The horrific scenes in Las Vegas may represent the worst mass shooting in recent US history, but it鈥檚 a familiar story. Gun violence is responsible for a shocking number of deaths in the US 鈥� . Firearms are the in children under the age of 17. Black Americans aged between 15 and 34 are more likely to die from gun crime than from anything else.
For those outside the US, the solution is obvious: ban guns. After all, it worked in Australia, and other Western nations.
But in the US, gun control is so heavily politicised that a ban is impossible any time soon. Tightening gun control laws has reduced gun deaths in a handful of US states, but at the national level, such laws struggle to get passed. It is no wonder the country has almost .
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Indeed, the death and injury rate is so significant that firearm violence is now considered a by the American Medical Association. So the nation must treat the symptoms, not the cause, of its firearms epidemic. By diverting the focus to the victims of gun crimes, the US may be able to make more progress.
To do that, people need to be able to study which interventions produce the most beneficial outcomes. Such research has played a key role in limiting the impact of other inventions that can also cause harm, such as cars and tobacco.
Research on ice
But US research into firearm violence has been stalled thanks to the wording of a law passed in the 1990s, which stated that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention couldn鈥檛 use public funding for any work that might promote gun control. Previous US president Barack Obama鈥檚 attempts at thawing the freeze on research, and investing millions, did little to improve the situation.
That shouldn鈥檛 dissuade people, though. at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health points out that every health success story today had its early detractors. 鈥淭he first was sanitation,鈥� he says. 鈥淧eople argued: 鈥榥o, I want to keep the poop in my city鈥�.鈥�
And while the National Rifle Association may be one of the most powerful lobbying groups around, the same could be said of the tobacco lobby, which hasn鈥檛 been able to block laws that require cigarette packages to carry large and visible health warnings. Such warnings have been shown to .
In the meantime, it might be better to avoid knee-jerk, politicised arguments surrounding gun control. The Las Vegas death toll stands at 59, but while the news headlines scream and talking heads pontificate, a similar number of gun suicides takes place in the US every day 鈥� two-thirds of gun deaths are suicides. Why not start by focusing on ways to reduce those?
Reducing suicides
There are multiple ways of tackling the problem. Gun sellers can take more responsibility. 鈥淚f a person says that they don鈥檛 care what kind of gun they buy, and that they only need one bullet, don鈥檛 sell them the gun,鈥� says Hemenway.
Doctors also have a part to play. If a doctor suspects that one of their patients may be having suicidal thoughts, they have a duty to ask them about their access to firearms. People with guns at home should be advised to safely store them somewhere else temporarily.
A 鈥済ag law鈥� enacted in Florida briefly prevented health practitioners from talking about guns with their patients. But doctors breathed a sigh of relief when the legislation was . Similar legislation has been proposed in other states, but Florida was seen as the test case 鈥� the gag law鈥檚 failure there suggests it won鈥檛 pass elsewhere.
As with any public health crisis, it will come down to multiple groups of people. Governments can enact state laws and gun manufacturers could share responsibility for the kinds and quantities of firearms they sell. Academics can push forward with research to find the most effective ways to reduce the death and injury rates, while local communities and faith leaders can work to monitor those at risk, and to support parents. 鈥淓verybody has to play a role,鈥� says Hemenway. 鈥淚f we all work together we can have an enormous impact.鈥�
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