Gun Violence Prevention
Gun violence is a threat to public health. Data show that different types of violence tend to co-occur, such that in areas where there are higher rates of community-level gun violence there are also higher rates of domestic violence and child abuse. At the community level, gun violence tends to occur more often in areas already experiencing social and economic disparities, including geographic racial segregation and concentrated poverty. Moreover, childhood trauma, including domestic violence and community violence, may be a risk factor for gun violence later in life.
A public health approach to violence prevention fosters healthy gender norms and relationships, bolsters trauma-informed services, and works to mitigate racism by changing norms and behaviors; collectively, these efforts lead to reductions in violence. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has developed technical packages to help states and communities take advantage of the best available evidence to prevent violence – including intimate partner violence, suicide, youth violence, sexual violence, and child abuse and neglect. The strategies and approaches represent different levels of social ecology with efforts intended to impact individual behaviors as well as the relationship, family, school, community, and societal factors that influence risk and protective factors for violence. They are intended to work together and to be used in combination in a multi-level, multi-sector effort to prevent violence. Access The Cardiff Violence Prevention Model toolkit here.