Friday Finds
Our weekly roundup of the latest gun violence prevention news
On Fridays, we highlight articles and videos from the gun violence prevention realm that might’ve been missed during your busy week.
View the Data: State-Level Firearm-Safety Laws at the Turn of the 21st Century
“Given the constant flux and many permutations of these laws from one state to another, measuring their impact on different types of gun violence remains a difficult and time-consuming task, but a critical one.”
506 Million Guns: Why Mass Shootings Persist Despite Falling Crime Rates
“The data shows a clear structural shift: traditional street crime is falling, but the lethality of acute personal crises is skyrocketing. Access has changed everything…. The expiration of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban in 2004 fundamentally changed the market. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) notes that modern semi-automatic rifles… went from being a niche market segment 20 years ago to the most popular, mass-produced rifles in America today, with over 28 million in circulation.”
Using a Gun to Defend Yourself? The Right to Kill Is Growing.
“Over the years, as more states broadened the acceptable use of deadly force, opponents have blamed it for rising homicide rates and reckless conduct.”
ATF Trumpets “New Era of Reform” With Focus on Gun Industry “Partnership”
“It’s worth noting that in this ‘partnership,’ the public ranks, well, last – running a distant third behind the firearms industry and gun owners.”
Via Violence Policy Center
Carrying Firearms and Suicide Risk Among Adolescents
“These findings suggest that firearm carrying is associated with risk of suicide attempts among adolescents independent of state firearm laws; racial disparities warrant culturally responsive prevention.”
Chicago teens riff on ‘Love Island,’ ‘aura’ trend to pitch campaigns pushing peers to put down guns
“But it was a campaign called T.R.A.P. that emerged victorious on Thursday. It urged teens not to fall for the trap of believing that they’d be safer with a gun, citing research that shows firearm owners are more likely to get shot.”
Team T.R.A.P. presents its social media campaign during a Project Unloaded event Thursday at the Havas offices in the Loop. (Photo: Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times)
Ending Youth Gun Violence Requires More Than Grief
“… imagine if we treated proven investments in community violence intervention as essential as investments in emergency rooms or law enforcement? When something goes wrong, we don’t throw progress away. We relentlessly and diligently improve systems until they are worthy of the public’s trust.”