Gun Violence or Violence?
Ammoland. March 8th 2016
[Editor's note: DRGO Director Dr. Timothy Wheeler was invited to attend as a panelist at this March 3rd 2016 conference on "gun violence" at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Because of sudden illness he unfortunately was unable to attend, but here is the text of his presentation.]
My thanks today to Dean Flynn and Dr. Short for the opportunity to share.
We are talking today about ways that social workers can help prevent what some people call gun violence. But I ask you to consider that the discussion should be about "violence" and not "gun violence."
The wrong focus makes us miss the core problem, which is really violence done by any means, whether the tools of injury are guns or fists or feet. If we get it wrong, we harm millions of innocent people with unjust laws.
Now, just a few facts on the good side. Despite an uptick in the last few years in California's big cities, the rate of firearm homicides nationwide has actually been decreasing over the last two decades, and it's leveled off in the last few years. ...... 
From Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, here is a piece of valuable perspective. Most of us are heartily tired of always hearing "gun violence" as the phrase-of-the-day, or at least one of them and totally over-used. Violence is violence by whatever means it is delivered, and "gun violence" is simply an anti-gun hype label.
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