Last week in Part 1 we discussed the hypocrisy that the anti-gun entertainment industry shows about the influence of its productions on viewers’ behavior.  It has always denied that its marketing of graphic violence affects viewers’ propensity to act violently. Yet one of its trade associations, the Entertainment Industry Council, urges members to use anti-gun plot elements because, as it says, “entertainment. . .may influence real-life decisions and beliefs”. (more…)

Well before Florida’s Amber Ullman incident in the summer of 2010, gun control activist doctors had been poking and prodding a sore spot.  The American Academy of Pediatrics in particular had declared a culture war on gun owners and advanced the battle into exam rooms across America.  They were questioning their patients and their parents about guns in their homes.  Patients were outraged, the people of Florida responded through their legislature, and the parties squared off in a continuing ...

It is a common sense belief that the pervasiveness of violence in media can desensitize us to violence in society and surely must influence impressionable youth.  Perhaps because of that, our entertainment-industrial complex regularly reports studies telling us that “the evidence just isn't there"—to “move on, nothing to see here”. Then how can the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry find it “quite compelling that children’s exposure to media violence plays an important ...

During the March 6, 2016 Democratic Party debate, Hillary Clinton stated unequivocally that she believes that manufacturers and sellers of legal goods should be held liable for the illegal misuse of their product. Saying “…giving immunity to gun makers and sellers was a terrible mistake…We should very seriously work to repeal that…”, she indicated a not-all-that-secret line of attack on your firearms freedom: drying up the supply. (more…)

One of the most contentious questions in the gun debate is whether gun control can affect suicide rates and, if so, should more restrictions be imposed? In the United States, gun suicides outnumber gun homicides by almost two to one.  This creates a problem for supporters of gun control.  They must frighten people to achieve their goals, but most of us don’t feel threatened by suicide. For half a century, the anti-gun lobby has tried to confuse the public and demonize gun ownership in ...

Bindu Kalesan, an assistant professor of medicine and strident foe of firearm civil rights (more about that later) at Boston University, has crashed onto the public health anti-gun rights advocacy scene.  Kalesan is the lead author on an already-disputed article just published in The Lancet, claiming that passage of more gun control laws could reduce gun deaths.  Her ideological allies in major media have trumpeted, prematurely it turns out, her legislative prescription with headline-friendl...

DRGO is your organization. Our leadership and regular blog contributors have no monopoly on saying smart things about important subjects. Our members, supporters and readers of this blog also have a great deal to bring to the idea table. In this case, a reader named Gary sent us the following email in which he likens the benefit to social order of firearm ownership and the right to carry to the use of antibiotics and sanitizers on personal and public health. We couldn't agree with him ...

[Editor’s note: DRGO Director Dr. Timothy Wheeler was invited to attend as a panelist at this March 3 conference on “gun violence” at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Because of sudden illness he unfortunately was unable to attend, but here is the text of his presentation.] My thanks today to Dean Flynn and Dr. Short for the opportunity to share.  We are talking today about ways that social workers can help prevent what some people call gun violence.  But I ask you to...