Velthuis 1 Bob Velthuis Kristen Foster CO150-403 23 October 2013

Gun Control in the United States: An Annotated Bibliography In recent years, the issue of laws concerning firearms have become a major concern nationally. An increase in gun ownership as well as an increase in (mass) shootings has led to a debate whether new laws should be adopted. This is interesting to me because I grew up in the Netherlands, a country that has banned all firearms. I was in Colorado at the time of the theatre shooting in Aurora, and experienced the impact that guns can have firsthand. I wanted to find out more about gun control in the United States, and see if there is really a correlation between crime rates and gun ownership. The research question I posed is: Should there be stricter laws concerning firearms in the United States? I wanted to focus specifically on firearm-related deaths and mass shootings, every time you hear about a mass shooting the second amendment seems to be under debate. I conducted this research between October 4th and October 20th, 2013. This bibliography contains a total of four sources, two sources from popular magazines, a news article, and an academic article published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Velthuis 2 Barrett, Paul M. How Often Do We Use Guns in Self-Defense? businessweek.com. Bloomberg Businessweek, 27 Dec. 2012. Web. 18 Oct. 2013. This article, written for people interested in the debate on gun control, addresses whether the argument that firearms are important for self-defense is valid. The National Rifle Association (NRA) uses the right to defend yourself as the main argument against gun control. The author states that we dont know exactly how frequently Defense Gun Use (DGU) occurs. The National Crime Victimization Survey estimates that DGU occurs about 100,000 times per year, whilst one study found DGU occurs up to two million times per year. Paul Barrett, the author of this source, is a Harvard Law graduate and author of three books, including one regarding gun control. The article was published in December 2012, making it quite recent. One limitation of this source is that it does not have a definitive answer to its initial question. I found this source to be very helpful because it addresses the most important argument made by a large stakeholder; the National Rifle Association. When answering my research question, DGU is definitely a considerable factor. Follman, Mark. More Guns, More Mass Shootings- Coincidence? motherjones.com. Mother Jones, 15 Dec. 2012. Web. 3 Oct. 2013. This article, published in the politically liberal magazine Mother Jones, was written for anyone interested in the issue of gun control. The author investigates 62 mass shootings that occurred in the United States over the last thirty years. He posts a lot of facts concerning the increase in guns in the United States over recent years and the correlation it has with the increase in mass shootings. Laws passed in recent years have made it significantly easier to carry and own guns, and in a few years there will be more guns that citizens in the United

Velthuis 3 States. The author states that civilian attempts to stop a massacre are rare and seldom successful. The author of this article is Mark Follman, his thorough investigation on mass shootings won an award in 2013 from the Society of Professional Journalists for reporting excellence. Follman seems to have extensive knowledge on the subject and his use of statistics improves credibility. However, he gives little credit to the opposing view on gun control and only addresses mass shootings, not all gun violence. This article helps me answer my research question by providing statistics on mass shootings in the United States, and identifying the correlation between gun ownership and mass shootings. It addresses two important stakeholders: Felons and law makers. I want to find out if there is also a correlation between firearms and crime rates, as well as firearm-related deaths. McArdle, Megan. Theres Little We Can Do to Prevent Another Massacre. thedailybeast.com. The Daily Beast Company LLC, 17 Dec. 2012. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. This news article was written for anyone who is interested in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting of 2012. It analyzes the shooting and talks about the debate on gun ownership that occurred right after, the author also evaluates the suggested policies and laws to prevent future mass shootings. Suggestions included a ban on gun ownership for the mentally ill, and requiring people to pass a shooting and gun safety test before they can own a gun. Though, according to the author, none of these policies would have prevented Adam Lanza from committing the massacre. McArdle addresses that it is easy to be a supporter of gun control, but it is merely impossible to implement just the right laws without violating the constitution or upsetting a large group of people. She states that a ban on all guns would definitely reduce

Velthuis 4 the death rate, however, there are too many firearms in circulation and too many opposing views. The author, Megan McArdle is a respected American Journalist, she has worked at a number of publications writing mostly about economics and government policy. This article was published on 17 December, 2013, making it quite recent. A limitation for this article is that the consequences of the proposed laws are based on opinion, no one can know for certain what would have happened if the laws were different. This article is helpful because it talks about the reality that lawmakers, an important stakeholder, cannot simply pass a law that would prevent mass shootings from happening. I know from previous research that a severe restriction on gun ownership will reduce firearmrelated deaths. However, because the right to bear arms is implemented in the second amendment, the United States cannot ban all firearms. Messerli, Franz H., and Sripal Bangalore. Gun Ownership and Firearm-Related Deaths American Journal of Medicine 126.10 (2013): 873-876. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. The peer reviewed article was written for researchers or journalists interested in gun control throughout the world. It sets out to research the popular belief that more guns make a safer nation, the researchers do this by reviewing the gun ownership per capita and firearm-related deaths per 100,000 population of 27 developed countries. The researchers found that There was a significant positive correlation between guns per capita per country and the rate of firearm-related deaths. (874) Furthermore, they assessed whether mental illness has any connection with firearm-related deaths. The researchers found a positive connection between

Velthuis 5 firearm-related deaths and mental illness rates in a country, however, there was no correlation between crime rate and mental illness. This source was published in October 2013, it was the most recent article concerning this issue I could find. It was published in a peer-reviewed journal, making the research conducted seem very reliable. However, both authors are medical experts, so there might be a lack of expertise. I found this article very helpful in my research, because it confirms that guns do not make a nation safer. It confirms this in a very reliable way, and the article talks about an interesting stakeholder; the mentally ill.