Infectious Myth - Guns - 06.23.15

David Crowe takes aim at guns in Episode 63, particularly gun culture and the death toll from guns, in the United States and elsewhere. Motivated by the Charleston gun massacre, David investigates facts and figures behind gun deaths, and examines the evidence that lax gun laws and widespread ownership of guns increases deaths from guns.

 

Useful information used by David in the preparation of this episode:

·      List of gun death rates in various countries – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate

·      Indications that the United States is a more violent country – http://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2012/07/20/america-is-a-violent-country/

·       Mass shootings in the USA – http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/14/nine-facts-about-guns-and-mass-shootings-in-the-united-states/

·       Relation of gun access and gun death rate – http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/firearms-research/guns-and-death/

·      Factors associated with gun deaths – http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/01/the-geography-of-gun-deaths/69354/

·      Effects of repeal of Missouri handgun licensing law – http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-gun-policy-and-research/_pdfs/effects-of-missouris-repeal-of-its-handgun-purchaser-licensing-law-on-homicides.pdf

·      Effect of Connecticut licensing law – http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/06/12/gun-killings-fell-by-40-percent-after-connecticut-passed-this-law/

·      Problems with the “More Guns, Less Crime” studies – http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2003/10/double-barreled-double-standards

·      Use of the AR-15 for home defense – http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2015/5/26/the-ar-for-home-defense-one-experts-opinion

·      Firearm Justifiable Homicides and Non-Fatal Self-Defense Gun Use. VPC. 2015 Jun – http://vpc.org/press/1506self.htm .

·      Do Israel and Switzerland have high gun ownership and low gun deaths? – http://davidcrowe.ca/SciHealthEnv/papers/10604-Guns-Israel-Switzerland.pdf

CORRECTION: David reported that 8 people were killed in the church shooting in Charleston. The total killed was 9: State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, the pastor of Emanuel African Methodist Church; Cynthia Hurd; Tywanza Sanders; Sharonda Singleton; Myra Thompson; Ethel Lance; Susie Jackson; the Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr. and DePayne Doctor.