Policy Solutions to Address Mass Shootings

In the past decade, mass shootings, particularly those that take place in public areas, have increasingly become part of the national conversation in the United States. Mass public shootings instill widespread fear, in part because of their seeming randomness and unpredictability. Yet when these incidents occur, which has been with somewhat greater frequency and lethality as of late, public calls for policy responses are immediate. In this policy brief, we review efforts to evaluate the effect of gun control measures on mass public shootings, including a discussion of our recently published study on the relationship between state gun laws and the incidence and severity of these shootings. The findings of this work point to gun permits and bans on large-capacity magazines as having promise in reducing (a) mass public shooting rates and (b) mass public shooting victimization, respectively. Interestingly, however, most gun laws that we examined, including assault weapon bans, do not appear to be causally related to the rate of mass public shootings

Disproportionate burden of violence: Explaining racial and ethnic disparities in potential years of life lost among homicide victims, suicide decedents, and homicide-suicide perpetrators.

Research indicates that the burden of violent death in the United States is disproportionate across racial and ethnic groups. Yet documented disparities in rates of violent death do not capture the full extent of this inequity. Recent studies examining race-specific rates of potential years of life lost-a summary measure of premature mortality-indicate that persons of color may die at younger ages than their counterparts, leading to increased trauma among surviving family members, friends, and communities. This study examines racial and ethnic disparities in potential years of life lost among people who died by homicide and suicide. We calculated potential years of life lost using life expectancy values specific to each racial and ethnic group, thereby isolating racial differences in potential years of life lost due to violence. Findings indicated that persons of color were disproportionately impacted by violence. Non-Hispanic African American homicide victims, suicide decedents, and homicide-suicide perpetrators died eleven or more years earlier than their non-Hispanic White counterparts. Similar disparities were observed for non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander decedents. Less pronounced differences were observed for Hispanic and non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native decedents. These racial and ethnic disparities were partly accounted for by a broad array of individual differences, incident characteristics, and contextual factors. The results suggest that homicide and suicide exact a high societal cost, and the burden of that cost is disproportionately high among persons of color

Descriptive statistics for suicide decedents, by race and ethnicity.

Descriptive statistics for suicide decedents, by race and ethnicity.</p

Availability of data for the national violent death reporting system, by state and year.

Availability of data for the national violent death reporting system, by state and year.</p

Descriptive statistics for homicide-suicide perpetrators, by race and ethnicity.

Descriptive statistics for homicide-suicide perpetrators, by race and ethnicity.</p

Hierarchical linear regression models predicting potential years of life lost among homicide victims (<i>N</i> = 98,617 persons, 93,629 incidents, 7,056 places).

Hierarchical linear regression models predicting potential years of life lost among homicide victims (N = 98,617 persons, 93,629 incidents, 7,056 places).</p

Life expectancy at birth, 2019, by race, ethnicity, and sex.

Life expectancy at birth, 2019, by race, ethnicity, and sex.</p

Hierarchical linear regression models predicting potential years of life lost among homicide-suicide perpetrators (<i>N</i> = 3,962 persons, 2,057 places).

Hierarchical linear regression models predicting potential years of life lost among homicide-suicide perpetrators (N = 3,962 persons, 2,057 places).</p

Hierarchical linear regression models predicting potential years of life lost among suicide decedents (N = 230,527 persons, 13,408 places).

Hierarchical linear regression models predicting potential years of life lost among suicide decedents (N = 230,527 persons, 13,408 places).</p

Descriptive statistics for homicide victims (<i>N</i> = 98,617 persons, 93,629 incidents, 7,056 places), suicide decedents (<i>N</i> = 230,527 persons, 13,408 places), and homicide-suicide perpetrators (<i>N</i> = 3,962 persons, 2,057 places).

Descriptive statistics for homicide victims (N = 98,617 persons, 93,629 incidents, 7,056 places), suicide decedents (N = 230,527 persons, 13,408 places), and homicide-suicide perpetrators (N = 3,962 persons, 2,057 places).</p