In the wake of the tragic mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, the United States is once again confronting the nation's complicated relationship with guns.
Northeastern's School of Criminology and Criminal Justice is home to several respected crime gun researchers, and as the nation reckons with the devastating effects of gun violence, the country is looking to experts for answers.
We asked SCCJ's gun law experts how research can help inform law and the biggest part academia can play in solving complex societal challenges like gun control. Drawing on past collaborations with policymakers and past and current research, our faculty discussed the importance of data-driven policy decisions. We delved into how the public forms opinions about gun control, how gun control can make communities safer, and the impact legislation can have on preventing mass shootings.
Gun culture in America
To understand the United States' relationship with guns, it is important to understand the political context behind it, an area where researchers can share valuable insights.
Kevin Drakulich, Associate Director of Northeastern's School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, researches how people think about issues related to crime and justice in relation to politics. In a recently published article, “How Intersectional Threat Shapes Gun Policy Attitudes: The John Wayne Solution,” Drakulich and his team examined how multiple perceived threats to privileged identities influence views on gun control.
In this study the researchers examined how privileged social identities and the perception of those identities at stake influence an individual's views on gun safety measures, specifically universal background checks, banning assault weapons, and arming teachers.
The study found that when three specific privileged identities (white, US-born, and male) intersected with feelings of those identities being threatened, either by social justice or other political movements, subjects were likely to feel strong attachments to guns and to be stable. opposes gun control measures.
Drakulich described this group's relationship with guns as gun culture 2.0, the notion that gun culture used to be associated with activities like hunting or shooting, but a new relationship with guns has emerged that is fundamentally different.
“There is a group of Americans for whom guns have become symbolic. This group feels as if their privileges as Americans are being threatened and therefore the conversation is no longer about guns, but about their perceived place in America.”
Kevin Drakulich, Associate Director of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice;
The trend Drakulich found stems from a sense of outrage from a group of people who have privilege but feel that other people threaten that privilege in direct ways.
“For this group it's a sense that they've lost their country, a sense that they've been waiting in line for the American dream and suddenly they're cut in line.”
This can become a major obstacle to gun control legislation because it creates a minority of voters who feel unusually strongly about the issue. In turn, Drakulich's research provides valuable insight into why some people oppose popular gun control positions but favor more extreme approaches like arming teachers.
While research like Drakulich's can help shed light on the political climate facing policymakers and potential obstacles to legislation, scholars can also inform specific policy recommendations about gun control.
Research information policy
After the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, Jack McDevitt, professor of practice in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, and director of the Institute on Race and Justice, was asked by Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo to lead . a committee dedicated to strengthening Massachusetts gun laws.
For 8 months McDevitt and committee members met with police chiefs, mental health professionals and legislators to create evidence-backed recommendations to strengthen gun restrictions across the state.
McDevitt and the committee made 44 recommendations, 43 of which DeLeo signed into law. As a result, Massachusetts becomes the safest state for gun violence in the US, both in suicides and homicides.
In proposing these restrictions, McDevitt and the commission focused on creating universal state standards such as requiring a permit to carry any type of gun, mandatory background checks to obtain those permits, and a statewide ban on assault weapons.
However, McDevitt acknowledged that while Massachusetts has shown these measures work, to see change in overall gun violence across the United States federal legislation must be introduced.
Mass shootings in perspective
Research can also help policymakers and the public better understand the scope of gun violence in America. While mass shootings typically garner the most media attention, other forms of gun violence pose more significant threats to community safety.
James Alan Fox, the Lipman Family Professor of Criminology, Law and Public Policy at Northeastern, argues that while mass shootings tend to galvanize the public to support gun control measures, mass shootings are less likely to be swayed by the proposed measures. . .
“Mass killings are extremely difficult to prevent, with nearly two-thirds of perpetrators having their guns legally,” Fox said. “But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to make tougher laws.”
In one opinion about Boston Globe Fox writes, “As for tighter gun restrictions, which I fully support, they are needed to address the thousands upon thousands of gun homicides that occur on America's streets and homes every year.”
But Fox said a federal ban on high-capacity magazines could reduce the number of victims when a mass shooting occurs.
When it comes to school shootings, Fox says the risk is still relatively low, noting that since 2013, a total of 77 students in grades K-12 have been killed in 11 mass school shootings. Fox estimates that there is about a 1 in 5 million chance that a child will be killed by armed assailants (including shooting a victim) at school in any given year.
Fox argues that while outrageous, most shootings don't happen in public places, and officials need to work harder to protect schools without harming children.
Clear hallways, careful landscaping, and bullet-proof glass are all steps that can be taken to protect schools without needlessly scaring children.
So what can we do?
“Gun violence happens every day. But it happens in situations where the average person doesn't usually find themselves, during drug deals or gangs. It's when gun violence happens in schools, grocery stores and movie theaters that we feel so vulnerable.”
Jack McDevitt, Professor of Practice in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
SCCJ experts agree with this Stricter gun laws are needed to address the overall epidemic of gun violence in the United States. Licensing requirements, universal background checks, and assault weapons bans are all evidence-backed solutions that can help combat the crisis facing the country.
And while the “easy fix,” McDevitt says, is to increase the penalties for those who own illegal guns, McDevitt cautions against that. “The majority of gun violence occurs in underserved communities. We need the expansion of programs that support communities, not more prison time.”
The public can also take an active role in preventing gun violence by recognizing warning signs in their loved ones.
“If you believe someone in your family could be a threat to themselves or others, we should love them enough to take their guns away until we're sure they're no longer a danger,” McDevitt said.
“We need mental health and education campaigns to help family members recognize the signs and understand that through the legislation we passed, they have the power to take away a loved one's gun.”
Collectively, SCCJ experts agree that while red flag laws and other efforts gaining legislative traction are a good first step in combating America's controversial relationship with guns, sweeping, federal changes will be needed to make them permanent impact.
