities at large. Research has found that  youth antidepressant use  and  suicide risk  increased in communities with exposures to school shootings. Additionally, a survey prior to the pandemic found that the majority of teenagers and their parents felt at least somewhat  worried  that a school shooting may occur at their school. In response to school shootings, nearly all  schools  practice active shooter drills, which may have a negative psychological impact on participants. Although research is limited on how mass shootings affect individuals not directly exposed to them, current literature suggests that information and knowledge of mass shootings may be linked to increased levels of  fear  and  anxiety .

Youth   survivors  of firearm injuries are at increased risk of mental health and substance use issues , in addition to chronic physical health conditions. An analysis of commercially insured children and adolescents found that, in the year following a firearm injury, survivors were significantly more likely to experience psychiatric and substance use disorders compared to their peers. Additionally, the increases in psychiatric disorders were more pronounced among youth with more severe firearm injuries compared to youth with less severe firearm injuries. Youth gunshot survivors are more likely to utilize mental health services following their injury compared to their uninjured peers. However, a study of youth survivors enrolled in Medicaid found that more than three out of five survivors had not received mental health services within the first six months following their injury.

Negative mental health impacts can extend to the family members of youth gun violence victims. Parents, particularly mothers, of youth firearm-injury survivors had an increase in psychiatric disorders and mental health visits in the year following the firearm incident, based on an analysis of commercially insured individuals. These increases in psychiatric disorders and mental health visits were more pronounced among families of youth firearm fatalities.

Gun violence disproportionately impacts Black children and adolescents, leaving them more vulnerable to negative mental health outcomes. In addition to increased assaults, firearm suicides, and exposure to community violence, Black communities are disproportionately exposed to police shootings . Research found that Black people living near the scene of a police killing of an unarmed Black individual experienced worsened mental health in the months that followed. Separately, despite mental health concerns among Black youth injured by gun violence, research on mental health service utilization in the months following a firearm injury is mixed, with one study finding higher utilization among Black youth compared to their White peers, and another study finding the reverse. Historically, Black individuals are less likely to receive mental health treatment and face additional barriers to care, such as the lack of culturally competent care.

What policies address child and adolescent exposure to gun violence and poor mental health?

Gun control debates are deeply divided politically in the U.S.; but beyond gun control, other approaches seek to reduce the impact of firearms on health, for example, through safe storage practices . Safe storage and child access prevention provisions have been linked to a reduction in adolescent firearm homicides and non-fatal gun injuries . These provisions vary widely across states ; some states have multiple provisions, while others have none. Some states have also enacted unique approaches to promote gun safety . For example, beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, local education agencies in California are required to notify parents annually on the safe storage of firearms; and some states provide tax rebates on safe storage devices. In January 2024, the Biden-Harris administration put forth additional steps to promote safe storage of firearms, including the U.S. Department of Justice providing guidance on safe storage. A recent KFF poll found that 44% of parents with children under the age of 18 have a gun in their household. Among parents with guns in their home, about one-third said a gun is stored loaded (32%) or stored in an unlocked location (32%) (Figure 8). More than half of parents (61%) said any gun in their home is stored in the same location as ammunition. The KFF poll also found that only 8% of parents said their child’s pediatrician talked to them about gun safety.

Recent policies address gun reform and expand mental health services for children and adolescents.  The  Bipartisan Safer Communities Act  was passed in 2022 in response to increasing gun violence. This legislation introduced several gun reform provisions, such as strengthening background checks for young adults and reducing gun access for individuals with a history of domestic violence. The legislation also focused on youth mental health,  including  expanding school-based mental health services and providing trauma care to students in need. In 2023, the White House detailed several new actions to maximize the Safer Communities Act, including developing more resources to inform states and schools on how they can use Medicaid to fund school-based behavioral health services, and highlighting effective examples of communities using Safer Communities Act funds to address gun violence trauma. While many funds have been dispersed through the original legislation, some school districts in need are still waiting to receive their mental health funding. Separately, other measures that may address youth mental health and gun violence trauma have been introduced, including the rollout of 988 , the federally mandated crisis number that can connect individuals experiencing suicidal thoughts to crisis counselors. Additionally, federal funding freezes on gun violence research were lifted. Since the unfreezing, some initial research from the CDC and NIH includes a focus on youth gun violence prevention.

Gun violence  disproportionately affects many children and adolescents of color, particularly Black children and adolescents, and this disparity has grown since the pandemic. Children and adolescents of color  may also face added barriers to mental health care in light of long-standing cultural inequities and a lack of culturally informed care. In 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services announced an initiative aimed at promoting  Black youth mental health  in response to sharply rising suicide rates among  Black  youth. In 2023, the Mental Health for Latinos Act was introduced in Congress to address disparities and cultural stigma Hispanic individuals experience with mental health care. In the same year, SAMHSA announced funding opportunities to create a Behavioral Health Center of Excellence aimed at improving behavioral health equity for Hispanic and Latino communities.

Gun violence can lead to increased mental health and substance use concerns. The recent increase in child and adolescent firearm injuries and deaths come at a time when concerns about  youth   mental health  have grown but access to and utilization of mental health care may have  worsened .

This work was supported in part by Well Being Trust. KFF maintains full editorial control over all of its policy analysis, polling, and journalism activities.

KFF analysis of youth firearm mortality is based on data from Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Wonder injury and mortality database. In this analysis, firearm-related deaths are defined as gun assault deaths, suicide deaths by firearm, deaths due to accidental firearm discharge, legal intervention leading to firearm death, and firearm deaths from an undetermined cause.

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news release

• Recent Increases in Firearm Deaths of Children and Adolescents Have Been Driven by Gun Assaults, Black Youths Are Disproportionally Affected

Also of Interest

• Americans’ Experiences With Gun-Related Violence, Injuries, And Deaths
• Child and Teen Firearm Mortality in the U.S. and Peer Countries
• Do States with Easier Access to Guns have More Suicide Deaths by Firearm?
• Recent Trends in Mental Health and Substance Use Concerns Among Adolescents
• The Landscape of School-Based Mental Health Services

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Safety in Numbers is our new monthly newsletter highlighting all things Team Research here at Everytown. Get to know our work and get to know us!

The Impact of Gun Violence on Children and Teens

Last Updated: 2.20.2023

Learn More:

• Child & Teen Gun Safety
• Guns in Schools
• Mass Shootings
• Reconsider Active Shooter Drills
• Secure Gun Storage
• Stop Arming Teachers

Introduction

When Davonte was asked what he wanted for his birthday, he didn’t ask for a big celebration, he only said, “I’m glad I made it to see 18.” He was shot and killed less than one week after turning 18. He had previously spoken before the Baltimore City Council on youth violence prevention.

Key Findings

The deadly impact of guns on children and teens in america.

Annually, nearly 4,000 children and teens (ages 0 to 19) are shot and killed, and 15,000 are shot and wounded—that’s an average of 53 American children and teens every day. 1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. WONDER Online Database, Underlying Cause of Death. A yearly average was developed using four years of the most recent available data: 2018 to 2021. Children and teens aged 0 to 19. Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, “A More Complete Picture: The Contours of Gun Injury in the United States, December 2020, https://everytownresearch.org/report/nonfatals-in-the-us/. And the effects of gun violence extend far beyond those struck by a bullet: An estimated three million children witness a shooting each year. 2 Finkelhor D, Turner HA, Shattuck A, Hamby SL. Prevalence of childhood exposure to violence, crime, and abuse: results from the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence. JAMA Pediatrics . 2015;169(8):746-54. Everytown analysis derives this number by multiplying the share of children (aged 0 to 17) who are exposed to shootings per year (4%) by the total child population of the US in 2016 (~73.5M). Gun violence shapes the lives of the children who witness it, know someone who was shot, or live in fear of the next shooting.

Gun deaths among children and teens by intent

Last updated: 2.20.2023

Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens . 3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. WONDER Online Database, Underlying Cause of Death, Injury Mechanism & All Other Leading Causes. Data from 2021. Children and teenagers aged 1 to 19. This is a uniquely American problem. Compared to other high-income countries, American children aged 5 to 14 are 21 times more likely to be killed with guns, and American adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 24 are 23 times more likely to be killed with guns. 4 Grinshteyn E, Hemenway D. Violent death rates in the US compared to those of the other high-income countries, 2015. Preventive Medicine . 2019;123:20-26.

When American children and teens are killed with guns, 62 percent are homicides—nearly 2,500 deaths per year. 5 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, WONDER Online Database, Underlying Cause of Death. A yearly average was developed using four years of the most recent available data: 2018 to 2021. Ages 0 to 19. Homicide includes shootings by police. Children are particularly impacted by the intersection of domestic violence and gun violence . For children under age 13 who are victims of gun homicides, 85 percent of those deaths occur in the home, and nearly a third of those deaths are connected to intimate partner or family violence. 6 Fowler KA, Dahlberg LL, Haileyesus T, Gutierrez C, Bacon S. Childhood firearm injuries in the United States. Pediatrics . 2017;140(1). Between 2015 and 2022, nearly two in three child and teen victims of mass shootings died in incidents connected to domestic violence. 7 Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund. Mass Shootings in America. https://every.tw/1XVAmcc . March 2023. Data drawn from 16 states indicate that nearly two-thirds of child fatalities involving domestic violence were caused by guns. 8 Adhia A, Austin SB, Fitzmaurice GM, Hemenway D. The role of intimate partner violence in homicides of children aged 2-14 years. American Journal of Preventive Medicine . 2019;56(1):38-46.

Another 33 percent of child and teen gun deaths are suicides—1,300 per year . 9 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, WONDER Online Database, Underlying Cause of Death. A yearly average was developed using four years of the most recent available data: 2018 to 2021. Ages 0 to 19. And firearm suicide has been rising dramatically: Over the past decade, the firearm suicide rate among children and teens has increased by 66 percent. 10 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. WONDER Online Database, Underlying Cause of Death. A percent change was developed using 2012–2021 crude rates for children and teens aged 0 to 19. For people of all ages, having access to a gun increases the risk of death by suicide by three times. 11 Anglemyer A, Horvath T, Rutherford G. The accessibility of firearms and risk for suicide and homicide victimization among household members: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of Internal Medicine . 2014;160(2):101-110. Research shows that an estimated 4.6 million American children live in homes with at least one gun that is loaded and unlocked. 12 Matthew Miller and Deborah Azrael, “Firearm Storage in US Households with Children: Findings from the 2021 National Firearm Survey,” JAMA Network Open 5, no. 2 (2022): e2148823, https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.48823 . The combination of suicidal ideation and easy firearm access can be lethal. When children under the age of 18 die by gun suicide, they are likely to have used a gun they found at home: Over 80 percent of child gun suicides involved a gun belonging to a parent or relative. 13 Johnson RM, Barber C, Azrael D, Clark DE, Hemenway D. Who are the owners of firearms used in adolescent suicides? Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. 2010;40(6):609-611.

Gun violence manifests in a myriad of ways in American schools, and school shootings have created new anxieties for the younger generation of students. According to an Everytown analysis , there have been at least 549 incidents of gunfire on school grounds from 2013 to 2019. 14 Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund. Keeping Our Schools Safe: A Plan for Preventing Mass Shootings and Ending All Gun Violence in American Schools. everytownresearch.org/school-safety-plan . February 2020. Of these, 347 occurred on the grounds of elementary, middle, or high schools, resulting in 129 deaths and 270 people wounded. 15 Everytown’s Gunfire on School Grounds database includes 201 incidents on colleges and universities. These incidents were excluded from analyses to focus on gunfire on K-12 school grounds. While mass shootings like the incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School—and, more recently, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and Santa Fe High School—are not commonplace, schools are more likely to experience gun homicides and assaults, unintentional shootings resulting in injury or death, and gun suicide and self-harm injuries. All incidents of gun violence in schools, regardless of their intent or victim count, compromise the safety of students and staff.

Children and teens who live in cities are at a significantly higher risk of gun homicides and assaults compared to their peers in rural areas. Ninety-two percent of all hospitalizations of children for firearm injuries occur in urban areas (counties with over 50,000 residents). 16 Herrin BR, Gaither JR, Leventhal JM, Dodington J. Rural versus urban hospitalizations for firearm injuries in children and adolescents.  Pediatrics.  2018;142(2): e20173318. Everytown calculation from dividing the number of urban hospitalizations by the total number of hospitalizations. These injuries have lifelong consequences: Almost 50 percent of the wounded have a disability when they are discharged from the hospital. 17 DiScala C, Sege R. Outcomes in children and young adults who are hospitalized for firearms-related injuries.  Pediatrics . 2004;113(5):1306–12. Fifteen- to 19-year-olds in urban areas are hospitalized for firearm assaults at a rate eight times higher than 15- to 19-year-olds in rural areas. 18 Herrin BR, Gaither JR, Leventhal JM, Dodington J. Rural versus urban hospitalizations for firearm injuries in children and adolescents.  Pediatrics . 2018;142(2): e20173318. Children and teens from 15 to 19; Nance ML, Denysenko L, Durbin DR. The rural-urban continuum: variability in statewide serious firearm injuries in children and adolescents.  Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.  2002;156(8):781-5. Urban and low-income youth are much more likely to witness gun violence than suburban and higher-income youth. 19 Stein BD, Jaycox LH, Kataoka S, Rhodes HJ, Vestal KD. Prevalence of child and adolescent exposure to community violence.  Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review . 2003 Dec;6(4):247-64.

The Disproportionate Impact of Gun Violence on Black and Latinx Children and Teens

As with gun violence generally, impact among children and teens is not equally shared across populations. Black children and teens in America are 17 times more likely than their white peers to die by gun homicide. 20 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. WONDER Online Database, Underlying Cause of Death. A yearly average was developed using five years of the most recent available data: 2016 to 2020. Children and teens aged 0 to 19, Black and white defined as non-Latinx origin. Homicide includes shootings by police. Black children and teens are 13 times more likely to be hospitalized for a firearm assault than white children. 21 Everytown for Gun Safety, “A More Complete Picture.” Latinx children and teens are 2.7 times more likely to die by gun homicide than their white peers. 22 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. WONDER Online Database, Underlying Cause of Death. A yearly average was developed using four years of the most recent available data: 2018 to 2021. Ages 0 to 19. Latinx defined as all races of Latinx origin. White defined as non-Latinx origin. Homicide includes shootings by police.

White and Black children may live in the same city yet experience it differently. Due to policy decisions that enforce racial segregation and disinvestment in certain communities, gun violence is concentrated in Black neighborhoods within cities, many of which are marked by high levels of poverty and joblessness and low levels of investment in education. 23 Chandler A. Interventions for reducing violence and its consequences for young Black males in America. Cities United. 2016.  https://bit.ly/2xGoNPG . A high concentration of these factors in a neighborhood is referred to as “concentrated disadvantage” and is a strong predictor of violent crime. Youth in neighborhoods that experience concentrated disadvantage can be isolated from institutions such as schools and jobs, increasing the risk that they will engage in crime and violence, thus feeding into this vicious cycle of violence. 24 Ibid.

Black and Latinx children in cities are exposed to violence at higher rates than white children. Exposure includes witnessing violence, hearing gunshots, and knowing individuals who have been shot. Black children in Columbus, OH, were exposed to 66 percent more violence, on average, than white children. 25 Browning CR, Calder CA, Ford JL, Boettner B, Smith AL, Haynie D. Understanding racial differences in exposure to violent areas: integrating survey, smartphone, and administrative data resources.  Annals of the American Academy of Pediatrics.  2017;669(1):41-62. In Chicago, Latinx children had 74 percent greater odds of exposure to violence, and Black children 112 percent greater odds, than white children. 26 Zimmerman GM, Messner SF. Individual, family background, and contextual explanations of racial and ethnic disparities in youths’ exposure to violence.  American Journal of Public Health.  2013;103(3):435-442. When children in these cities are exposed to gun violence, their communities and schools often lack the resources to help them heal. 27 Kohli S, Lee I. What it’s like to go to school when dozens have been killed nearby.  Los Angeles Times . February 27, 2019.  https://lat.ms/2VrTDqt .

Although Black students represent 15 percent of the total K-12 school population in America, they make up 25 percent of K-12 victims of gunfire at school.

US Department of Education. “State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary and Secondary Education, 1998-99 through 2016-17; National Elementary and Secondary Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Projection Model, 1972 through 2028,” Common Core Data (CCD). (2019). https://bit.ly/2Gl05d3

The disproportionate impact of gun violence on Black and Latinx children and teens extends to schools. Among the 335 incidents of gunfire at K-12 schools between 2013 and 2019, where the racial demographic information of the student body was known, 64 percent occurred in majority-minority schools. 28 Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund. Keeping Our Schools Safe: A Plan for Preventing Mass Shootings and Ending All Gun Violence in American Schools. everytownresearch.org/school-safety-plan. February 2020. Everytown gathered demographic information on the student population of each school included in the database for which data were available. A majority-minority school is defined as one in which one or more racial and/or ethnic minorities (relative to the US population) comprise a majority of the student population. Everytown identified the race of 102 of the 208 student victims identified in the database. Of those, 25 were identified as Black, 57 as white, 23 as Hispanic or Latino, 3 as Asian-Pacific Islander, and 4 as other. The analysis includes in the count of these victims both people shot and wounded and deaths resulting from homicides, non-fatal assaults, unintentional shootings, and suicides and incidents of self-harm where no one else was hurt. Although Black students represent approximately 15 percent of the total K-12 school population in America, they constitute 25 percent of the K-12 student victims of gunfire who were killed or shot and wounded on school grounds. 29 US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Common Core of Data (CCD). “State nonfiscal survey of public elementary and secondary education,” 1998-99 through 2015-16; National elementary and secondary enrollment by race/ethnicity projection model, 1972 through 2027. Everytown averaged the student population size, both total and Black student populations, for the years 2013 to 2018. February 2018.  https://bit.ly/2MTkw3C . Everytown identified the race of 95 of the 177 student victims identified in the database. Of those, 23 were identified as Black, 54 as white, 13 as Hispanic or Latino, 1 as Asian-Pacific Islander, and 4 as other. The analysis includes both injuries and deaths resulting from homicides, assaults, unintentional shootings, and suicides and incidents of self-harm where no one else was hurt, in the count of these victims.

While the above discussion shows the disparate experiences of gun violence by race and ethnicity, the data further show that gun violence is concentrated in specific neighborhoods in cities, with some schools and certain communities experiencing gun violence with an alarming frequency.

• Of the schools covered by gunshot detection technology in Washington, DC , just 9 percent experienced nearly half of all gunfire incidents. Four schools, including two middle schools and two high schools, had at least nine incidents of gunfire within just 500 feet of the school. 30 Bieler S, La Vigne N. Close-range gunfire around DC schools. Urban Institute. September 2014.  https://urbn.is/2Hazr8y . Gunshot detection technology covered 66 percent (116 out of 175) of traditional public schools and charters during the study period.
• Similarly, in Los Angeles , 34 percent of middle school students in one neighborhood with high rates of violence reported exposure to firearm violence. 31 Aisenberg E, Ayón C, Orozco-Figueroa A. The role of young adolescents’ perception in understanding the severity of exposure to community violence and PTSD.  Journal of Interpersonal Violence . 2008;23(11):1555-78.
• At certain urban middle schools in Texas , nearly 40 percent of boys and 30 percent of girls have witnessed a gun being pulled. 32 Barroso CS, Peters RJ, Kelder S, Conroy J, Murray N, Orpinas P. Youth exposure to community violence: association with aggression, victimization, and risk behaviors.  Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma.  2008;17(2):141-155.
• A study of 7-year-olds in an urban neighborhood found that 75 percent had heard gunshots, 18 percent had seen a dead body, and 61 percent worried some or a lot of the time that they might get killed or die. 33 Hurt H, Malmud E, Brodsky NL, Giannetta J. Exposure to violence: psychological and academic correlates in child witnesses.  Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine . 2001;155(12):1351-6.

The Far-reaching Impact of Children’s and Teens’ Exposure to Gun Violence

Children are harmed in numerous ways when they witness violence. Children exposed to violence, crime, and abuse are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol; suffer from depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder; resort to aggressive and violent behavior; and engage in criminal activity. 34 Finkelhor D, Turner HA, Ormrod R, Hamby S, Kracke K. Children’s exposure to gun violence: a comprehensive national survey. US Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.  https://bit.ly/PwXoZN . 2009; Morris E. Youth violence: implications for posttraumatic stress disorder in urban youth. National Urban League.  https://bit.ly/2KBpOyg . March 2009; Fowler PJ, Tompsett CJ, Braciszewski JM, Jacques-Tiura AJ, Baltes BB. Community violence: a meta-analysis on the effect of exposure and mental health outcomes of children and adolescents.  Development and Psychopathology . 2009;21(1):227-59. Exposure to community violence, including witnessing shootings and hearing gunshots, makes it harder for children to succeed in school. 35 Hurt H, Malmud E, Brodsky NL, Giannetta J. Exposure to violence: psychological and academic correlates in child witnesses.  Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine . 2001;155(12):1351-6; Schwartz D, Gorman AH. Community violence exposure and children’s academic functioning.  Journal of Educational Psychology . 2003;95(1):163-173.

Children’s exposure to gun violence can also erode physical health. When children live in neighborhoods where gun violence is common, they spend less time playing and being physically active, with one study finding that children said they would engage in an additional hour of physical activity every week if safety increased in their neighborhood. 36 Molnar BE, Gortmaker SL, Bull FC, Buka SL. Unsafe to play? Neighborhood disorder and lack of safety predict reduced physical activity among urban children and adolescents.  American Journal of Health Promotion.  2004;18(5):378-86.

Stress related to gun violence affects student performance and well-being in schools. School-aged children have lower grades and more absences when they are exposed to violence. 37 Hurt H, Malmud E, Brodsky NL, Giannetta J. Exposure to violence: psychological and academic correlates in child witnesses.  Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine . 2001;155(12):1351-6; Schwartz D, Gorman AH. Community violence exposure and children’s academic functioning.  Journal of Educational Psychology . 2003;95(1):163-173. High school students who have been exposed to violence have lower test scores and lower rates of high school graduation. 38 Harding DJ. Collateral consequences of violence in disadvantaged neighborhoods.  Social Forces . 2009;88(2):757-784; Finkelhor D, Turner H, Shattuck A, Hamby S, Kracke K. US Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Children’s exposure to gun violence, crime, and abuse: an update. September 2015.  https://bit.ly/2tK7ah6 . One study estimated that Black children in Chicago’s most violent neighborhoods spend at least a week out of every month functioning at lower concentration levels due to local homicides. 39 Sharkey P. The acute effect of local homicides on children’s cognitive performance.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.  2010;107(26):11733-11738. In Syracuse, NY, elementary schools located in areas with high concentrations of gunshots had 50 percent lower test scores and higher rates of standardized test failure compared to elementary schools in areas with a low concentration of gunshots. 40 Bergen-Cico D, Lane SD, Keefe RH. Community gun violence as a social determinant of elementary school achievement.  Social Work in Public Health . 2018;33(7-8):439-448.

Black high school students in the US are over twice as likely as white high school students to miss school due to safety concerns. 41 Sheats KJ, Irving SM, Mercy JA, et al. Violence-related disparities experienced by Black youth and young adults: opportunities for prevention.  American Journal of Preventive Medicine.  2018;55(4):462-469. In Chicago, following spikes in neighborhood violence, students reported feeling less safe, experiencing more disciplinary problems, and having less trust in teachers. 42 Burdick-Will J. Neighborhood violence, peer effects, and academic achievement in Chicago.  Sociology of Education.  2018;91(3):205-223.

Recommendations

One essential way to protect our youth and prevent children’s exposure to gun violence in their communities and schools is to prevent people with dangerous histories from ever getting a gun. Recommendations for comprehensive gun safety laws include:

Background checks on all gun sales

The foundation of any comprehensive gun violence prevention strategy must be background checks for all gun sales. Under current federal law, criminal background checks are required only for sales conducted by licensed dealers. This loophole is easy to exploit and makes it easy for convicted felons or domestic abusers to acquire guns without a background check simply by finding an unlicensed seller online or at a gun show.

Extreme Risk laws

These laws, increasingly being adopted by states, empower family members and law enforcement to petition a judge to temporarily block a person from having guns if they pose a danger to themselves or others. Extreme Risk laws —also known as Red Flag laws—can help prevent suicide, too. That is meaningful because nearly six out of every 10 gun deaths are suicides, 43 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. WONDER Online Database, Underlying Cause of Death. Firearm suicide deaths to total gun deaths ratio developed using four years of the most recent available data: 2018 to 2021. and the suicide rate among children and teens has been increasing exponentially in the past 10 years.

Secure gun storage and child access prevention laws

Secure storage laws require people to store firearms responsibly to prevent unsupervised access to firearms. A subset of these laws, known as child access prevention laws, specifically target unsupervised access by minors. Secure firearm storage practices are associated with reductions in the risk of self-inflicted and unintentional firearm injuries among children and teens—up to 85 percent depending on the type of storage practice. 44 Grossman DC, Mueller BA, Riedy C, et al. Gun storage practices and risk of youth suicide and unintentional injuries.  JAMA . 2005;293(6):707-714. Study found households that locked both firearms and ammunition had an 85 percent lower risk of unintentional firearm deaths than those that locked neither.

Keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers

Children are frequent casualties of domestic violence homicides when a gun is involved. Research also shows that the presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation makes it five times more likely that a woman will be killed. 45 Campbell JC, Webster D, Koziol-McLain J, et al. Risk factors for femicide within physically abuse intimate relationships: results from a multisite case control study.  American Journal of Public Health . 2003;93(7):1089-1097. It is imperative to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers to keep women, children, and their families safe. When abusers are convicted of domestic violence or subject to final restraining orders, they should be blocked from purchasing guns and required to turn in those they already own. We also need to close the “boyfriend loophole” by making sure those laws apply to abusers regardless of whether the violence is directed towards a spouse or a dating partner.

In addition to evidence-based gun safety laws, there are a number of programs and strategies that communities and schools can adopt to keep children and teens safe from gun violence, some examples of which include:

Threat assessment programs

Threat assessment programs—like the Everytown and AFT-endorsed Comprehensive Student Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) 46 Cornell DG, Sheras PL.  Guidelines for responding to student threats of violence.  Longmont, CO: Sopris West; 2006. —help schools identify students who are at risk of committing violence and get them the help they need in order to resolve student threat incidents. 47 Ibid. The programs generally consist of multi-disciplinary teams that are specifically trained to intervene at the earliest warning signs of potential violence and divert those who would do harm to themselves or others to appropriate treatment. Several studies have found that schools that use threat assessment programs see fewer students carry out threats of violence; and experience fewer suspensions, expulsions, and arrests. 48 Cornell, D, Maeng, J, Burnette AG., et al. Student threat assessment as a standard school safety practice: results from a statewide implementation study.  School Psychology Quarterly . 2017;33(2):213-222; Cornell D., Maeng, J. Burnette AG, Datta P, Huang F, Jia Y. Threat assessment in Virginia schools: technical report of the Threat Assessment Survey for 2014-2015. Curry School of Education, University of Virginia. May 12, 2015; Cornell DG, Allen K, Fan X. A randomized controlled study of the Virginia Student Threat Assessment Guidelines in kindergarten through grade 12.  School Psychology Review.  2012;41(1):100-115. Importantly, studies have shown that CSTAG threat assessment programs generally do not have a disproportionate impact on students of color. 49 Ibid.

Safe and equitable schools

School communities must look inside their schools to make sure they are encouraging effective partnerships between students and adults, while also looking externally to ensure that they are a key community resource. Schools should review discipline practices and ensure threat assessment programs are not adversely affecting school discipline. They should work to become “community schools” by building effective community partnerships that provide services that support students, families, and neighborhoods. If and when employing school resource officers (SROs), schools should take steps to build relationships between communities and law enforcement.

Youth-centric intervention programs

A variety of programs exist to help children cope with witnessing firearm violence. School-based programs, including social emotional learning , have been shown to reduce the negative effects of children’s exposure to gun violence. Mentoring programs are effective at improving academic performance and reducing youth violence. Chicago’s Safe Passage program makes children feel safer on their way to and from school and may increase school attendance. To learn more about two specific organizations that help children succeed after witnessing violence, please explore these resources about the Hip Hop Heals and Becoming A Man programs.

If you or someone you know has been exposed to gun violence, there are resources that can help. Everytown’s Children’s Responses to Trauma provides information for parents and adults about how to support children and teens who have experienced a shooting or are upset by images of gun violence. Additional information to help with the emotional, medical, financial, and legal consequences of gun violence for individuals and communities is on our Resources page.

Everytown Research & Policy is a program of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, an independent, non-partisan organization dedicated to understanding and reducing gun violence. Everytown Research & Policy works to do so by conducting methodologically rigorous research, supporting evidence-based policies, and communicating this knowledge to the American public.

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Did you know?

Every day, more than 120 people in the United States are killed with guns, twice as many are shot and wounded and countless others are impacted by acts of gun violence.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. WONDER Online Database, Underlying Cause of Death. A yearly average was developed using four years of the most recent available data: 2018 to 2021.

Last updated: 2.13.2023

The Main Causes of Youth Violence Essay

Introduction, causes of youth violence, effects of youth violence, reference list.

Youth violence is not only a widespread social phenomenon but also a significant health problem. Homicide is the fourth most common cause of death among people aged 10-29 (Golshiri et al ., 2018). Apart from this, the experience of violence may lead to other severe mental and physical disorders. Young people can also be involved in the process of violence as perpetrators, which raises the question of their psychological health as well.

Youth violence may be viewed as a cruel and harmful behavior “exerted by, or against, children and young people” (Seal and Harris, 2018, p. 23). However, it seems that similar reasons underlie the two sides of youth violence, and thus, their causes and effects may be examined together. This paper attempts to identify the main reasons behind the abuse among young people and its potential consequences for youth and society.

The Background

It seems evident that young people are heavily influenced by the community where they have grown up and live. People obtain their values and foundations of the worldview in childhood and adolescence. That is why youth violence can be caused by the background of those who perpetrate or experience abuse. The family has the most substantial impact on the behavior of young people, among other institutions. The family directly relates to youth violence considered as experience. Child abuse is one of the most popular forms of violence against youth. However, it is also clear that family life can lead to acts of violence committed by young people.

Bushman et al . (2016) argue that “interparental violence, chaotic family life,” and “inconsistent discipline” are among crucial risk factors of youth violence (p. 21). In other words, young people who were poorly treated in their family or witnessed some cruelty have a higher chance of becoming perpetrators. The neighborhood plays a similar role in the expansion of violence among people. Youth who live in poor areas with high levels of criminality face cruelty and abuse very often, and thus, may be severely influenced by them.

Personal Characteristics

Although the awareness of a person’s surroundings can help in predicting his or her violent behavior, there are still some other factors that may contribute to youth abuse. It is impossible to omit the fact that the social surrounding does not influence some features of personality. These traits are shared among the perpetrators and include “psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism” (Bushman et al ., 2018). All of them are similar in the sense that people who possess them do not think about the feelings of others, and therefore, can sometimes be very violent. Finally, some people may have a mental disorder or congenital propensity for violence.

Access to Guns and the Influence of the Media

Shooting is one of the most common forms of youth violence, and guns are the primary weapons of perpetrators. Arms allow committing crimes, even those people who are not able to do it in any other way. Thus, even physically weak adolescents have access to a murder weapon. This happens partly due to broad coverage of violence in media. Young people hear about numerous acts of violence daily, and this news may serve as an inspiration for them. This news covers not only particular acts of violence committed by youth but also wars and armed conflicts. It seems that even aggressive sports may be a reason for young people’s vicious behavior. The ideas of dominance and brute force are rather popular with the media these days (Bushman et al ., 2018). In this context, the media is also an essential boost to youth violence.

Extension of Violence

It is an undeniable fact that violence only leads to more violence. According to Lovegrove and Cornell (2016), those young people who were involved in some act of violence “have a higher likelihood of engaging in other forms of problem behavior” (p. 6). This means that if some person committed a crime during his or her adolescence, there is a probability that they will be involved in more severe crimes in the future.

Moreover, the experience of violence in adolescence can also be a reason for delinquent behavior in adulthood. Those who have been bullied or rejected in their schoolyears have a high chance of becoming perpetrators of abuse when they grow up (Bushman et al ., 2016). Thus, both perpetrators and victims disseminate violence across society.

Health Problems

It was already mentioned above that youth violence is a significant health problem. It is clear that those people who experienced abuse suffer most of all. For instance, if a person was bullied in school, it can result in him or her experiencing psychological trauma for the rest of their life. Victimization may cause addiction to tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs (Lovegrove and Cornell, 2016). Thus, victimized people might become ill both mentally and physically. This example shows the consequences of non-fatal youth violence. The effects of abuse, which leads to someone’s death, are somewhat visible and even worse than in the case of non-fatal victimization.

On the other hand, it seems that young people who acted as perpetrators may also have health and mental problems due to their experience of violence. Some people may never regret harming others, but those who will repent their violent behavior are likely to suffer from it as well. This burden can be especially hard if they committed some severe crime, and nobody knew about it.

One can imagine a person who participated in bullying, which resulted in the death of the victim. If nobody revealed that this person was guilty of this crime, he or she would have to keep it to themselves to the end of days. If this person starts feeling sorry for this crime one day, he or she can, therefore, experience some serious psychological problems. The same as in the previous case, this person might become addicted to alcohol and drugs. Overall, it can be seen that the mental and physical health of both perpetrators and victims can be damaged by youth violence.

Even though youth violence can be viewed differently – as perpetration and as an experience of being victimized – some fundamental causes and effects of this phenomenon still exist. Young people who commit acts of violence are strongly influenced by their background, personal traits, access to guns, and the coverage of abuse in the media. At the same time, these reasons also apply to the youth who experienced violence. The two main effects of youth violence are the dissemination of abuse across social and health problems of perpetrators and victims. As can be seen, youth violence is a serious health and social issue which affects the whole society.

Bushman, B.J. et al . (2016) ‘Youth violence: what we know and what we need to know’, American Psychologist , 71(1), pp. 17-39.

Golshiri, P. et al . (2018) ‘Youth violence and related risk factors: a cross-sectional study in 2800 adolescents’, Advanced Biomedical Research 7(138), pp. 1-8. Web.

Lovegrove, P.J. and Cornell, D.G. (2016) ‘Patterns of bullying and victimization associated with other problem behaviors among high school students: a conditional latent class approach’, in Taylor, T. (ed.) Youth violence prevention . London: Routledge, pp. 5-22.

Seal, M. and Harris, P. (2016) Responding to youth violence through youth work . Bristol: Policy Press.

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IvyPanda. (2023, October 30). The Main Causes of Youth Violence. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-main-causes-and-effects-of-youth-violence/

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A systematic review of the causes and prevention strategies in reducing gun violence in the United States

Affiliations.

• 1 Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care, Kendall Regional Medical Center, Miami, FL, USA.
• 2 Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care, Kendall Regional Medical Center, Miami, FL, USA; University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.
• 3 Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care, Kendall Regional Medical Center, Miami, FL, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
• PMID: 33071102
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajem.2020.06.062

Background: Approximately 100 lives are lost each day as a result of gun violence in the United States (US) with civilian mass shootings increasing annually. The gun violence rate in the US is almost 20 times higher than other comparable developed countries and has the most gun ownership per capita of any nation in the world. Understanding the causes and risk factors are paramount in understanding gun violence and reducing its incidence.

Methods: A literature search of all published articles relating to gun violence and mass shootings in the US was conducted using the Medline and PMC databases. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines were used in conducting this study. Rayyan statistical software was utilized for analysis. Statistical significant was defined as p < .05.

Results: Of the initial 2304 eligible manuscripts identified, 22 fulfilled our selection criteria. A variety of common causal and contributory factors were identified including but not limited to mental illness, suicidal ideation, intimate partner violence, socioeconomic status, community distress, family life, childhood trauma, current or previous substance abuse, and firearm access.

Conclusion: Gun violence is pervasive and multi-factorial. Interventions aimed at reducing gun violence should be targeted towards the most common risk factors cited in the literature such as access, violent behavioral tendencies due to past exposure or substance abuse, and mental illness including suicidal ideation.

Keywords: Gun violence; Gun violence research funding; Mental illness; Policies; Socio-economic factors.

Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Publication types

• Systematic Review
• Firearms / legislation & jurisprudence*
• Gun Violence / prevention & control*
• Gun Violence / trends*
• Risk Factors
• United States

Causes and Effects of Gun Violence

The night of October 1, 2017 at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas was interrupted by the sound of gun fire that was opened by a gunman from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino (Time, 2017). As Time reported, in this massive shooting, which went on for 10-15 minutes at about a crowd of 20,000 people, more than 500 people were injured and at least 50 people were killed (Time, 2017). With this tragic incident, the open-air music concert that was intended for entertainment ended up leaving many people in a deep sorrow. The right to possess guns has a long tradition in America.

Sandra Alters, in the book Gun Control points out that the history of bearing arms in America goes back to the time when the colonists settled in North America, and the Americans used their weapons to defend themselves as well as win their freedom (2007:1). Guns became part of people’s lives especially after the adoption of the Second Amendment. James Madison, who was an American statesman and founding father, wrote the ten amendments to the constitution known as Bill of rights in which he ratified individuals’ rights to possess arms in the Second Amendment (Alter, 2007:2). This gave to the rise of the modern debate regarding gun control in which one side claims that gun ownership is guaranteed by the Second Amendment and helps to protect oneself; whereas the other side proclaims that with the prevalence of more guns, there is more violence. This paper discusses why gun violence is a social problem and what could be done about it.

Gun violence costs the lives of many innocent people. One of the victims are children and young people. Children are susceptible to be victimized of a certain social problem as they can be easily influenced by others. For instance, in today’s world the advanced technology has enabled children to have easy access to violent video games and movies. In these movies or videos, they watch people committing various violent activities, and they try to mimic the actions of those whom they especially consider as “heroes,” leading them to cause gun injuries intentionally or unintentionally. In addition, Collins and Swoveland on Children’s VOICE, state that the exposure of children and young people to gun violence not only inspires them to have violent behaviors, but they could also have trouble with controlling their emotions (23: 1).

Let’s look at some statistical data of children and gun violence from the year 2010-2015. Children’s Defense Fund, in the book Guns and Crimes, reported that 2,694 children and teens were killed from gunshots in 2010 in the U.S. (2015:18). Out of these children 44.73% were Black, 33% White, 19% were Hispanic, 1.52% were American Indian and 1% were Asian or Pacific Islander (Children’s Defense Fund, 2015:21). Not only that, among the gun deaths, Children’s Defense Fund, reveled the 1,773 to be homicide, 749 suicides, 134 accidental gun death and 38 with “undetermined intent” (2015:19). Jacqueline Howard reported on CNN that according to the Journal Pediatrics, from 2012-2014, 1267 children died from being wounded by gunshots (2017).

In 2015, Children’s Defense Fund reported the death of 2,799 children from guns in the U.S. and out these, 42% i.e. 1182 were Black. From the above statistical data, it can be inferred that although there was a decrement in gun-related death of children from 2010 to 2014, the number has shown a significant increment in 2015. And also, it can be noticed that Black children and teens are more likely to die from gunshots than White, Asian and Pacific Islander children and teens. Hence, children are one of the victims of gun violence.

The high rate of gun violence is not limited to affecting only children and teens. It has also been a predominant cause of death among adults and elder people. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics in the book, Gun Violence, in 2011 about 70% of the homicides were attributed to guns (2016). As the Bureau of Justice explains, the four factors that played role in being the victim of the homicide were: gender, in which men were more likely to be targeted for homicides than females; race, in which black people had a higher rate of gun homicide than white people; age, in which people from the age of 18-34 were victimized in the homicide and location, in which people living in the southern area were at a high risk of the gun homicide (2015).

Christine Hauser, in New York Times, reported that the rate of gun-related deaths in 2017 in the U.S. was 12 per 100,000 people and has increased from 2016, which was 11 per 100,000 people (2017). Furthermore, the 2016 Pulse night club shooting in Orlando, Florida and the 2017 Las Vegas shooting are few examples of the deadliest gun massacres that took the lives of many. Hence, it could be said that gun violence remains to be threat for individuals and society as whole.

Gun violence not only impacts the lives of people, but it also jeopardizes the economy of a nation. As it was mentioned in the above paragraphs, gun violence costs the lives of many people, targeting especially the productive age group. This results in the decrement of the working power or human resource, which in turn compromises the nation’s economy. In addition, in 2017, Jacqueline from CNN reported that according to the American Journal of Public Health, people who are hospitalized from gunshot injuries cost the United States 700,000 billion dollars per year. This means a good deal of the nation’s budget goes to the treatment of patients that are wounded by guns. Also, in areas where there is a high risk of gun violence, for instance in the southern region of the U.S., potential areas for investment are destroyed followed by decreased business development. Hence, gun violence is an obstacle to the economy of a nation. Gun violence could be seen differently from objectivists and subjectivists outlook.

Nathan Palmer, in his article on Sociology in Focus, points out that the former president Barack Obama, having been disheartened to have addressed the nation about mass shooting “15 times during his administration,” he asked the reporters to compare the number of people in America killed by terrorists and the number of people who were killed by gun violence within the last 10 years (2015). Here an objective outlook can be noticed as Barack Obama was comparing gun violence with terrorism. However, even though gun violence has been causing more deaths than terrorism, many people widely recognize terrorism as a social problem than gun violence.

Now the question is, if the number of deaths of people is the basis for considering terrorism as a social problem, why do many people argue than gun violence is not a social problem? That is what Joel Best, in his book Social Problems, explains as one of the limitations of the objectivist approach. In addition, even among objectivists, there could be contradictions as to why gun violence should be viewed as a social problem. For instance, one objectivist might see the mass shooting at the music concert in Las Vegas as a problem, because more people were not armed to protect themselves while another objectivist could attribute the right to own guns by individuals as a cause for the mass shooting.

And this is the second limitation of objectivists that Best points out in his book. The subjectivist outlook explains why gun violence has been around for a long time in spite of the casualties it is attributed to, that is, enough people have not been reacting to it. In fact, many argue that guns do not kill people; people kill people. It is true that guns by themselves are just tools and do not harm anyone, but as they are cheap, quick and portable, they make it convenient for people to commit violence and kill people to a great extent. Furthermore, if we look at the statistical data in the above paragraph, we can notice that the major victims of gun violence are Black people, which makes them likely to see it as a problem.

Also, the fact that terrorism, which not only affects the black people but also compromises the interests of politicians, corporates, the economy and social structure of the nation, is seen as a big social problem leads us to critical constructionism approach, in which social problems that are presented to the public reflect the interests of the elites as explained by Robert Heiner (2016:10). It is no wonder to see people in a very individualistic nation like the U.S., argue that the possession of guns is necessary for personal safety against violence. However, personal solutions do not solve social problems.

Gun violence is not just a trouble that concerns an individual and those whom he/she is personally aware of; it is a public issue that goes beyond limited areas and costs the lives of many innocent people out there. And this is why we need to find solutions that benefit not only individuals, but also the society and the nation as a whole. After all, one does not have meaning by itself without the other. Hence, we need to take some remedial actions. We need organizations that could actively work against gun violence. This is not to say that there are not claim-making groups/organizations that are making great contributions in reducing gun violence. However, we need more of them as only few cannot make the desired difference.

Also, there should be “strict” policies that regulate gun ownership. For instance, increasing the level of penalties for gun criminalists; also before giving gun license, having people go through full training and courses that explain the law, and researches that have been done on gun violence; not only that, even after giving the gun license, strictly monitoring how they have been using the gun on a regular basis. In addition, gun violence calls for the attention of the media.

As Robert Heiner explains, the media has great influence in “shaping” the society as to what extent they consider a certain issue as a social problem. Although we cannot create an environment that is absolutely free from crimes, we can make a better and safer one. Children should not grow up watching others commit violence, and people should not feel insecure about getting back to their homes safely. Innocent lives must not be taken away like flies. How many lives must be taken from us before we recognize that guns are being used for more than just defending oneself? How many gun massacres must we witness before we notice that gun violence is just as threatening as terrorism?

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Causes of Gun Violence, Essay Example

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Gun violence is a political issue that is regularly debated on as the two distinct political ideologies hold different opinions on guns and violence. It is widely accepted that gun violence is common in poorer parts of an urban areas. With statistics indicating that gun violence is increasing, many have sought to find the real cause of gun violence. In 2010 alone, 1,939 murders were reported involving an unidentified firearm, 6,009 murders involving handguns and 358 murders involving rifles. I believe that the two primary cause of gun violence are increased access to guns and the effect of popular culture on the younger generations.

Increased Access to Guns

The increased and easier access to guns by the American public is the number one cause of gun violence within the country. As modernization and secularization continue to affect the developing economy, social vices are bound to arise (Faircloth, 2013). Insecurity is one of them. However, this type of insecurity has been encouraged by the ability of almost any American to own a gun.

A gun may be used in different forms to cause insecurity or a potential threat to human life. The most common use of a gun is to commit suicide. Statistically, suicide comprises two thirds of all deaths which are gun related. This can only be attributed to the access to guns. A comparison can be made between North Carolina and other States in order to show the position North Carolina is ranked at in the United States with regards to teenage deaths as a result of gun violence. Between 2000 and 2010, there have been 948 overall teenage deaths as a result of gun violence. North Carolina has a 3.6 overall gun death rate for teenagers and is ranked 27th out of the 50 states in the United States.

Guns are linked to domestic violence and the ease of access to these guns is rapidly becoming a problem in North Carolina. There is a definite correlation between the accessibility of guns by teenagers in North Carolina and the prevalence of homicides committed by juveniles. 91% of homicides committed by juveniles are carried out using firearms and this is catalyzed by the ease of access to firearms by juveniles in North Carolina (Harris, 2013). Gun control laws offer little in deterrence to prevent youth from owning firearms given minors under the age of 18 are by law not allowed to buy shotguns or handguns. Stringency of gun control laws have not generally reduced the total number of gun purchases and has not limited the number of guns entering into society. Gun control with regard to adolescents has been unable to prevent minors from obtaining firearms either from an owner who has obtained the firearm legally or from an illegal source.

A failing gun control law and the liberalization of gun control threatens the very fabric of security within the society. Gun control is pertinent to the security of the economy and the society. It is therefore paramount that government institutionalizes stringent gun control laws that prohibit gun ownership and limits the places one can store a firearm.

Popular Culture and Gun Violence

The invention of mass media led to the revolution in communication. Mass media enabled people to pass across information to many individuals at the same time. However, mass media has evolved over the years to become an important and effective tool of communication. It is now used to create and shape people’s perceptions towards a specific subject. This very concept, in itself, has been influenced by mass media.

The media in many ways has become the determinant of what is trendy and in fashion. This is owing to the fact that many individuals tend to believe what is in the media. By giving considerable airplay to music and movies that depict violence and guns, it creates the illusion of what is considered cool and/or acceptable by society. This encourages individuals to engage in acts of violence using guns.

The most common notable effect of the media and gun violence is through video games. Video game making companies have become brand names and household names as a result of the quality of work they produce. High intensity video games that depicts acts of violence using guns are the best-selling video games in the world. Games such as Grand Theft Auto V that depicts the life of a gangster taking revenge on the people that betrayed him, encourages gun violence. The video game has earned $32.5 million since its release in 2013 (Cantor, 2012). Another common leading video game franchise is the Call of Duty franchise. Its different instalments have grossed over $20 million in revenue. This only points to the undeniable fact that gun violence is a huge part of popular culture and that it is slowly eroding the family morals that Americans once held.

Most young people acquire knowledge from the world around them. When they are exposed to media with violent content, they tend to adopt and/or develop characters and behaviours that are inclined towards violence, gun violence in particular (Benton, 2008). The more a child is exposed to content containing violence, the more likely that, growing up, they would readily own or use a gun.

Paul Cantor in his publication, The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture: Liberty vs. Authority in American Film and Tv , shows how aspects of liberty and authority have become an integral part of the American dream, transforming it into something different (Cantor, 2012). The popular culture in America has become fixated with the creation of a society where everyone struggles for power. In this case, other seek power through owning a weapon as a way of protecting oneself. Wealth and power are depicted as two important facets of the American dream. Wealth is predominantly the most desired thing in the world, power is also readily welcome by most. Guns offer others the opportunity to gain bot wealth and power. This is because wealth and power denote status in the society.

Popular culture provided the American people with an imaginative way to rethink and reshape the American dream. Through imagination, film has provided way in which people can visualize the destruction as a way of channelling their emotions and fears. This influences an individual’s perception of right and wrong, and their management of disappointment and resentment may be channelled through the use of a firearm.

In conclusion, weak gun control laws have made access to guns easier, as such increasing the rate at which gun violence occurs. Popular culture through film and other forms of media influence people’s perceptions and ideologies in relation to gun control and gun violence. This forms a fundamental problem within society, encouraging gun violence.

Benton, K. B. (2008). Guns Are Not the Cause of Youth Violence. In J. Carroll, America’s Youth. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.

Cantor, P. A. (2012). The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture: Liberty Vs. Authority in Aerican Film and TV. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.

Dziewanski, D. (2011). Popular Culture Promotes Gun Violence. In L. Gerdes, Gun Violence: Opposing Viewponts (pp. 23-26). Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press.

Faircloth, S. (2013, February 8). Why More Guns Won’t Make Us Safer. The Week , pp. 36-37.

Harris, S. (2013, February 1). Why I Own Guns. The Week , pp. 36-37.

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Americans' Staunch Defense of Gun Ownership Amid Rising Concerns over Violence and Safety

I n the United States, the right to bear arms is a constitutional guarantee that continues to be zealously defended by a significant portion of the population. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted from June 5 to June 11, 2023, offers compelling insights into the enduring American affinity for firearms and the intricate feelings regarding gun ownership and policy.

A backdrop of increasing gun violence, which has now become the leading cause of death for U.S. children and teens, gun ownership remains embedded in American society. The survey revealed that about a third of adults in the U.S. claim personal ownership of guns, a statistic that aligns with past findings from 2021 and 2017.

Protection is cited as the primary motivator for gun ownership, with an overwhelming 72% of owners affirming this rationale. Other reasons such as hunting and sport shooting fall significantly behind. The pursuit of safety is the fact that 81% of gun owners feel safer owning a firearm, with only 12% expressing concerns about having guns at home.

The perception of guns as a means of protection persists in an environment where Americans are starkly divided over the implications of gun possession for public safety. Nearly half believe gun ownership increases safety by enabling law-abiding citizens to defend themselves, while the other half contends it decreases safety by providing excessive access to firearms. Republicans are far more likely to support gun ownership as a safety measure than Democrats.

The debate over gun policies reflects these deep-seated divisions. While there is bipartisan support for certain measures, such as preventing mentally ill individuals from purchasing guns, Democrats and Republicans are largely at odds over the need for stricter laws. For example, most Democrats favor banning assault-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, whereas a majority of Republicans oppose these proposals.

American attitudes towards the future of gun ownership display a mix of apprehension and openness. While 52% of non-owners can’t envision themselves ever owning a gun, a nearly equal proportion could see themselves as future gun owners.

These results come to light as the nation witnesses a drop in federal background checks post a peak during the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating a recent slowdown in new firearm purchases. Despite this, with an estimated 393 million privately owned firearms in the U.S., the country remains heavily armed. While most Americans feel that obtaining a gun legally is too easy and support stricter gun regulations, there is a strong resistance to giving up the sense of security—whether real or perceived—that firearms offer.

Around one-third (32%) of parents with children in grades K-12 express being very or extremely concerned about the possibility of a shooting occurring at their child’s school, based on a fall 2022 survey by the Center of parents with at least one child under 18. A similar portion of K-12 parents (31%) indicate they are not very or not at all worried about such an event happening at their child’s school, while 37% of parents mention being somewhat worried.

Relevant articles:

– Key facts about Americans and guns , Pew Research Center

– Why Guns Are Good for Self , onlinetexasltc.com

– For Most U.S. Gun Owners, Protection Is the Main Reason They Own a Gun , Pew Research Center

Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Gun Violence — Causes and Consequences of Gun Violence by Teens

Causes and Consequences of Gun Violence by Teens

• Categories: Gun Violence Youth Violence

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Words: 519 |

Published: Jan 5, 2023

Words: 519 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

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Violent games.

• McLeod, Saul. 'Bobo Doll Experiment' SimplyPsychology 2014 https://www.simplypsychology.org/bobo-doll.html
• Park, Jenny. 'Increased gun violence risk among bullied students' The Nation's Health September 2017 http://thenationshealth.aphapublications.org/content/47/7/E32  

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