Recap: Perspectives on American Gun Violence
The epidemic of gun violence in the United States is a multifaceted problem that claimed nearly 47,000 lives in 2023. Firearm injuries and deaths touch countless others as well – from bereaved family members to affected communities suffering the collective loss and trauma of everyday gun violence. In a nation where private ownership of firearms is commonplace, culturally rooted, and constitutionally protected, efforts to prevent gun violence must balance public safety goals with individual rights and political considerations.
“I think we have to stop thinking about gun culture one way, gun violence prevention the other way. There's a lot of overlap already," said Joshua Horwitz at a recent panel hosted by the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law, the Duke Center for Firearms Law and Duke Behavioral Sciences and Psychiatry.
Dr. Mark Rosenberg, former U.S. Assistant Surgeon General added to this necessary point. “People somehow think it's easy to bring the disciplines together. Easy to bring gun violence people together with gun rights people. It's hard, but it's worth doing. It's very important.”
This theme of collaboration was a central point of the panel. It brought together experts from law, public health, public policy, criminology, and the media to discuss ways that we can work together across fields to address the harms of gun violence while protecting individual rights and featured:
- Kami Chavis, JD, William & Mary Law School Center for Criminal Justice Policy and Reform
- Philip Cook, PhD, Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy
- Josh Horwitz, JD, Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions
- Mark Rosenberg, MD, Assistant Surgeon General, USPHS (ret)
- Sheryl Gay Stolberg, The New York Times
- Jeff Swanson, PhD, Duke University (moderator)
Panelists addressed the role of policing in reducing gun violence. Criminologist Dr. Philip Cook has researched police response to gun violence and is critical of calls to reduce or defund policing. “Residents [in communities most impacted by gun violence] have a complex view of the police, often summarized as a sense of being both overpoliced and under policed,” said Cook. “The under policed belief follows naturally from the observation that so few shootings result in arrest and conviction. In Durham, for example, the percentage, including both fatal and non-fatal, is less than 10%....one person can deliberately shoot another with what amounts to impunity. Little chance of legal consequences.”
So is a solution greater enforcement and stronger penalties for gun crimes? Law Professor Kami Chavis cautioned against this. She cites in particular vast disparities between white and Black communities and individuals. “Gun violence is a racial justice issue,” she noted. “We know that there are racial disparities at every single aspect of the criminal justice system, from arrest to charging Black individuals. African-American individuals are arrested more often, charged more often...and then are sentenced more harshly for the same crimes than their white counterparts.” At the same time “a Black person is over 10 times more likely from a white person to die by a firearm homicide....So we have this tension between marginalized communities as victims, and then also being disproportionately arrested, prosecuted, and facing harsher sentences....When we think about solutions, I really just want to cut to the punchline and say that stiffer penalties and a harsher criminal justice response, I don't think that's the way to go.” Instead, she argued for addressing prevention before gun violence happens.
Cook acknowledged Chavis’s critique. “My interest here is not to longer prison sentences. It's a greater chance of arrest and conviction. All of our science says that the deterrent effect is much greater from changing the likelihood of punishment than it is from increasing the length of the prison sentence,” he said.
Participants also discussed the political climate and how that has changed since the 2024 election. “This is a really right place for thinking about policy, but it's beyond policy. It's program. And it's implementation. And when we're thinking about saving lives. You have to think about that as well. What are the types of community violence prevention programs we can work at now?” asked Josh Horwitz.
New York Times reporter Cheryl Gay Stolberg acknowledged what a Trump administration might bring to the gun violence conversation, including a potential rollback of gun violence prevention programs promoted by the Biden administration. Amongst that potential, however, is possibility of public-driven reforms. “The public is listening. And we know that Americans, American parents especially are very worried about sending their kids to school. More than half the country, according to Gallup, thinks that gun laws should be more strict, and I pulled a poll here that I want to read to you from 87% of Americans support requiring criminal background checks on all gun buyers, including 83% among gun-owning households.”
Ultimately, the panelists highlighted the role of public and private sector cultures in addressing gun violence, the need for better data analysis and reporting for all people, and the importance of addressing the root causes of gun violence, such as mental health issues and socioeconomic disparities.