267389 Dangerous weapons, “dangerous people,” gun-rights politics, and the cost of gun violence in America: Comments on firearms research and implications for better law and policy

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 3:15 PM - 3:30 PM

Philip J. Cook, PhD , Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC
  
This presentation will comment on the foregoing panel presentations in the context of the national gun violence problem and its costs. The presenter will use this panel's topic to draw out larger lessons about the relationship between policy and public health law research; how policy-makers can best use research and also shape research questions; and how researchers can enter the public sphere, connect to the policy process, and do research that will likely have a positive impact on population health and safety.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Describe one way in which empirical research on gun laws’ effectiveness could be used in policy or legal reform, and to describe one major impediment or challenge to the application of research to drive policy in this area

Keywords: Violence, Policy/Policy Development

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am an economist and internationally known expert on the economics of crime and on firearms control laws and policies. My co-authored books include Controlling Crime: Strategies and Tradeoffs (University of Chicago Press, 2011), Gun Violence: The Real Costs (Oxford University Press, 2000); and Evaluating Gun Policy (Brookings Institution Press, 2003). I hold a PhD in economics from the University of California at Berkeley.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3344.0: Guns, mental illness, and violence: A conversation at the intersection of law, policymaking, and research