Answer #1
One of the most frustrating aspects about the gun violence debate, which is primarily an American debate due to the fact that the United States experiences far greater amounts of gun violence than most other industrialized nations, is that there has been a lack of research into this topic. The lack of research is not accidental; Congress intentionally froze funding for research into gun violence over 25 years ago, and even enacted prohibitions against doctors and other healthcare workers providing some detailed insights into gun violence. As a result, when researchers wanted to explore different aspects of gun violence, they were stymied in their results, and the lack of statistics and research to back up gun law proposals was used as a lack of evidence, rather than an inability to research the topic. Fortunately, in 2019 some of these prohibitions were released, making research into gun violence possible.
Here are some possible ideas for your research proposal:
- The impact of gun violence on domestic violence fatality rates.
- Mortality from suicide attempts and the availability of handguns; does reducing access to guns reduce the suicide mortality rate?
- Gun violence and mental illness; is mental illness really a precursor to the mass shooting epidemic in the United States.
- Guns and Christianity: the link between a religion of peace and a weapon of violence.
- How did lifting the ban on semi-automatic weapons impact the gun violence rate in the United States.
- While the United States is known for its mass shooting incidents, do these shooting incidents significantly impact the number of gun homicides in the country?
- Gun violence and race: would reducing access to guns lead to greater equity in minority communities.
- Gun violence and domestic violence victims; a review of victims who shoot their abusers.
- The insurance solution: could requiring gun owners to insure their weapons really be the key to ending gun violence?
- Gun culture as a mental illness: why do mass shootings prompt people to purchase more weapons?