Can A Public Health Approach Help Reduce Gun Violence?

Rene Aguilar and Jackie Flores pray at a makeshift memorial for the victims of Saturday’s mass shooting at a shopping complex in El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2019.
Rene Aguilar and Jackie Flores pray at a makeshift memorial for the victims of Saturday's mass shooting at a shopping complex in El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2019. Andres Leighton / AP Photo
Rene Aguilar and Jackie Flores pray at a makeshift memorial for the victims of Saturday’s mass shooting at a shopping complex in El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2019.
Rene Aguilar and Jackie Flores pray at a makeshift memorial for the victims of Saturday's mass shooting at a shopping complex in El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2019. Andres Leighton / AP Photo

Can A Public Health Approach Help Reduce Gun Violence?

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Mass shootings in Ohio and Texas left at least 30 people dead over the weekend. President Trump referred to the shootings as “domestic terrorism” and said, “We must recognize that the internet has provided a dangerous avenue to radicalized disturbed minds and perform demented acts.” Prior to the shooting in El Paso, Texas on Saturday, the shooter is believed to have posted to online messaging board 8chan — the third suspect to have done so in advance of a major atrocity this year. A document believed to be written by the El Paso suspect espoused white nationalist and racist views. The motive for Sunday’s shooting in Dayton, Ohio is less clear; the suspect in that attack wore a bulletproof vest as he opened fire in a popular nightlife district. We are joined by gun violence expert David Hemenway, a professor of Health Policy at Harvard University and director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center. He discusses a public health approach to tackling gun violence, and takes calls from listeners with comments and questions about his views on the way forward.