Gun Violence Must Stop. Here&039s What We Can Do to Prevent More Deaths | Prevention Institute

listen to “how communities can prevent gun violence,” a podcast episode from the prevention institute

Over and over again, we are heartbroken by the news of another mass shooting. part of our healing must be the conviction that we will do everything in our power to prevent these tragedies from occurring in a nation that continues to grapple with a pandemic of gun violence. We must not only work to prevent high-profile mass shootings, but also the daily gun deaths that claim more than 30,000 lives each year.

We know that these deaths are a predictable result of our country’s lack of political will to make a change and insufficient investment in prevention approaches that work. Through a public health approach that focuses on harnessing the evidence and addressing the factors that increase or decrease the risk of gun violence, particularly in communities that are disproportionately affected, we can save lives.

Whenever a great tragedy occurs, the discourse tends to focus on addressing a specific place. In the wake of the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas School in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018, there is an understandable focus on school safety. We strongly support the broad engagement of community members, including youth and other survivors of gun violence, legislators, and others, to insist that schools be safe. We must also insist on that same level of security for our places of worship, shopping malls, movie theaters, concert halls, nightclubs, workplaces, neighborhoods, and homes.

We are hearing from young people of all races, classes and sexualities, in Florida, Baltimore, Philadelphia and across the country, who are coming together to speak truth to power. we have renewed hope that, together, we can prevent gun violence, not only in the case of mass shootings, but also in the case of domestic violence, suicide, community violence, and violence involving law enforcement. We first developed this list after the Sandy Hook tragedy in 2012. The public health approach has evolved since then, and we have now updated it, including more attention to addressing multiple forms of gun violence.

The following recommendations begin with attention to reducing immediate gun-related risks, expand to address the underlying factors that contribute to gun violence, and then address the prevention infrastructure needed to ensure effectiveness. We also include recommendations related to new frontiers for research and practice, to ensure that we continue to learn, innovate, and increase our impact over time. The set of recommendations illustrates that one program or policy alone will not significantly reduce gun violence, but that through comprehensive strategies, we can achieve safety in our homes, schools, and communities.

summary of recommendations

Gun Safety: Reduce the imminent risk of lethality through sensible gun laws and a culture of safety.

1. sensible gun laws: reduce easy access to dangerous weapons.

2. establish a culture of gun safety.

• reduce access to firearms for youth and people who are at risk of harming themselves or others.
• Hold the arms industry accountable and ensure there is proper oversight over the marketing and sale of arms and ammunition.
• Involve responsible gun dealers and owners in solutions.
• Insist on mandatory training and licensing for owners.
• requires safe and secure gun storage.

Underlying contributors to gun violence: systematically reducing risks and increasing resilience in individuals, families, and communities.

3. public health solutions: recognizing gun violence as a critical and preventable public health problem.

4. Comprehensive Solutions: Support community planning and the implementation of comprehensive community safety plans that include prevention and intervention.

5. Trauma, Connection, and Services: Expanding access to high-quality, culturally competent, coordinated social, emotional, and mental health supports and addressing the impact of trauma.

prevention infrastructure: guarantee the effectiveness and sustainability of efforts

6. Support research on gun violence: Make sure the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others have the resources to study this topic and provide science-based guidance.

7. health system: establish a comprehensive health system in which the prevention of violence is a responsibility and imperative of the health system.

new frontiers: continue to learn, innovate and increase impact through research and practice

8. Community healing: prevention of community trauma.

9. mental health and wellness: investing in communities to promote resilience and mental health and wellness.

10. supporting healthy norms of masculinity: exploring the pathways between gun violence and harmful norms that have focused on maintaining power and privilege.

11. impulsive anger: explore the links between anger and gun violence.

12. economic development: reduce concentrated disadvantage and invest in employment opportunities.

13. police violence: establish responsibilities for sworn officers and private security.

14. technology: advanced weapons safety and self-defense technology.

complete recommendations to prevent armed violence

Gun Safety: Part of a public health approach to gun violence is about preventing imminent risk of lethality through sensible gun laws and a culture of safety.

1. Sensible Gun Laws: Reduce Easy Access to Dangerous GunsBanning high-capacity magazines and firing boosters, requiring universal background checks with no loopholes, instituting waiting periods, and reinstating the ban assault weapons immediately.
2. Establish a culture of gun safety: As the most heavily armed nation in the world, we must ensure that people are safe.
• reduce access to firearms for youth and people who are at risk of harming themselves or others. This includes keeping guns out of the hands of those who have been violent towards their partners and families, and those with previous violent convictions, either by expanding lethality screening and background checks or by supporting gun bills. domestic violence and gun violence restraining orders.
• Hold the arms industry accountable and ensure there is proper oversight over the marketing and sale of arms and ammunition. Five percent of arms dealers sell 90% of the weapons used in crimes, and must be accountable to a code of conduct. In addition, states may pass laws that require vendors to obtain state licenses, maintain sales records, submit to inspections, and comply with other requirements. Unlike other industries, gun companies have special legal protections against liability, making them immune from lawsuits. there is a need to repeal gun industry immunity laws in states that have them, and resist their enactment in states without current immunity laws. Increasingly, in the absence of legislative action, organizations are getting rid of companies that make firearms, and consumers are putting pressure on companies directly. More and more companies are setting new policies on what they sell to the public and/or who they sell their products to.
• engage responsible gun owners and dealers in solutions. For example, some gun dealers and gun range owners are already receiving suicide prevention training.
• Insist on mandatory training and licensing for owners. This training should include recurrent education to renew permits, with a graduated licensing process at least as strict as for driver’s licenses.
• require safe and secure gun storage. for example, in king county, washington, public health has partnered with retailers of firearm storage devices. In addition to the fact that safe storage is tax-exempt in Washington, through the Lok-it-Up initiative, residents can learn about the importance of safe storage, purchase devices at discounted prices, and learn how to practice safe storage at home. .

Underlying contributors to armed violence: risk and resilience. A public health approach to preventing gun violence extends solutions beyond access to guns to reduce additional risk factors associated with gun violence and strengthen the resilience of individuals, families, and communities.

1. Public Health Solutions: Recognize gun violence as a critical and preventable public health problem. Armed violence is one of the leading causes of premature death in the country. however, unlike other preventable causes of death, we have not mustered the political will to address it. Gun violence is most noticeable when multiple people are killed at once, but it affects far too many communities and families on a daily basis, whether through suicide, domestic violence, community violence, or other forms. The data shows that the risk of gun violence varies substantially by age, race, gender, and geography, in patterns that are quite different for suicide and homicide. Through a public health approach, we have learned that violence is preventable in all its forms. The public health approach studies the data on various forms of violence and who is affected, and identifies the most important risk factors and what protects, and develops policy, practice and program solutions in partnership with other sectors and members of the community. community. Many communities and groups have taken a public health approach to preventing violence, such as the Prevention Institute’s United Cities Network and United Cities, a growing network of more than 100 mayors.
2. comprehensive solutions: support community planning and the implementation of comprehensive community safety plans that include prevention and intervention. A growing research base demonstrates that it is possible to prevent shootings and murders through approaches such as hospital-based intervention programs, the violence cure model, and the advancement of peace. A growing number of safety plans across the country include preliminary strategies such as youth employment, neighborhood economic development, safe parks, brownfield restoration, and reducing the density of alcohol outlets. Following implementation of the Minneapolis Youth Violence Prevention Action Plan, which prioritized prevention and upstream strategies, the city saw a 62% reduction in youth shooting victims, a 34% reduction in youth shooting victims, crimes and a 76% reduction in young victims. arrests with a weapon from 2007-2015. however, too many communities lack the resources to do what is needed. we must commit to helping communities identify and implement solutions.
3. trauma, connection and services: expand access tohigh-quality, culturally competent, coordinated, social, emotional and mental health supports and address the impact of trauma. Too often, gun violence is attributed to mental illness, when in fact, in most cases, the people who carry out shootings do not have an illness diagnosable mental. however, in a community, members often recognize people who are disconnected and/or in need of additional support and services. Reducing the stigma associated with mental health needs and helping our children, friends, family, and neighbors find and get the right supports is critical. For this to work, communities need resources to assess and connect people at high risk of harming themselves or others with well-coordinated mental health, emotional, and social services and supports, particularly in critical times of crisis and great need. . furthermore, trauma can have damaging effects on learning, behavior and health throughout life, especially during key developmental stages such as early childhood and adolescence, and can increase the risk of multiple forms of violence . we need to do more to recognize trauma, develop trauma-informed protocols, including for law enforcement, and support healing and treatment for people who have experienced or are experiencing trauma, including exposure to violence in any form.

Prevention infrastructure: Beyond addressing the risk and underlying factors of armed violence, a public health approach also involves building a prevention infrastructure with mechanisms for scale, sustainability, and effectiveness. the unit roadmap is a tool to support the prevention infrastructure.

1. Support Gun Violence Research: Make sure the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others have the resources to study this issue and provide science-based guidance. the cdc, the nation’s public health agency, has long been constrained from conducting the kind of research that will support solutions to reduce gun violence. cdc can track, assess, and develop strategies to prevent gun violence, just like we do with the flu and tainted spinach. In the absence of sufficient monitoring and evidence at the federal level, California launched the Gun Violence Prevention Research Center at UC Davis, and other states are also proposing to establish research centers.
2. health system: establish a comprehensive health system in which the prevention of violence is a responsibility and an imperative of the health system. the movement towards violence as a health problem, which consists of more than 400 people representing more than 100 organizations throughout the country dedicated to a community and health response to violence, has proposed a framework to address and prevent violence in all its forms. Moving away from the current fragmented approach to violence that relies heavily on the justice system, this unifying framework encourages and supports broad cross-sector collaboration. The framework includes 18 system elements, such as departments of public health, primary care, behavioral health care, law enforcement and the justice system, schools, and religious institutions, which together can move the nation toward safer, healthier and fairness.

New Frontiers: A public health approach includes continuous learning and innovation to increase impact through research and practice. These emerging areas require further examination and are important additions to reducing the impact of gun violence on our society.

1. community healing: prevent community trauma. community trauma can result from experiencing violence and can also increase the likelihood of violence, contributing to a cycle of mutual reinforcement. Let’s support healing and resilience through strategies that rebuild relationships and social networks, reclaim and enhance public spaces, promote community healing, and foster economic stability and prosperity. The Prevention Institute’s Adverse Community Experiences and Resilience Framework provides an approach to addressing and preventing community trauma.
2. mental health and wellness: investing in communities to promote resilience and mental health and wellness. mental illness is not at the root of the high rate of gun violence in our country; in fact, people with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators. however, we know that we can do more to promote mental health and well-being in the first place. Through our national initiative, Making Connections for Mental Health and Wellness Among Men and Boys, with communities across the United States, we are learning that there are pillars of wellness that promote wellness that support efforts to prevent multiple forms of violence, including belonging/connectedness, control of fate, dignity, hope/aspiration, safety, and trust. We’re also seeing community members come together to change their community settings to promote mental health and wellness, including as a suicide prevention approach.
3. supporting healthy norms of masculinity: exploring the pathways between gun violence and harmful norms that have focused on maintaining power and privilege. most men do not perpetrate armed violence; however, the majority of people who use firearms against others and themselves are boys and men. for example, most mass shooters for decades have been men. How are expectations about masculinity in different cultural contexts that promote dominance, control and risk-taking connected to distress, prejudice and discrimination and the perpetration of armed violence? How do gaps in expectations of power and privilege versus reality play into this? Why does our dominant culture allow a destructive desire for power over others? Answering questions like these can generate important insights and help us move toward an equitable safety culture.
4. Impulsive Anger: Explore the links between anger and gun violence. More research is needed to examine patterns of impulse control, empathy, problem solving, and anger management through shootings, as well as interactions of these functions with the harmful norms described in the previous recommendation. Through a public health approach, we want to understand who is most at risk for violence as a means of creating long-term solutions to stop the problem in the first place. further analysis can provide answers about particular links and what to do when features are compromised.
5. economic development: reduce concentrated disadvantage and invest in employment opportunities. as rev. Gregory Boyle has long said of his work in East Los Angeles, “Nothing stops a bullet like a job.” the lack of employment opportunities increases the risk of armed violence and, on the other hand, economic opportunity protects against violence. promoting equitable access to education, job training, and mentored employment programs for residents of concentrated disadvantaged neighborhoods, especially youth, can be effective in reducing gun violence. For example, a study of One Summer Chicago Plus, an employment program designed to reduce violence and prepare youth in some of the city’s most violent neighborhoods for the job market, saw a 43% drop in arrests of participants for violent crimes. In addition, neighborhood-based economic development strategies, such as business improvement districts that bring together public and private partners to invest in neighborhood services, activities, and improvements, have also been shown to reduce violence, including gun violence.
6. police violence: establish the responsibility of sworn officers and private security. ensure that the police and security industries examine disparities in who they protect versus who is most harmed as a result of their actions. Armed with this information, these sectors should develop effective approaches to harm reduction in those populations, including unarmed African American men and people with mental illness. Current approaches being explored include implicit bias training, problem-oriented policing, and restorative justice. In the future, it is important to determine and understand the most effective strategies.
7. technology: Advanced weapons security and self-defense technology. As the call for gun safety increases, we must consider the role of new technologies. just as cars continue to have new security measures built into the technology, from fingerprint scanners to pin codes to rfid chips, there are ongoing developments to increase gun safety and gun storage that require deeper analysis to assess. the effectiveness. in addition, technologies that are alternatives to firearms are being developed to support self-protection and reduce the perceived need for a firearm for self-defense.

As our families, communities, and country experience terrible tragedies daily, we must commit to changing our culture and policies and stopping this cycle of violence. we should be able to live in our homes, send our kids to first grade, pray in our places of worship, shop in our local malls, and walk our streets and neighborhoods without getting shot at. together we can act in memory of those who died and insist that this never happen again. take action and support changes like those described above to prevent gun violence.

Learn more about gun violence prevention from other organizations and resources we’ve found helpful:

american journal of public health

american public health association

american psychological association

brady center to prevent gun violence

all cities for gun safety

giffords law center to prevent gun violence

harvard t.h. school of public health

fund of hope and healing

call to action of the interdisciplinary group on prevention of school and community violence

international firearms injury prevention and policy

movement towards violence as a health problem

pew research center’s views of americans on guns and gun ownership

rand corporation

smart technology challenges foundation

Smarter Crime Control: A Guide to a Safer Future for Citizens, Communities, and Politicians.

speak up for the safety campaign for the gun violence restraining order

coalition of states for gun safety

the joyce foundation

university of california, davis – violence prevention program

center of politics of violence

If you have additional resources we should add to the list, please email prevent@preventioninstitute.org.

funded by a grant from the langeloth foundation