Gun violence does not exist in isolation. It is a symptom of a larger, societal disease.
I’m a Teacher, and the Last Thing I Need is a Gun, Dammit!
If more guns were the solution, the United States would be the safest nation on Earth...and Yemen would be the second safest.
Getting Past the Mass Shooting Carousel
APPLYING REASON TO THE IRRATIONAL During a Facebook conversation with a right-wing friend of mine (yes, I do have right-wing friends), he pointed out "while we prayed for the victims, you prayed the shooter wasn't a Muslim." I have to admit, he wasn't entirely wrong. I'm not one for prayer, and clearly I had deep... Continue Reading →
“America doesn’t have a gun problem. It has several of them.”
A POWERFUL ANALYSIS FROM JOSS FONG AT VOX.COM For another perspective, check out this analysis from MSB done back in October. Fong uses Idaho, I looked at Vermont as compared to Louisiana. What's the difference?
Everything You Know About the Gun Control Debate is Wrong
THE BASIC PREMISE FOR OUR NEED TO BEAR ARMS OR REGULATE ARMS ISN'T TRUE Every time there's a mass shooting, or a noteworthy event that makes it into the mainstream media involving gun violence the response is almost visceral, but certain. First, the "gun rights" advocates and their NRA pushers take to the editorial pages... Continue Reading →
On Proving the Null Hypothesis in the Gun Debate
OR THE DIFFICULTIES OF ACADEMIC HONESTY The last couple of semesters I've had the unfortunate opportunity to talk about American gun culture and its associated gun violence in real time. It's actually a great topic through which to understand the sociological imagination and to offer relevant lessons on how sociologists do our work. I try to... Continue Reading →