GUIDE TO THE REPORT
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34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67
68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84
85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101
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The chapters that follow review and analyze what is known about
firearms and violence. Chapter 2 describes the major data sources for research
on firearms and violence. This summary assesses the strengths and
weaknesses of each system and suggests improvements necessary to make
significant advances in understanding the role of firearms in violence. Chapter
3 is a summary of the data describing the extent of firearm violence,
firearm ownership, the perpetrators and victims of firearm violence, and
the context in which firearm violence occurs. Descriptive in form, it also
identifies gaps in understanding of some of the basic facts about the role
firearms play in intentional violence. Chapter 4 addresses how criminals
and those who use firearms to commit suicide gain access to them. It
includes an assessment of various attempts to limit access by everyone and
by selected subsets of the population. Chapter 5 assesses the research on the
use of firearms to defend against crime, and Chapter 6 examines the impact
of laws that facilitate the carrying of weapons.
The committee paid close attention to these issues because they have
been central to the recent scholarship on firearms and because they demonstrate
many of the difficulties of doing research on firearms and violence.
Committee member Joel Horowitz further discusses these issues in Appendix
D. Committee member James Q. Wilson has written a dissent that
applies to Chapter 6 only (Appendix A), and the committee has written a
response (Appendix B).
Chapter 7 considers the role of firearms in suicide. While some of the
issues are similar to those encountered in the study of violence, the differences
are such that separate attention is required, especially for issues of motivation,
firearm acquisition, and lethality. In Chapter 8 we analyze the research
on the prevention of firearm violence, reviewing research on the effectiveness
of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention programs. Special attention is
given to efforts to prevent gun use by youth. Chapter 9 examines the role
criminal justice interventions can play in reducing firearm violence. While
many of these efforts are new and have not been adequately evaluated, they
are frequently thought to hold promise for immediate impact.