ABSTRACT
The terrible irony is that while firearms are strongly linked to traditional notions of masculinity and promoted as a means of self-protection, particularly in the United States, the empirical evidence suggests that quite the contrary is truewhere there are more firearms, risks of violence increase (Krug et al., 2002). Legal guns are often misused by their owners, particularly in violence against women and in suicide. Legal guns are also sold illegally or stolen, fuelling illegal markets (Cook et al., 2009). Firearms, then, factor into violence in several ways (Coupland, 1996). First, they increase lethality of violent attempts, whether in the context of interpersonal violence or self-directed violence (suicide attempts) (Kellermann et al., 1992). Lax regulation and enforcement increase the chances that dangerous people will gain access to firearms (Chapdelaine, 1996). Second, they figure prominently in the culture of violence and notions of masculinity that link maleness to violence (Goldstein, 2001). Finally, the political economy associated with the weapons industry and gun lobby exercise significant (and distorting) effects on beliefs and political systems (Diaz, 1999). This chapter will review the empirical evidence related to these three issues (Cukier & Sidel, 2005).
