A public health campaign that exposes the risk of guns to gun-owners and their families can succeed where legislation and gun control efforts have failed

1. How a Public Education campaign can
succeed where political activism has failed
Slashing Gun Violence . . .
. . . by shifting the focus from legislation to
personal choices about family safety

2. 2
WHEN PEOPLE BRING GUNS INTO THEIR HOMES
THEY PUT THEIR FAMILIES AT IMMENSE RISK . . . BUT THEY DON’T KNOW IT
Data show that having access to a gun
doubles the risk of homicide and triples
the risk of suicide . . . But 2/3’s of
Americans believe exactly the opposite

3. 3
36% have a family member or
friend who is a victim
60% of us know a suicide victim
WE’RE CONFUSED BECAUSE WE’RE LARGELY UNAWARE OF
HOW WIDELY SHARED PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH GUN VIOLENCE IS
The lack of awareness stems partly from the vast
underreporting of gun-related suicides
YouGov/Huffington Post survey of 1000 US adults interviewed October 6-7, 2015 on gun control.
In October 2015 SLATE
magazine compared the
frequency of gun deaths to
media coverage of gun deaths.
Suicides are in red.

4. 4
AS A RESULT, WE’RE UNAWARE THAT WHEN GUNS KILL
WE USE THEM MOSTLY TO KILL OURSELVES & PEOPLE CLOSE TO US
67%
23%
7% 3%
In three-quarters of homicides,
the perpetrator and victim are
related to or know each other
Guns are mostly used to
commit suicide – 21,175
Homicides by strangers are
rare, just 2,802 out of more
than 30,000 gun deaths GUN DEATHS 2013
In nine out of ten gun deaths, the victim is the gun’s owner,
a family member, or a friend or acquaintance

5. 5
IGNORANCE OF THE RISKS OF GUN OWNERSHIP
RESULTS IN BEHAVIOR THAT INCREASES THE DANGER
. . . a response that puts us at even
greater risk
High-profile tragedies cause frightened
and confused people to buy more guns
The Newtown, CT massacre

6. 6
People can be educated about the risks they impose on themselves
and their families when they bring guns into their homes
We can protect
ourselves and our
families by not
bringing guns into
our homes
LEGISLATION RESTICTING ACCESS TO GUNS MIGHT HELP
BUT APPEALING DIRECTLY TO PEOPLE MIGHT BE MORE EFFECTIVE & FEASIBLE
By sidestepping the political issue and
focusing exclusively on the issue of family
safety and personal choice, and public
health campaign would . . .
. . . undercut the personal motivation to
buy guns while also undermining the
political impulse to oppose gun control
legislation

7. A PUBLIC HEALTH CAMPAIGN CAN SUCCEED
JUST AS NOW-ICONIC PUBLIC SERVICE CAMPAIGNS HAVE IN THE PAST
7
Because it would communicate the awful
consequences of gun ownership in the most
personal and visceral way possible