Reducing Gun Violence in the US

Guns claim more than 33,000 lives in the US every year. What can be done to reduce these deaths? Actually, a lot, says Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, in a video interview with Global Health NOW.

The evidence demonstrates that commonsense laws and community efforts such as outreach to people at highest risk for being a perpetrator or victim—as well as other strategies—could turn the tide of gun deaths, he says.

Despite the common perception that it’s politically impossible to reach consensus on laws to reduce gun violence, surveys consistently show that gun owners and Republicans support gun safety policies, says Webster in the video recorded on October 18.

The key is to focus on solving the problem. “The hopeful path forward is advancing this discussion beyond a cultural battle … to a very practical discussion,” he says. “We have guns in our society. We will always have guns in our society. There are things [that] gun owners agree we can and should do so that we have fewer gun deaths.”

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