Reducing Gun Violence Policy

Charles Odoka

Methodist College

N6303 Roles, Issues, and Public Health Policy

Dr. Theresa Schwindenhammer

22 February 2022
 Gun violence remains a potential threat to public health and a leading cause of premature

death. Guns have a high potential to amply violence as they inflict very serious and deadly injury

to many people. In America, Gun violence is on the minds of many. As such, there is a need to

come up with better and improved laws and policies that would work to regulate the sale,

possession, and use of firearms in the country. In the US, the gun homicide rate is roughly 25

times higher and the gun suicide rate 8 times higher than in other high-income countries (Branas

et al., 2020).

American is known for high rates of homicide cases which is higher than the threshold

rate. In fact, when we think about our country and gun violence, it is right for one to conclude

that the USA is a violent nation. Each day, we see news on gun violence incidences. Comparing

the USA with other high-income democracies, it is clear that America has higher indicators and

risk factors of aggression and violence (Cox, 2018).

It is also important to know that the United States ranks number one in the list of

countries with most privately owned guns with 101 guns for every 100 individuals, which has led

to the loss of 32 lives and the treatment of 140 people every single day for gun related violence

(Jehan et al., 2018).

Gun violence is the number one public safety priority for many U.S. cities. It extracts

extraordinary human and economic costs: firearms were used in 14,414 homicides committed in

the United States in 2019, accounting for 75 percent of all homicides. There were 283,503

nonfatal crimes of violence committed with firearms reported to the police in 2019, and many

more gun crimes go unreported. Firearm homicides are the third-leading cause of death for

persons twenty-five to thirty-four years old and the leading cause of death for Black males aged

fifteen to thirty-four. One study estimated that costs related to medical treatment, disability, lost
productivity, and criminal justice responses to gun violence totaled $229 billion annually

(Webster, 2022).

When we think of how to prevent or reduce gun violence, a first consideration is

inevitably laws and law enforcement. In line with this public predilection, much of the scientific

research to reduce gun violence in the US has, perhaps unsurprisingly, focused on estimating the

outcomes of state and federal laws, such as assault weapons bans, background checks, red flag

laws, and licensing requirements. There are good reasons to focus on laws; gun laws in the US

are generally more permissive than in similar countries with far lower death rates from

firearms, and, if successful, laws could have a population wide outcome on gun violence (Branas

et al., 2020).

The risk of experiencing gun violence in the country is very high. Research shows that

gun policies in America negatively impact the safety of the public. Gun violence affects people

of all ages and races in the US. However, the young adults, males, and racial minorities seem to

be inappropriately impacted on the issue. Federal data projects that the USA has around

300,000,000 firearms (Follman et al. 2018). This high number of guns in the hands of civilians

seems to cause the increased number of deaths and injuries arising from gun violence. The social

costs of gun violence include work loss, medical care, emergency transportation, insurance

claims, decreased quality of life, employer costs, and criminal justice activities. The research

findings suggest that American civilians lead the world in gun ownership where a third of the

civilians own a gun. This calls for better policies on carrying out background checks before

issuing a gun license. Background checks play a major role in reducing gun-related suicides and

deaths.
 Most U.S. firearm policies are designed to reduce the availability of firearms to

individuals who have been convicted of serious crimes or who the courts have deemed dangerous

through the issuance of restraining orders or involuntary commitments for mental health

treatment. The type of gun policy that is most strongly and consistently associated with

reductions in homicides is mandatory licensing of handgun purchasers.8 This sort of licensing

typically involves more robust systems for screening out prohibited purchasers, and studies

indicate that these laws deter the diversion of guns for criminal use (Post et al., 2021).

Gun violence is preventable. It can be prevented by having a public health approach that

safeguards the lives of American families and communities. With strict policies on gun

ownership, sale, and use, gun violence cases will be on the decline. To ensure this, state and

national level policies that will reduce the likelihood of gun violence need to be enacted. Gun

violence can be mitigated through increased funding for violence prevention research (Cox,

2018). Also, as a congress, there is a need to remove unnecessary policy riders that limit funding

for evidence-based research. The department of justice needs to expand its collection and

analysis of data on gun violence and related deaths. Each gun needs to be registered to its owners

and have serial numbers on each gun so that each buyer can be traced in case of a gun shooting

incident (Lopez, 2018).

Another way of reducing gun violence is by removing existing semiautomatic weapons

with large bullet capacity by creating a buyback program for all rapid-firing weapons.

Legislation can be strengthened by closing loopholes that allow gun buyers to get around the

background check legislation. Also, implementing purchase prohibitions by exempting gun

shows and internet or person-to-person purchases, which were exempted from the Federal

Assault Weapons Ban (FAWB) and large-capacity magazines (LCM) ban (Post et al., 2021).

Tight restrictions on carrying guns in public and prohibition of possession of guns in

inappropriate places need to be enacted. It is important to restrict people from acquiring guns

after short-terms instinctive hospitalization. Moreover, the procedures for reinstating gun

licenses and rights should be enhanced. Gun trafficking should also be criminalized, and

appropriate laws provided on penalties and prison terms so as to eliminate the practice.
 References

Branas, C. C., Reeping, P. M., & Rudolph, K. E. (2020). Beyond gun laws. Innovative

interventions to reduce gun violence in the United States. JAMA Psychiatry 78(3),

243-244. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.2493

Cox, K. S. (2018). A public health crisis: Recommendations to reduce gun violence in America.

Nursing Outlook, 66(3), 219-220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2018.04.010

Follman, M., Lee, J., Lurie, J., & West, J. (2018). The true cost of gun violence in America.

Center for Victim Research Repository. Retrieved from

https://www.ncvc.dspacedirect.org/handle/20.500.11990/845

Jehan, F., Pandit, V., O’Keeffe, T., Azim, A., A Tai, S., Tang, A., Khan, M., Kulvatunyou, N.,

Gries, L., & Joseph, B., (2018). The burden of firearm violence in the United States:

Stricter laws result in safer states. Journal of Injury & Violence Research, 10(1), 11-16.

https://doi.org/10.5249/jivr.v10i1.951

Lopez, G. (2018). America’s unique gun violence problem, explained in 16 maps and charts. Vox.

Retrieved from

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/2/16399418/fedex-indianapolis-mass-s

hooting-gun-violence-statistics-charts

Post, L., Mason, M., Singh, L. N., Wleklinski, N. P., Moss, C. B., Mohammad, H., Issa, T. Z.,

Akhetuamhen, A. I., Brandt, C. A., Welch, S. B., & Oehmke, J. F. (2021). Impact of

firearm surveillance on gun control policy: Regression discontinuity analysis. JMIR

Public Health Surveillance, 7(4). https://doi.org/10.2196/26042

Webster, D. W. (2022). Public health approaches to reducing community gun violence.

Daedalus, 151(1), 38-48. https://doi.org/10.1162/daed_a_01886