Firearm Violence
This article begins by characterizing the nature and scope of the gun violence problem, including a discussion of the potential benefit from use of guns in self-defense. The next section is devoted to a discussion of guns and it gives some basic facts on the patterns of private gun ownership and gun misuse. The article then discusses policies designed to discourage gun misuse directly by making guns a liability to criminals. Studies using a same basic research design have found evidence of some decline in gun use in crime. The article shows the importance of assessing the effects of overall rates of gun ownership within a community. The descriptive and analytical information summarized here opens the door to favorable consideration of a variety of other interventions.
