Gun Violence and Public Health: The politics of an intractable social ill

Catalog description

More Americans have been killed with guns since 1968 than died in all the wars since the country’s founding. Addressing this crisis means solving tenacious problems of both public health and politics. In this course we will examine the main causes of firearm injury, the political actors that have influenced America’s public policy response, and the underlying beliefs about and behaviors with guns that underpin them. We will also touch on the international externalities this imposes on populations elsewhere, and policy regimes governing gun possession and use in other countries. Ultimately, a close study of gun violence will provide students with an overview of tools that reformers can use for addressing any intractable social problem.