A Needed Paradigm Shift Concerning Gun Control

This presentation explores the potential for the integration of the public health, legal and homeland security disciplines. In particular, their integration when confronting an issue held in common. Here, the issue of “gun control” is selected to determine if interdisciplinary integration is necessary, achievable or even desirable. Each discipline has a unique, and sometimes conflicting, view of what “gun control” actually entails. A conceptual framework is created to compare and analyze the various disciplinary approaches to gun control within our nation. This analysis process occurs on the backdrop of the history and characteristics of guns as well as the ethical, legal and moral cultural perspectives guns are immersed within. What emerges after exploring this issue is whether “gun control” is even the correct term to use when addressing the consequences of the inappropriate use of guns. This presentation recommends the replacement of the term “gun control” with the more appropriate term, “gun misuse prevention.” It also calls into question the reporting of gun related data and its relationship to a justification of prevailing social gentrification efforts. This presentation will clarify the various disciplinary and interdisciplinary roles utilized to address this national problem. Further, the conclusions drawn from this new perspective allow for a clearer path to approaching and making recommendations when confronting the issue of gun use within our nation. New technological approaches to gun misuse prevention are presented.