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Abstract
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Recently, in guest lecturing at the University of Delaware, a group of students were asked how
far apart they should stand from someone to avoid contracting COVID-19. "SIX FEET!" Every
student knew the answer, instantly. It's an excellent example of public health messaging -
everyone knew the answer, they knew it was the right answer, and they were able to recall the
answer quickly.
By contrast, a landmark survey in 2023 by the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that only
49% of Americans know that gun violence has recently become the leading cause of death for
those under 20, even though 84% have "taken at least one precaution to protect themselves or
their families from the possibility of gun violence."1 Despite being a small state of just over one
million residents, Delaware is not exempt from the crisis of gun violence. We are a state of
neighbors, a state where everyone knows everyone, or seems to.
So why is our lingering national reputation that of "Murdertown, USA"? 2,3 Why are our rates of
gun violence higher than those of so many states perceived to be far more dangerous?
According to 2021 data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Delaware ranked 28th for
gun safety, far behind our safest neighbor New Jersey (3rd ) and still significantly behind other
neighbors Pennsylvania (20th ) and Maryland (22nd
).4 What lessons can we learn from our safest
neighbors to help us build a safer Delaware?
First, let's look at what is driving Delaware's dismal gun-related fatalities: disproportionately
high rates of community violence. Figures 1 and 2 are a visualization derived from CDC
epidemiologic data
Language: en |