Young people in cities like Baltimore may not like gun violence, but telling them that gun violence may shorten their lives does not seem to reach them. James Evans an advertising executive who was born in Baltimore and who wanted to try to reach these young people, mainly young men, did some research, mainly through focus groups. He found that the old adage of sex sells applied. If you tell a young man that guns could make him impotent, he is more likely to listen. So does the idea of living in a wheelchair, and since most gun victims do survive, the message has a chance to resonate. So Mr. Evans raised some money and (more…)
August 2017
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Children and Guns
Here are some statistics about children and guns
- In a typical week in the US 25 children die from gunshot wounds
- Between 2012 and 2014 1297 children under 18 died each year as a result of firearm injuries
- In addition there were 5790 non-fatal injuries from gunshots
- African American children are 10 times more likely to be killed by homicides than white children: 3.5 per 100,000
- Suicide among white children is 4 times as high as it is for African American children
- The rate of unintentional firearm deaths is twice as high for African American children than it is for white children
- The District of Columbia and Louisiana had the highest firearm death, respectively 4.2 and 4.5 per 100,000
- Child suicide by gun were highest in Montana, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Alaska
- Most children who died of unintentional gun injury were shot by another child about the same age
- Child gun homicide deaths have declined, but suicide have increased by 36% from 2007 to 2014
- Gun suicide rates for that period increased 60%
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Bias Against Atheists
When I first looked at the headline I thought oh no they’ve documented that atheists aren’t as moral as other people. But when I kept on reading, the article talked about a finding that people believe that atheists aren’t as moral as people who are religious. A study from psychology professors published in Nature Human Behavior journal asked 3000 people from 13 countries across 5 continents whether a person who tortured animals as a child (more…)