Publications [#317727] of Philip J. Cook

Chapters in Books

1. Swanson, JW; Robertson, AG; Frisman, LK; Norko, MA; Lin, HJ; Swartz, MS; Cook, PJ, Preventing gun violence involving people with serious mental illness, in Reducing Gun Violence in America, edited by Webster, DW; Vernick, JW, vol. 9781421411118 (January, 2013), pp. 320 pages, Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 9781421411118
   (last updated on 2024/05/03)

   Abstract:
   The December 2012 tragedy at Newtown may soon settle in the collective memory of senseless rampages by unstable young men. But inthe immediate aftermath, the question of what might have been done to prevent those 28 untimely deaths may galvanize the attention of policymakers desperate to respond. Shall we now hold mental health systems more accountable for failing to find, treat, or confine people who incline to violence? Should we fault the loose enforcement of federal firearms restrictions, and a loophole-ridden system of background-checks, for failing to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people? Does the problem lie with the laws themselves, with their blunt and archaic definitions that leave risky people untouched while sweeping up legions of the harmless?