Confronting Gun Violence in America

CONFRONT NG GUN V OLENCE N AMER CA THOMAS GABOR Confronting Gun Violence in America Thomas Gabor Confronting Gun Violence in America Th omas Gabor Independent scholar Lake Worth , Florida , USA ISBN 978-3-319-33722-7 ISBN 978-3-319-33723-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-33723-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016951862 © Th e Editor(s) (if applicable) and Th e Author(s) 2016 Th is work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Th e use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Th e publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover image © Kevkhiev Yury / Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper Th is Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature Th e registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland To Trayvon Martin and the many other victims of gun violence who paid the ultimate price for the belief that gun violence is a solution rather than a problem And To my dear friend, Charlie Ezra Rabie, a gentle soul who always sought to resolve problems in an amicable way, with all parties winning. Acknowledgments Over the 30 years in which I have worked in the area of gun violence and policy, the list of people with whom I have exchanged views and the experiences I have had the privilege to accumulate are far too long to enumer- ate. I had the opportunity to work on the United Nations study on fi rearm regulation in 1998, in close collaboration with the Canadian delegation, including Mr Tony Dittenhoff er, then with the Department of Justice, Canada. It was also a privilege to work on that project with Joseph Vince, then Chief of the Firearms Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and still one of America’s leading authorities on gun violence, traffi cking, and training of law enforcement offi cers. In 1996, I was asked by attorneys representing the families of the pri- mary school children who were murdered in Dunblane, Scotland, in 1996 to submit an expert report to Lord Cullen’s Inquiry. Th is horrifi c event impressed upon me what is at stake in the debates on gun policy. Th is inquiry ultimately led to major policy changes in the UK. In the mid-1980s, I had the opportunity to collaborate with fi ve colleagues at the University of Montreal on Armed Robbery: Cops, Robbers and Victims , a book that has been judged to be the most comprehensive on the subject. I appreciated the opportunity to testify in front of the Legal Aff airs Committee of the Canadian Senate in 1995 on the matter of establishing a long gun registry for the entire country. In addition, editing the special section on the subject for the Canadian Journal of vii viii Acknowledgments Criminology and Criminal Justice was highly informative. I have further benefi tted from the collaboration with colleagues at Public Safety Canada and at Lansdowne Technologies in Ottawa in a study of fi rearm licensing systems around the world. My friend Lt. Bob Wright of the Martin County (FL) Sheriff ’s Offi ce always listened with a respectful bewilderment to my perspective. I appre- ciate that he insisted I join him at the fi ring range and experience guns fi rst hand. My debates in the print media with Marion Hammer of the National Rifl e Association have certainly been enlightening. Conversations and collaboration with Patti Brigham, Chair of Gun Safety with Th e League of Women Voters, Florida, and other League members have been very informative and have compelled me to examine the implications on the ground of policies such as Stand Your Ground, campus-carry, and open-carry. My work as an Expert Witness for the Canada Border Services Agency in cases involving the initiative to arm all offi cers has provided an important perspective with regard to the new threats and priorities of agencies patrolling the borders of countries around the world. Cases in which I have been retained by the Attorney General of Ontario (Canada) have compelled me to refl ect on the benefi ts and downsides of the imposition of mandatory minimum sentences for off ences involving fi rearms. My stint as a Visiting Scholar at the Research and Statistics Division of Justice, Canada, allowed me, among other things, to explore the scholarly evidence on the impact of mandatory sentences on gun- related crime and to determine that the conventional wisdom that these sentences do not work was not always correct. Th is experience brought me in contact with many promising young researchers who are now fi rmly established in academic or senior government positions. Several cases in which I was retained by the Correctional Service of Canada have underscored the value, as well as the incendiary impact and limitations, of weapons in an institutional environment. Conversations with Mike Ryan, former head of security of CSC, and attorneys such as Bruce Hughson of the Department of Justice, Canada, as well as site vis- its to a variety of institutions were especially informative. Many prominent people and groups involved in gun violence and security issues have off ered their encouragement following the release Acknowledgments ix of one of my reports or op-ed commentaries, including: Ladd Everitt, Director of Communications, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence & Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence; Andy Pelosi, Executive Director of Campaign to Keep Guns off Campus and of GunFreeKids.org; Aria Duax, of the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Eff ort Educational Fund; David Hemenway, Director of Harvard University’s Injury Control Research Center; Anna Eskamani, Director of Public Policy and Field Operations, Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida; Leslie Cole, Leslie Cole Associates security fi rm; Barry Freedman, FCS Consulting Services; Arlene Ustin, Karen Wilkerson, Geoff Kashdan, Rosalie Almborg, and MJ Range of the League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County, Florida; Linda Geller-Schwartz, National Council for Jewish Women (Palm Beach Section); Cathie Whittenberg, States United to Prevent Gun Violence; Dan Antonowicz, Criminology, Wilfrid Laurier University; Damir Kukec, Criminal Justice Commission of Palm Beach County; John Kiedrowski, Compliance Strategy Group; Daniel Vice, Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence; and Lyse St. Jacques-Ayoub, Medical Council of Canada. Among the most gratifying experiences have been my interactions with thousands of students who enrolled in my courses on violence and seminars on gun violence. Th eir enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge were contagious. I am deeply indebted to Julia Willan, Senior Commissioning Editor at Palgrave Macmillan, who displayed enthusiasm for my project and provided encouragement right from the outset. I am also grateful to Dominic Walker for his support in getting the manuscript ready for publication. Th e entire team at Palgrave Macmillan has been highly profes- sional. I am also grateful for the invaluable feedback provided by the external reviewers. My greatest debt is owed to my wife, Christene, who provided a non- expert’s perspective on each chapter of the book and was supportive throughout this project. Th ank you, love, for believing in me and for putting up with my reclusive tendencies during the drafting of this book. Contents Part I Th e Scale of America’s Gun Problem 1 1 America’s Gun Violence Problem 3 2 Gun Ownership in the USA 21 Part II Harms Associated with Firearms 37 3 Gun Deaths: Th e USA versus the World 39 4 Homicide and the Instrumentality Eﬀ ect 51 5 Mass Shootings: An Escalating Th reat 65 6 Suicide: Impact of Lethal Methods 83 xi xii Contents 7 Unintentional Deaths: Unavoidable or Preventable? 103 8 Th e Deadliest States 119 Part III Guns as a Means of Self-Defense 131 9 Armed Self-Defense I: Th e Number of Defensive Gun Uses 133 10 Armed Self-Defense II: Protection or Hazard? 163 Part IV Obstacles to Gun Violence Prevention Eﬀ orts 191 1 1 Th e Firearms Industry: Guns as a Business 193 1 2 Th e “Guns Everywhere” Movement 217 13 Public Opinion: An Impediment to Reform? 229 14 Slogans Relating to Gun Violence: Fact or Fiction? 249 1 5 Th e Second Amendment: Is Gun Regulation Compatible with the Constitution? 263 Part V Preventing Gun Violence 273 16 A National Strategy for Preventing Gun Violence 275 Index 353 List of Tables Table 1.1 Comparison of fi rearm homicides and odds of being murdered in selected high-income countries 8 Table 2.1 Privately owned guns in selected countries 23 Table 2.2 Household and personal gun ownership levels and trends 24 Table 3.1 Homicide rates for 32 high-income countries (2011–2012) 40 Table 5.1 Deadliest US mass shootings since 1949 67 Table 5.2 Public mass

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