- Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

This entire program dedicated to the issue of gun violence.

Causes of it, who's being disproportionately impacted and affected by it and what some are doing to make a difference and deal with gun violence.

We kick off the program with Dr. Daniel Semenza, who is Director of the Interpersonal Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers University.

Their website will be up.

Doctor, good to see you.

- Good to be here.

- Let's break this down a little bit.

There are different types of gun violence in different communities.

Let's go through it.

Suicide, let's start with suicide.

Different in the white community, particularly with white men versus minority community.

- Yeah, it's really important to get at the distinction here.

So when people talk about gun violence, they kind of talk about it like a capital G, capital V situation.

Where it's one big issue and I think it's really important to break it down into its constituent parts and when we talk about suicide, that represents basically, you know, on any given year almost two-thirds of the gun deaths in the country.

- Two-thirds.

- And gun suicides, they disproportionately impact older white men living in rural areas throughout the country.

So they bear way more of the burden of firearm suicide than any other demographic group in the country.

- What about urban gun violence?

- So urban gun violence is very different.

People will also call it community gun violence.

This is typically gun violence that happens, you know on often a day-to-day basis in a lot of cities, particularly disadvantaged neighborhoods, in neighborhoods of color.

So predominantly made up of Black and Hispanic individuals and community gun violence or urban gun violence where people are shooting one another rather than shooting themselves, that is impacting young black men in the biggest way.

So roughly 15 to 30 years old have a far, far greater risk of homicide and non-fatal shooting by somebody else than any other demographic group in the country.

- By the way, thank you for breaking down gun violence into different categories because it's not just simply gun violence all the same across the board.

But mass shootings, there are more and more there appears, there aren't they appear to be, there are more and more mass shootings.

What do we know about the dynamics behind a mass shooting or is it different in every case because a variety of factors and variables please.

- Yeah, mass shootings, you know depending on the estimate we're talking about make up roughly 1% of the deaths related to firearms in the country on any given year.

And so there's some evidence that mass shootings are increasing and that the numbers of fatalities or injuries in mass shootings is going up in part because more of them involve AR-15s and assault style weapons.

But you know, despite the fact that it represents a small portion of the overall gun deaths in the country doesn't make it any less meaningful or impactful.

I grew up in a community right next to Sandy Hook so I know very well what it does to people who live, you know, far, far away from the events let alone the actual communities that are impacted by these shooting.

What we do know is that there's a lot of differences from one shooting to the next.

So this idea of trying to profile or trying to create a character type of who's going to be the next mass shooter is really really difficult, if not impossible.

But there are some patterns that go into mass shootings.

There often is some kind of grievance, right?

Something that somebody has really taken issue with.

And then over time they may plan, they decide to commit shooting they do a lot of research, they acquire firearms.

So there is a pathway, there is a grievance kind of pathway towards a mass shooting.

But creating a profile and saying this is the type of person that is a mass shooter is a farce.

- So domestic violence as well right, and by the way if people wanna find out more about Dr. Semenza's research, go on the website to find out more.

Domestic violence, 'cause I wanna get into some of the reasons for this very complex but gimme 30 seconds on domestic violence.

- Yeah, I would say that this is kind of the fourth big box of gun violence in the and these are shootings that are happening between intimate partners.

So that could be folks who are married or people who are not, but are partners in some way.

Oftentimes there's a firearm already in the home and there's an argument happening and the gun comes out whether it's initially just to threaten somebody or actually intended to be used, but these domestic shootings that are happening between partners often arise after escalating arguments, whether that's over time getting worse or throughout the course of a day and a firearm is present and then becomes available.

- So the courts are involved, legislators are involved in making policy or not making policy.

The courts, particularly decision in June, 2022.

What's the name of that case?

- The Bruin decision.

- The Bruin decision.

That is a United States Supreme Court decision.

- That's right, yes.

What did it say about the ability to carry firearms in public?

What did it say?

- What it's doing is it's making it easier for individuals to carry guns in public.

There's less of a barrier to entry in order to do that.

So they don't necessarily need to prove that they have a specific reason like they have to have a gun for their job or something.

But rather they can go out and they can get a gun as long as they do the proper paperwork and then carry it in public.

- Do the statistics show that it's created more gun violence?

- Concealed carry is associated with higher risk in homicide and shootings.

So we know when a state has concealed carry on the books which allows people to carry guns in public, there's good evidence to show that that is more dangerous.

- But to be clear, I'’m sorry for interrupting.

In New Jersey, what exactly is the status of concealed weapon?

Can you carry a concealed weapon in New Jersey?

What is the status?

- Yes.

In New Jersey you can carry a concealed weapon currently in most jurisdiction, that requires having due cause, a very specific reason for doing so.

The concern is liberalizing that and not requiring that anymore.

So concealed carry would become a lot more common.

- So to be clear, is it a federal court decision or a policy that allows a state like New Jersey to have some degree of concealed carry or is it state law that does that?

- It's a state law.

- Is it state by state doctor, these decisions?

- Yes, concealed carry permitting decisions are state by state.

- And finally, ultimately does a federal law supersede any state law?

Or does that adjudicate in the courts?

- Ultimately, there is not a federal law around concealed carry.

It is ultimately gonna be decided at the state level.

- One more quick one, Stand Your Ground's getting a lot of media attention right now.

There are too many, there shouldn't be one but there are a lot of cases of people walking up to the wrong door or driveway.

I felt threatened.

I'm gonna stand my ground.

Blow somebody away through the door.

Horrific.

Stand Your Ground laws.

Obviously that's not the case in New Jersey but it is in other places.

The direct impact or any impact on gun violence.

- Most states actually have a Stand Your Ground law.

There are different flavors of it.

Some are more kind of liberal than other.

But yeah, the, the good evidence that we have would suggest Stand Your Ground laws are associated with increased shootings and increased homicides.

And so these concealed carry and Stand Your Ground laws are two of the best research policies that we know are bad for gun violence.

Not good.

- And the research being done by the Interpersonal Gun Violence Research Center Rutgers University talks about, and go on the website to find out firearm storage, safe firearm storage, firearms storage.

And also the way to do that because people will often say, my gun is stored my rifle is stored, but stored safely is a different issue.

And go on the website to find out more about what you can do if you are going to have a gun in your home how to store it safely.

Doctor, I want to thank you so much for joining us.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you so much.

Appreciate being here.

- We'll be back right after this with a panel discussion that is really important about gun safety and gun violence.

Right back.

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