gun violence

The Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence recently published an updated report entitled “Major School Shootings in the United States Since 1997.” The report lists approximately 145 separate incidents of school shootings in the United States since January of 1997 through September of 2009, 64 of which resulted in death. A total of 160 people have been killed in these school shootings. 136 of the deaths were homicides, while 23 were suicides or murder-suicides. More than 80 of the individuals...

According to a recent report by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, more than 60% of children surveyed by The National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence were exposed to violence within the past year, either directly or indirectly, and nearly 1/2 of them were assaulted at least once in the past year. The numbers are even higher for urban minority youth: 85% have directly witnessed acts of violence and 69% have been directly victimized...

In Detroit, a young man who is willing can get paid thousands of dollars to commit murder. The city's unemployment rate is more than 22%, the high school graduation rate is the lowest in the nation at 31%, and the rate of gun violence is among the highest in the country. How much of gun violence is economic? How much is emotional? Is gun violence a social contagion?