What We Can Do About Gun Violence

Warning: The post below discusses statistics and studies around gun violence and suicide. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, there are some great resources for support here.

TL;DR

• There is no agreed-upon definition of mass shootings
• In 2020, mass shootings comprised about 1% of firearm deaths (depending on the definition), other homicides represented ~44%, unintentional deaths 1%, and suicides ~54% (the percentage of suicides was higher prior to 2020 because homicides were lower in prior years)
• Mental illness is rarely present in or the main factor behind gun homicides. However, it is a major factor behind suicide deaths.
• The vast majority of those who survive a suicide attempt do not die by suicide later on. However, guns are 30x more lethal than other methods, which means that gun access and mental health support are hugely important for preventing suicide deaths.
• There is no one policy that will substantially reduce gun violence.
• However, there is widespread support among Americans (including gun owners regardless of political party) for gun control measures that have been found to be effective, including universal background checks, red flag laws, restrictions on guns among those convicted of a violent crime, and permit laws.

Background

If you are like me, then every time a highly-publicized mass shooting happens, you feel a sense of crushing sadness at both the event itself and the feeling that these events seem increasingly inevitable. Which is pretty horrifying and also super unproductive because if we feel like something is inevitable, we’re not likely to do much about it.

However, as someone who spent a few years researching and publishing on gun violence, I know there are things we can do about it. The landscape is not as bleak as it seems. And the way gun violence gets discussed in the media and among our friends and family is rarely very accurate or productive. In fact, I always wish I could give people a cheat sheet of talking points so that when we inevitably hear a story about gun violence that just doesn’t feel right, we have a set of statistics and studies to respond with.

So here is a cheat sheet I have always wanted to give you with links to the sources included in either a footnote or within the body of the text as a hyperlink (hyperlinks will always be underlined text):

For when people talk about gun violence only in the context of mass shootings and you’re like, is gun violence really mainly mass shootings?

• So here’s an interesting thing, there’s no agreed-upon definition of a mass shooting. Some groups say a mass shooting is when 3 people are killed with a firearm, others say it’s 4 people, some exclude the shooter from these counts, the FBI specifies that mass shootings have to happen in a populated area. This means you can find some pretty different stats depending on who’s doing the defining.
• Either way, there were over 45,000 firearm deaths in 2020 (using the most recently available data).
• Mass shootings make up about 1% of all firearm deaths (at the high end), other homicides make up about 44% of firearm deaths, unintentional firearm deaths are a little over 1% of firearm deaths, and suicides represent about 54% of firearm deaths (as of 2020 and using Gun Violence Archive’s estimates of 513 mass shooting deaths in 2020).  

For when people say gun violence is mainly a mental health issue and you’re like hmmm, that doesn’t feel right:

• The majority of acts of gun violence are perpetrated by people who do not have a diagnosed mental illness¹
• However, individuals with mental illness are more likely than those without a mental illness to be the victims of violent crime¹
• In a study that took place in Los Angeles, Baltimore, and St. Louis (all high-crime cities), only 4% of interpersonal acts of violence could be directly attributed to mental illness alone. Keep in mind these are estimates and don’t cover all of the U.S., but they do indicate that mental illness is just one of many potential factors behind a violent act and it is rarely the main reason even when it is present.
• Other countries have similar levels of mental illness but the U.S. is the ONLY high-income country with a gun violence epidemic of this proportion, we are 25x more likely to die by gun homicide than residents of other high-income countries. As Jake Peralta of Brooklyn Nine-Nine would nervously say, “Cool, cool, cool, no doubt, no doubt, no doubt.”

For when people say mental health responses are not important to gun violence and you’re like, well that also doesn’t feel right:

• Some mental illnesses (specifically schizophrenia) are associated with a higher risk of perpetrating violence.²
  • However, schizophrenia was at play in less than 10% of crimes and abusing substances is just as risky for perpetrating violence as schizophrenia.
  • So it’s important to make sure people have the mental health and substance support they need (and not to stigmatize mental illness and seeking help!), but addressing mental illness would only eliminate a relatively small percentage of violent interpersonal gun crimes.
• Mental health legislation is still super key for reducing gun violence, just not in the way you might think.
  • In 2020, 54% of gun deaths were suicides (prior to this it was more like 60% because gun homicides skyrocketed in 2020, again: cool, cool, cool).
  • Individuals are 30+ times more likely to die by suicide with a gun than other common methods (that’s not a typo).
  • While mental illness is not a factor behind all suicide deaths, it is one of the biggest predictors of suicide, along with prior attempts. Relationship factors, economic factors, and physical illness (i.e. being diagnosed with a terminal illness) are also associated with suicide.
  • Limiting access to guns is key for preventing suicide deaths because, again, guns are by far the most fatal suicide method and 90% of those who survive a suicide attempt do not die by suicide later on.
  • A note on terminology, when someone dies by suicide we should say they “died by suicide,” not that they “committed suicide.” Committed makes suicide sound like a crime and also implies blame, when individuals who die by suicide are under incalculable mental, emotional, physical, social, and/or economic pain.

For when people say gun violence is an issue of people and not guns or when people say it’s an issue of guns and not people and you’re like, I don’t know what to believe:

• The vast majority of acts of gun violence have multiple causes, both related to the context and to gun access–it is people WITH guns who kill other people, don’t let people tell you it’s just the person or the gun, it’s both together.
• Given that, there’s no one policy that’s going to solve the problem.

For when people say that nothing can be done:

• The large majority of gun owners (regardless of political party) support most gun control legislation, such as bans on guns among those who perpetrate domestic violence–glares aggressively at Supreme Court, permit laws, universal background checks, and red flag laws. There’s more division when it comes to banning certain types or numbers of guns.
• It is estimated that 28% of gun homicides could be prevented with 4 laws:
  • Violent misdemeanor laws—basically banning guns for anyone convicted of a violent crime, not just a felony
  • Required permits for the purchase and carrying of a gun
  • Universal background checks—gun shows in particular have loopholes for being able to purchase a gun with no background check
  • Red Flag laws (also called ERPOs)—removing guns from people for whom there is credible evidence that they will commit a crime against others and/or themselves
• Other laws that have some evidence to support their helpfulness are: requiring safety trainings for getting a gun permit and raising the age at which people are allowed to carry guns, and limiting access to high-capacity weapons.
• In reality, Americans aren’t as divided on this as we’re often led to believe by the gun lobby.

Other Resources:

• There’s lots of good published research out there, but for some more accessible resources, Everytown, Gun Violence Archive, and The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence have good reports, stats, and data