The Fairfax County Alliance of Braver Angels held a conversation on ways to address gun violence at their October 14 meeting. Attendees were encouraged to read an introductory white paper in advance of the meeting summarizing gun violence statistics. The meeting began with a slide show on the background materials, including perspectives from literature on the effectiveness of different types of policy measures aimed at reducing gun-related fatalities through policies and programs addressing access to and operation of guns. Two notable discussion items included the fact that:
· More than half of US gun-related fatalities are suicides. High-visibility shootings that attract media attention are fewer than 1% of fatalities
· Literature indicates that homicides are more likely to be prevented by regulating (or otherwise disincentivizing) access to firearms, whereas suicides are more likely to be prevented by addressing safe storage and operations for gun owners.
Method or Strategy | Child Deaths | Suicides | Homicides |
Safe storage laws and practices | 75% | 60% | |
Child access prevention (CAP) laws | 20% | ||
Extreme risk protection orders (ERPO) | 10% | ||
Waiting periods and background checks | 9% | 13% | |
Health System Interventions | PE | 20% | |
Community interventions or investment | PE | PE | 29% |
Permit to purchase (PTP) laws | 13% | 25% | |
Hot spot policing | PE | ||
Alcohol-related restrictions | PE | ||
Focused Deterrence / "Group Violence Intervention" | 45% |
PE = Positive Evidence
* Values are derived from the ChatGPT discussion which includes references to sources
* The data is sparse, meaning only a few data sets and open to interpretation.
* It would make sense that PE results can be effective but not proven and may not be scalable.
* Health interventions for homicide are similar to community interventions.
The discussion included a modified stereotypes exercise that
launched a spirited conversation. The
meeting concluded with participants dot-voting on what they viewed as the most
promising measures from those summarized in the slide presentation and shown in the image above. The technique that received the most support
was improved safe storage laws.
Attendees also expressed strong support for more severe child-access prevention
laws, extreme-risk protection orders, waiting list / background check
requirements.