NCJ Number
178622
Date Published
1998
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This report presents results from four focus groups on gun violence and solutions to the problem of gun violence.
Abstract
The focus groups were convened in April 1998. Two groups were held in Phoenix, Ariz.: one among women gun owners and one among a cross-section of gun owners and non-gun owners. Two groups were held in Toledo, Ohio: one among men gun owners, and one among a cross-section of non-gun owners. Focus group results show that the issue of gun violence is a grave and increasingly important concern among all sectors of the American public. The tragedy in Jonesboro, Ark., as well as other recent incidents of gun violence that has occurred in schools and among children and adolescents has both refocused the public's attention on this issue and redefined the parameters of the problem. Children, particularly young children, are now at the center of Americans' concerns about gun safety and gun violence. The dramatic impact of the Jonesboro incident has deeply affected all Americans; in many ways, the public's concern about this and similar incidents has generated a new dialog on solutions to the problem of gun violence. The findings from these focus groups present Handgun Control, Inc., as well as other gun-control organizations, with an important strategic opportunity to address the public's growing alarm over the issue of gun violence by forging new alliances and creating new ways to solve the problem. Although the focus group discussions show distinct limitations on the public's willingness to impose new restrictions on both gun ownership and gun manufacturers, the public's strong desire to "do something" about the problem of gun violence demands that new remedies be pursued. 3 figures