The public health case for gun control

Handgun with bullets

In the wake of the shooting of two journalists on live television in Virginia on August 25, 2015, several news stories have referenced gun violence research by David Hemenway, professor of health policy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center.

In his 2006 book Private Guns, Public Health, Hemenway summarizes the research on the relationship between guns and injuries and describes the public health approach to reducing firearm-related violence. Among the statistics he cites: Children in the U.S. are 14 times as likely to die from guns as children in other developed countries.

“Within the United States, a wide array of empirical evidence indicates that more guns in a community leads to more homicide,” Hemenway wrote.

Read New York Times story: Lessons From the Murders of TV Journalists in the Virginia Shooting

Read Vox story: Virginia shooting victim’s father makes emotional plea for gun control on Fox News

Learn more

Mass public shootings increasing in U.S. (Harvard Chan School news)

Gun Violence: A Public Health Crisis (The Forum at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)

Scientists agree: Guns don’t make society safer (Harvard Chan School news)

Read more stories about guns from Harvard Chan School news.