Epidemiology Counts – Episode 8 “Gun Violence”

Epidemiology Counts from the Society for Epidemiologic Research

Gun violence is endemic in the United States. It’s become a politically polarized topic and the discourse, which tends to focus on mass shootings, is replete with misinformation. Key questions underlying this debate are inherently epidemiological and population research can help separate fact from fiction. For example, what does the data tell us about trends in gun ownership and gun violence in the United States? To what extent are gun deaths attributable to mass shootings and murders versus gun suicides? What policy levers regulate gun ownership and use, and what do we know (and not know) about their impacts? In this episode, guest Dr. David Hemenway, Director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, joins Matt Fox and Arijit Nandi in grappling with these fundamental questions, and tries to bridge the gap between the perceived and actual reality of gun violence in the United States.