ABCnews, December 17, 2019: How Gun Homicides Could Be Linked To Bleak Outlook Of The Future: Study
As gun violence continues to shorten the average life expectancy of Americans, researchers have new insights into the root causes of one distressing type of death: firearm homicides.
A new study, published Tuesday in the journal Plos Medicine, found that four social factors — mobility, trust in institutions, welfare spending and income inequality — were linked to gun homicide rates.
Income inequality had the smallest effect in the study. Wider gaps between rich people and poor people in a community was associated with an 8% higher gun homicide rate. Higher welfare and education spending, however, was associated with a 14% lower gun homicide rate. To a degree, these factors are intertwined.
That unequal distribution of resources isn’t an accident, Crifasi explained. Instead, it’s fueled by historical policies, such as redlining, a 1930s policy in which local lenders refused loans to residents in minority neighborhoods.
The result was pockets of concentrated poverty across the country, which still exist today. According to a study published last year by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, three out of four neighborhoods that were redlined in the United States decades ago continue to struggle economically.
