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Gun Safety & Public Health: Policy Recommendations for a More Secure America

NCJ Number
244070
Date Published
August 2013
Length
20 pages
Annotation

This report provides a set of recommendations for improving gun safety in the United States.

Abstract

This report, compiled by the National Physicians Alliance and the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, contains a set of recommendations for improving gun safety in the United States. The report looks at gun violence as a major public health crisis and provides a set of solutions for dealing with the problem. The solutions are divided into two categories: public health solutions and industry solutions. The public health solutions are 1 Preventing high-risk individuals from accessing guns; 2 The removal of medical gag laws for doctors; 3 Removing impediments to research, analysis, and data collection on issues dealing with gun violence and violence prevention; 4 Restricting access to unusually dangerous firearms; 5 Designing safety standards for firearms; 6 Passing laws mandating the use of locking devices and new technologies to reduce child and unauthorized access to guns; and 7 Passing laws requiring training and licensing of gun owners. Solutions for the gun industry that would help to reduce gun violence are regulating gun dealerships, and removing the industry's immunity from lawsuits. Tables, figures, appendixes, and notes