{"id":190735,"date":"2023-06-07T11:25:20","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T15:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=180537"},"modified":"2023-06-07T11:25:20","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T17:29:16","slug":"new-study-highlights-the-true-culprits-of-youth-gun-violence-poverty-and-neglect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/new-study-highlights-the-true-culprits-of-youth-gun-violence-poverty-and-neglect\/","title":{"rendered":"New Study Highlights the True Culprits of Youth Gun Violence: Poverty and Neglect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"JAMA
(Photo: JAMA Network Open<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A new study<\/a> published in the American Medical Association\u2019s JAMA Network Open tells us what many of us already know about violence and young folks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basically, the researchers found that things like poverty, unemployment, or living in crowded houses mattered more in creating gun violence than how strict or lenient gun laws were. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, more laws won’t fix gun violence. If we want to have an impact, we need to improve living conditions in areas that have been neglected for a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, the researchers had a good look at how these community issues and the different gun laws in each state affect gun violence. They used data on firearm-related deaths of young people between 10 and 19 years old, from the start of 2020 to mid-2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They then cross-referenced where these incidents happened with the local living conditions and how the Giffords Law Center<\/a> rated each state’s gun laws. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEE ALSO: Why the \u2018Red State Murder Problem\u2019 Is Not a Convincing Argument for More Gun Control<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Using this data, they came up with a “social vulnerability index” (SVI) which looks at things like income levels, the type of housing, and the racial and ethnic makeup of the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results were pretty clear: the tougher the living conditions, the higher the gun violence death rates. However, whether a state had stricter or more lenient gun laws didn’t make much of a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lead researcher, Dr. Deepika Nehra, pointed out that, regardless of how tough the gun laws were, areas with high social vulnerability had a gun-related death rate 10-12 times higher than less vulnerable areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what’s the takeaway? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To really tackle gun violence, we need to deal with social issues. Efforts to restrict guns or disarm responsible people aren’t a magic bullet to solving the problem of violence and crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Points (From the Study)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n