Main description:

This edited collection of data and perspectives takes a fresh approach to gun violence prevention by addressing the question, "why are we losing the war on gun violence in America?" Although successes and failures in the prevention of gun violence are examined, it is a war we are losing, due to restrictions on research funding, entrenched historical perspectives, structural violence, and perhaps differing priorities or views on what is right or wrong.
Gun violence is a public health crisis. It remains politicized and has been paralyzed with inaction. In the chapters, the authors write candidly about the challenges that have thwarted gun violence prevention, as well as highlight possible strategies for progress to save lives. Critical areas explored among the chapters include:

Gun Violence, Structural Violence, and Social Justice
School Shootings: Creating Safer Schools
Mental Illness and Gun Violence
Understanding the Political Divide in Gun Policy Support
The Second Amendment and the War on Guns
The Impact of Policy and Law Enforcement Strategies on Reducing Gun Violence in America
Youth Gun Violence Prevention Organizing
Smart Guns Don't Kill People

With this compendium, the editors and authors hope to bridge the growing gap between groups or ideologies, and create common ground to discuss workable solutions. Why We Are Losing the War on Gun Violence in the United States is essential reading for a broad audience including practitioners, academics, researchers, students, policy-makers, and other professionals in public health, behavioral sciences (including social work and psychology), social sciences, health sciences, public policy, political science, and law, as well as any readers interested in the path to decreasing gun violence in America.

Contents:

Front Matter

Preface (Kessel)

Part I: Overview

1 Scope of firearm injuries in the United States (Botty/Crandall)

2 Gun Violence, Structural Violence, and Social Justice (Zakrison/Williams/Crandall)

3 Data on gun violence: what do we know and how do we know it? (Sondik)

Part II: Special Populations

4 Unintentional firearm injuries in children (Bendix)

5 School Shootings: Creating Safer Schools (Kiely)

6 Intimate partner violence, gun violence, and human rights in the United States (Bronson)

7 Mental illness and gun violence (Jellinek)

Part III: History--How Did We Get Here?

8 The need for safety and beliefs about guns (Pogge/Lipsey/Losee/Shepperd)

9 Understanding the political divide in gun policy support (Losee/Pogge/Lipsey/Shepperd)

10 The second amendment and the war on guns (Lund)

11 The history of gun law and the second amendment in the United States (Ryan)

Part IV: Solutions

12 Public health approach to gun violence: "remove the gun handle" (Kessel)

13 Combatting gun violence in Newark, New Jersey (Grossman/Clear)

14 The impact of policy and law enforcement strategies on reducing gun violence in America (Costa/Azari)

15 Gun buyback programs in the United States (Campbell)

16 Hospital-based violence prevention programs: From the ground up (Richardson)

17 Looking at the Second Amendment from the Tenth: Early experiences with a state gun violence research center (Bonne/Gusmano/Sloan-Power/Ostermann/Centellas/Hohl)

18 Youth Gun Violence Prevention Organizing (King)

19 Smart guns don't kill people (Kessel)

20 Reducing the incidence and impact of gun violence through community engagement (Andrade/Hayes/Wood/Punch)

Part V: International Perspectives

21 Gun violence and barriers to reparation in the United States: Scars of Survival (Sodhi/Ambast/FitzGerald/Vartak with Amnesty International)

Back Matter

Epilogue (Kessel)