Arms, Conventional Wisdom, and Public Health Prevention

Abstract

Every year, 8 million small arms and 15 billion rounds of ammunition are manufactured in the world. Every day, 700 people worldwide (more than 2.5 million in a decade) die from firearms such as pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, or machine guns. Between 1968 and 2011, there were 1.4 million gun-related deaths in the United States (including suicides, homicides, and accidents) compared with 1.2 million North American deaths in all wars. This article looks at the historic and cultural context that has generated and shaped the U.S.'s "gun culture" and prevailing mentality regarding the right to bear arms, critiquing the vision that such a pro-arms mentality is an intrinsic and unchangeable element of U.S. culture. It exposes the neoliberal roots of the current U.S. gun violence epidemic, asking the question of "why?" in order to move toward an alternative conventional wisdom and overcome this urgent public health crisis in the U.S. and elsewhere.