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INTRODUCTION
THE regulation of handguns is one of the most divisive social issues in American society. Firearms in general, and handguns in particular, are emblematic of individual autonomy and freedom from government intrusion, while representative of one of the greatest threats to public health and safety. Indeed, a candidate's position on this issue has been credited with winning and losing elections at the local, state, and national levels.
Compared to other developed nations, firearms-related death and disability in the United States is staggering (i). Over the past quarter century, approximately 32,000 people per year have died from bullets for a total of roughly 800,000 people, or the equivalent population of the city and county of San Francisco (2,3). The burden of guninflicted death and disability is felt not only in lives lost and families shattered, but also in an economic toll. It is estimated that the annual societal bill for firearms-related death and injury in the United States amounts to roughly $100 billion (4).
Additionally, many of those killed by guns in this country are young people, resulting in an unfathomable national loss of human potential and social contribution. Indeed, in the early 1990's guns were the leading cause of death for youth in seven states and the District of Columbia, threatening to overtake traffic crashes as the national leading cause of death for young people aged ten to 19 (5).
In light of the tremendous social and political impacts of the issue, observable public outrage over gun violence has been extremely limited. However, there appears to be consistent and widespread support for a range of gun control measures (6,7). One reason for this may have been a previously held perception among many white, middle class Americans that gun deaths occur in "other" communities. In other words, guns kill people and kids, in particular, in poor neighborhoods, communities of color, neighborhoods with high levels of "street crime," and in the sort of areas that are commonly understood to be "unsafe." In news coverage of suburban shootings over the years, local residents often remark that "this sort of thing just doesn't happen here," almost as if it were expected to happen somewhere else.
Perceptions of where violent deaths do occur changed rapidly in the late 1990s,...