Use Of Gun Research Articles

Love & Guns: Orlando

The author uses poetry to speak back to the ubiquitous talk, use, and idolization of guns in the United States and in her personal life. Scenes from a family Memorial Day picnic, runs in pro-gun country where it is common to stockpile guns and make ammo and attend conceal and carry classes at the local church, to hearing the news about the Orlando nightclub massacre while on a family vacation with her pro-National Rifle Association (NRA) family show the author’s personal struggle of how to act in her personal life when family members possess radically different and contrasting political values.

Firearms training: what is actually taught?

IntroductionFirearm safety instructors and public health professionals are natural allies in the quest to prevent firearm injuries. We audited basic firearm classes to provide information that can help familiarise public...

19.1 Looking at Gun Carrying and Gun Use in Adolescents From a Developmental Perspective

19.1 Looking at Gun Carrying and Gun Use in Adolescents From a Developmental Perspective

Gun Use in Movies Linked to Gun Use by Children

Exposure to gun use in movies, television, and other forms of media may influence how children interact with guns when they find them. To determine the

Effects of Exposure to Gun Violence in Movies on Children’s Interest in Real Guns

More US children die by accidental gun use than children in other developed countries. One factor that can influence children's interest in guns is exposure to media containing guns. To test whether children who see a movie containing guns will handle a real gun longer and will pull the trigger more times than children who see the same movie not containing guns. One hundred four children aged 8 to 12 years recruited through advertisements were randomly assigned in pairs to watch a 20-minute PG-rated movie containing or not containing guns in a university laboratory. Children then played with toys and games in a room for 20 minutes while being video recorded. A cabinet in the room contained a real (disabled) gun with a sensor counting trigger pulls. Recordings were coded for the time spent holding the gun and in aggressive play. Data were collected from July 15, 2015, through January 1, 2016, and analyzed using generalized estimating equations (Tweedie log-link for time spent holding the gun; Poisson log-link for pulling the trigger). The 2 main outcomes were time spent holding the gun and the number of trigger pulls. Control variables included sex, age, trait aggressiveness, exposure to violent media, interest in guns, and number of guns at home. Among the 104 study participants (62 boys [59.6%] and 42 girls [40.4%]; mean (SD) age, 9.9 [1.5] years), the adjusted median number of trigger pulls among children who saw the movie containing guns was 2.8 (interquartile range [IQR], 0.2-2.8) compared with 0.01 (IQR, 0.01-0.2) among children who saw the movie not containing guns (adjusted odds ratio, 22.3; 95% CI, 6.0-83.4; P < .001). The adjusted median number of seconds spent holding the gun among children who saw a movie containing guns was 53.1 (IQR, 35.5-53.1) compared with 11.1 (IQR, 10.7-16.7) among children who saw the movie not containing guns (adjusted odds ratio, 3.0; 95% CI, 0.9-9.9; P = .07). Qualitative analyses on 4 pairs from each condition found that children who saw the movie containing guns also played more aggressively and sometimes fired the gun at people (ie, self, partner, or passersby on street). Children in the United States frequently have access to unsecured firearms and frequently consume media containing guns. This experiment shows that children who see movie characters use guns are more likely to use guns themselves. clinicaltrials.gov Identifier NCT03220412.

Some microelectrochemical methods for the investigation of passivity and corrosion

Abstract Microelectrochemical approaches using a microcapillary cell (MCC), scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM), and in situ ellipsomicroscopy for studying heterogeneous passive or corroding surfaces of materials are reviewed. An MCC can be used to investigate the localized behavior of a site of interest on a material by various electrochemical methods, including electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. SECM has often been used for imaging corroding surfaces or passive films on materials. Moreover, the use of a liquid-phase ion gun, a mode of SECM that forms a local aggressive environment at the solution/material interphase, can reveal the depassivation mechanism and kinetics of the surface of a material. The heterogeneous growth or degradation of a thin passive film on a material has been monitored using in situ ellipsomicroscopy, and a depassivation site has been successfully found before a film breakdown is initiated. These microelectrochemical methods are useful for monitoring the heterogeneous distribution of a passive film and for investigating the heterogeneity of the passivity of materials.

Street Culture and Gun Violence: Exploring the Reputation-Victimization Paradox.

Anderson's thesis of a code of the street has been broadly applied to the study of violence, but race- and gender-specific multilevel analyses of gun violence are scant within the literature. An unresolved debate also surrounds the link between violent victimization and adherence to street culture; underscored by an apparent reputation-victimization paradox among those who engage in street behaviors. The current study contributes to the literature by assessing the direct influence of incident setting and victim-offender familiarity on the likelihood of gun use by Black males in the course of aggravated assaults; and the degree to which the confluence of these factors is conditioned by levels of disadvantage and violence in the community. To accomplish this, we apply hierarchical generalized linear modeling to incident-level data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System in conjunction with contextual-level data from the counties in which the incidents are nested. Our findings suggest victim-offender familiarity and public settings are negatively associated with gun violence and the confluence of these factors further reduces the probability of gun use. This relationship, however, is conditioned by levels of disadvantage and violence in the community, providing preliminary evidence of both the violence increasing and decreasing effects of street culture hypothesized by Anderson.

Determinants of bullying among Palestinian refugee students in Lebanon: a qualitative study

BackgroundDespite the high prevalence of bullying among Palestinian refugee students at schools of The United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA), estimated at 52·5% by Global School-based Students Health Survey done in 2010, little attention is given to it. Compared with worldwide prevalence of bullying, ranging between 7·1% and 70·2%, the prevalence of bullying at UNRWA schools is high. This study aims to understand the determinants behind bullying among Palestinian refugee students at UNRWA to be able to intervene and reduce the prevalence. MethodsQualitative methods for data collection were used. Three focus groups were interviewed at Haifa School in Lebanon among both female and male students of grades 7, 8, and 9 (aged 13–15 years). Every group contained ten students who were asked for both written parental consent and verbal consent. Findings were analysed with thematic analysis. FindingsOur findings showed that both individual and environmental factors were determinants of bullying being done among participants. Students' definition of bullying was different from what is accepted in the literature, being defined as physical abuse. Moreover, bullying was not regarded as a harmful behaviour, but instead a way of having fun and seeking a better self-image among their peers. These perceptions were the result of the camp environment. Our findings showed that Palestinian refugee students are exposed to violent acts—eg, hitting and use of guns in the refugee camp—which made them perceive bullying as an acceptable behaviour. Some students stated that they were raised on the idea of holding a gun or a knife to fight and protect themselves. This extreme exposure to violence made participants perceive kicking or hitting for the sake of making fun as being an acceptable behaviour as long as there is no injury. InterpretationThe determinants of bullying among Palestinian refugee students are different from those among non-refugee populations as shown in the published literature. Therefore, UNRWA schools should take these differences into consideration when planning future antibullying interventions. FundingThe United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA).

What does Gunshot Detection Technology tell us about gun violence?

PurposeEvaluate the sensitivity of Gunshot Detection Technology (GDT) relative to Calls for Service. Existing crime data sources have biases that do not present a complete picture of gun-related crime. GDT may offer a new metric for firearm crimes. However, few studies have assessed the accuracy of GDT and its relationship to other measures of violence. MethodsGDT and gun crime-related Calls for Service in Washington, DC during 2010 were studied. Using temporal comparisons for month, day of year, weekday, and hour of the day, spatial comparisons on a quarter-mile square grid, and a Poisson-Lognormal-CAR spatial regression model on a combined grid by time period dataset, we examined the sensitivity of GDT activations relative to gunshot-related calls for service. ResultsThe results showed that relative GDT sensitivity changed by time and by space. In particular, the relative sensitivity of GDT was much stronger in the evening and at nighttime than in the daytime. In terms of spatial variation, we found that GDT sensitivity decreased with distance from the nearest zone centroid. In addition, there were two small geographic areas in the study area in which the relative GDT sensitivity was lower than expected. ConclusionsGDT systems identify the frequency and locational accuracy of gunshot incidents, particularly at nighttime. This technology has the potential to improve data collection on gun use and violence and produce more accurate representations if the temporal and distance limitations of the technology are understood. GDT may improve gun detection and, thereby, improve police operations and public support for police.

Racial Differences Among Juvenile Homicide Offenders: An Empirical Analysis of 37 Years of U.S. Arrest Data.

Homicides by juvenile offenders have been of great interest to the public and policymakers in the United States for four decades. Despite the concern over young murderers, many analyses have been limited to small clinical samples. Empirical studies using Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) data, a national database maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, have largely concentrated on analyzing basic victim, offender, and offense data or exploring gender differences. Racial differences, when explored with respect to juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs), largely have concentrated on White and Black offenders, given the low percentage involvement of American Indians and Alaskan Natives, and Asian and Pacific Islanders. This article used 37 years of SHR data (1976-2012; n = 52,916) to investigate differences between the four racial groups (White, Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and Asian American/Pacific Islander). This article focused on three questions: First, did the offender and offense characteristics of all JHOs arrested during the study period vary by race? Second, did the characteristics of victims, weapons used, crime circumstances, and offender count in incidents in which JHOs killed single victims differ across racial groups? Third, are offender, victim, and offense characteristics predictive of racial classification? Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. The findings revealed more similarities than differences across the racial groups. Multinomial regression analyses revealed, however, that several variables were found to distinguish racial groups of JHOs in a predictive way: region, location, White victim, family victim, gun use, and homicide circumstance. Importantly, American Indian/Alaskan Native and Asian/Pacific Islander JHOs significantly differed from White and Black JHOs. In contrast to media depiction, gang-related homicides were significantly more likely to involve Asian/Pacific Islander juveniles than juveniles from the other racial groups. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.

The sociology of U.S. gun culture

AbstractDespite the fact that a robust culture centered on the legal ownership and use of guns by law‐abiding gun owners exists in the United States, there is no sociology of U.S. gun culture. Rather, the social scientific study of guns is dominated by criminological and epidemiological studies of gun violence. As a corrective to this oversight, I outline what a sociology of U.S. gun culture should look like. In the first section, I give a brief history of U.S. gun culture from the founding era through the 1960s. Guns began as tools of necessity in the colonies and on the frontier, but evolved into equipment for sport hunting and shooting, as well as desired commodities for collecting. The second section examines these recreational pursuits which formed the core of U.S. gun culture for most of the 20th century. Although recreation remains an important segment, the central emphasis of U.S. gun culture has gradually shifted to armed self‐defense over the course of the past half‐century. The third section examines the rise of this culture of armed citizenship, what I call “Gun Culture 2.0,” the current iteration of the country's historic gun culture. I conclude by suggesting important avenues for future research.

Use of static tests for predicting damage to cladding panels caused by storm debris

The impact by debris can result in extensive damage to building facades and roof coverings in extreme climate conditions such as windstorms and hailstorms. Damage can be in the form of denting on the surface of a metal cladding panel, which is controlled by the amount of force developed at the point of contact between the debris object and the surface of the panel. Amid the lack of guidelines for assessing damage to the building envelope, it is common to conduct impact tests on a cladding specimen. Such tests often involve the use of a gas gun to fire projectiles; however, there are shortcomings with this approach as it is mostly undertaken to check compliance and to observe permanent damage to the specimen. This paper presents the use of quasi-static tests to simulate the impact induced damage to metal cladding in storm scenarios. The contact force value generated during the impact action is predicted using the two-degree-of-freedom system model so that the impact action can be applied in a quasi-static manner on an MTS machine to predict damage in the form of indentation or perforation. This experimental technique for predicting damage is illustrated and verified in this paper by conducting confirmatory impact experiments. The risk of damage to metal cladding caused by impact in storm scenarios could then be assessed with confidence without having to conduct repetitive impact testing involving accelerating projectiles onto specimens of metal cladding. This research provides designers with an accurate and cost effective means of quantifying impact induced damage on building facades, and allows system developers to adapt and utilise existing and new materials to develop innovative solutions for withstanding impact.

P040: Epidemiology of gun related injuries among Canadian children and youth from 2005-2013: a CHIRPP study

Introduction: Gun related injuries were last reported by the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP) in 2005. Since that time, Canadian gun control is less stringent and non-powder guns are increasingly popular. We aim to describe trends in pediatric gun related injuries and deaths since 2005. Methods: This is a retrospective review of CHIRPP data. The dataset included pediatric (age 0-19 years) gun-related injuries and deaths reported by participating CHIRPP emergency departments (ED) from 2005-2013. Variables were tested using Fisher’s exact test and simple linear regression. Results: There were 421 records of gun-related injuries in the database. Three hundred and twenty-nine occurred from use of non-powder guns, 85 occurred from use of powder-guns, and in 7 cases the type of gun was not clear. The number of gun-related injuries per 100 000 ED visits remained stable from 2005-2013 with a male predominance (n=366, 87%). Most injuries resulted from non-powder guns and were unintentional. Injuries most often occurred in the context of recreation (n=181) and sport (n=51). One hundred fifty four eye injuries were reported, 98% of which were from a non-powder gun. Forty-six individuals required admission to hospital and 2 died in the ED. Nine of 10 intentional self-harm injuries were inflicted with a powder gun. Conclusion: This study describes the injuries and circumstances in which pediatric gun-related injury and death occur in Canada. Unintentional injuries caused by non-powder guns were most common. Though less fatal than powder guns, non-powder guns can still cause life-altering eye injuries. This evidence can inform injury prevention programs to target specific circumstances in which the pediatric population is most vulnerable.

Gun Culture in Early Modern England. By Lois G. Schwoerer

In this wide-ranging and ambitious book, Lois G. Schwoerer attempts to establish the existence of a “gun culture” in early modern England. The various chapters cover a number of themes which together, on Schwoerer’s account, demonstrate not only that there was a gun culture on early modern England but also that this culture was a phenomenon of considerable importance. She stresses that the government attempted to restrict the possession and use of guns to the relatively wealthy after 1514, which produced a distinctively English gun culture. She argues that the employment of guns for military purposes increased interest in guns and their use among the population at large, suggesting that returning soldiers (and certainly their officers) transferred their knowledge of and enthusiasm for firearms into civilian life. Men, and to a lesser extent women, participated in the burgeoning firearms industry, and Schwoerer is especially interesting when tracing the struggle of The Worshipful Company of Gunmakers to achieve recognition as well as the development of the government’s Ordnance Office. She demonstrates how gunmaking and gunfounding in London developed into an industry which affected the capital’s topography and economy. She also makes original and interesting analyses of guns in contemporary portraiture, guns as an element in gift exchange, and the apparently widespread existence of toy or miniature guns as children’s playthings, which, Schwoerer suggests, modifies our perception of early modern childhood. The closing chapter develops some of the suggestions she made on Article VII of the 1689 Bill of Rights in her 1981 book on the Declaration of Rights. She argues here that Article VII took a very limited interpretation of which of William and Mary’s Protestant subjects had the right to bear arms, and hence, despite claims to the contrary, was of minimal importance to the framing of the United States’ Second Amendment.

Quantum Dot Thin-Films as Rugged, High-Performance Photocathodes.

Typical use of colloidal quantum dots (QDs) as bright, tunable phosphors in real applications relies on engineering of their surfaces to suppress the loss of excited carriers to surface trap states or to the surrounding medium. Here, we explore the utility of QDs in an application that actually exploits their propensity toward photoionization, namely within efficient and robust photocathodes for use in next-generation electron guns. In order to establish the relevance of QD films as photocathodes, we evaluate the efficiency of electron photoemission of films of a variety of compositions in a typical electron gun configuration. By quantifying photocurrent as a function of excitation photon energy, excitation intensity and pulse duration, we establish the role of hot electrons in photoemission within the multiphoton excitation regime. We also demonstrate the effect of QD structure and film deposition methods on efficiency, which suggests numerous pathways for further enhancements. Finally, we show that QD photocathodes offer superior efficiencies relative to standard copper cathodes and are robust against degradation under ambient conditions.

An experimental study about the presence of selenium in inorganic gunshot residues (GSR)

Gunshot residues (GSR) are produced by the discharge of firearms, and often provide very important information in criminal investigations in cases involving the use of guns. Elemental analysis, performed by a Scanning Electron Microscope equipped with an Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometer (SEM-EDS), is the most discriminating method for characterizing inorganic GSR particles, and forensic procedures based on SEM-EDS are followed worldwide. The SWGGSR “Guide for Primer Gunshot Residue Analysis by Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry 11-29-11” refers to “Gun bluing” but Se (and also Cr) is not included among those elements whose presence is allowed in particles which are “characteristic of GSR”, neither according to the SWGGSR guide itself nor the current relevant ASTM “Standard guide for gunshot residue analysis by scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy” E1588-16.Whenever unusual elements are found in alleged GSR particles, a “case by case” approach is recommended, and suitable research and documentation is required.In the present paper the authors show evidences of the presence of selenium in lead, barium and antimony (characteristic of) GSR particles detected in casework by laboratories placed both in Europe (Italy and The Netherlands) and in Australia. Firearm bluing products containing selenious acid has been experimentally proven to be a reasonable source for selenium in inorganic GSR particles. For the first time, a case-by-case approach is adopted to support fruitful interpretation of GSR particles containing selenium.

Handgun Legislation and Changes in Statewide Overall Suicide Rates

To examine the extent to which 4 laws regulating handgun ownership were associated with statewide suicide rate changes. To test between-group differences in statewide suicide rate changes between 2013 and 2014 in all 50 states and the District of Columbia with and without specific laws, we ran analyses of covariance. We found significant differences in suicide rate changes from 2013 to 2014 in states with mandatory waiting periods and universal background checks relative to states without such laws. States with both laws differed significantly from those with neither. No significant differences in rate changes were noted for open carry restrictions or gun lock requirements. Some state laws regulating aspects of handgun acquisition may be associated with lower statewide suicide rates. Laws regulating handgun storage and carrying practices may have a smaller effect, highlighting that legislation is likely most useful when its focus is on preventing gun ownership rather than regulating use and storage of guns already acquired. Public Health Implications. The findings add to the increasing evidence in support of a public health approach to the prevention of suicide via firearms, focusing on waiting periods and background checks.

Should a medical ethics journal discuss the actions of the security forces?

This refers to the comment "Use of pellet guns for crowd control in Kashmir: How lethal is 'non-lethal'?" by Siddarth David in the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. My objection is not to the ethics of the use of pellet guns, but to the ethics of publishing such an article in a journal devoted to medical ethics.

Just for Fun: Talk and Tactical Shooting in Southern Saskatchewan

This article gives an ethnographic account of a group of Canadians who feel invested in recreational gun use, by examining their narratives and social relations created through the practice of shooting “just for fun.” This is the result of fieldwork with a group of men who practice a specialized form of marksmanship called tactical shooting in southern Saskatchewan. In this research, narrative “talk” emerges as a social glue for tactical shooters, which I analyze using Michael Herzfeld’s concepts of poetics and performance. These men’s storytelling is discussed as a means of collaboratively creating and enacting a worldview and a sense of shared identity. I argue that stories enable shooters to build a sense of togetherness in a context where they often feel misunderstood, both by more conventional shooters and by broader society. In this group, tactical shooting is not merely a leisurely pursuit – something done “just for fun” – it is a social occasion for dramatic storytelling which produces distinctive selves, relations, and comradeship.

Prevention of Hydrogen Embrittlement Using Ultra Rapid Cooling Thermal Spraying Gun

Films of crystalline aluminum, titanium, and amorphous alloy prevent hydrogen entry into steel. Thermal spraying is a convenient method for producing coatings on metal substrates. However, as conventional thermal spray coatings have pores and cracks, they cannot prevent hydrogen entry sufficiently. In this study, with the use of new thermal spray guns that enable nitrogen gas cooling, aluminum-magnesium, titanium, amorphous coatings were fabricated and their anti-hydrogen-embrittlement effects were evaluated by a conventional strain rate tensile test. Passivated alumina film on the aluminum-magnesium coating, passivated chromium oxide film on the iron-chromium-based amorphous coating, and generated nitrogen titanium film on the titanium coating were expected to prevent hydrogen entry and hydrogen embrittlement.