Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis — Daniel W. Webster & Jon S. Vernick, eds. (2013)

This collection brings together leading gun-policy researchers to evaluate firearm violence through public health, criminology, law, and policy analysis. Examining topics such as background checks, trafficking, domestic violence, assault weapons, and international case studies, it argues that evidence should guide gun policy.

1. The Scale and Nature of Gun Violence in America

2. Keeping Guns Away from High-Risk Individuals

3. Background Checks and Firearm Screening

4. Preventing Gun Trafficking and Illegal Diversion

5. Regulating the Firearms Industry

6. Enforcing Existing Gun Laws

7. High-Risk Weapons and Assault Weapons Policy

8. Lessons from Other Countries

9. The Second Amendment and Policy Limits

10. Public Opinion on Gun Policy

11. Evidence-Based Policy Recommendations

⭐ Star Facts

• More than 31,000 Americans died from gunshot wounds in 2010, making gun violence a major source of premature mortality.
• In 2010 there were an estimated 337,960 nonfatal violent crimes involving guns and 73,505 emergency-room treatments for nonfatal gunshot wounds.
• The book argues that public debate focuses too heavily on mass shootings even though most gun deaths involve suicide, domestic violence, criminal violence, or accidents.
• According to one chapter, 62% of firearm deaths were suicides, 36% were homicides, and about 2% were unintentional shootings.
• American children aged 5–14 were found to be about 13 times more likely to die in a firearm homicide than children in other developed countries.
• The contributors conclude that the Brady Act’s impact was limited partly because private firearm sales were not subject to the same background-check requirements.