Extended excerpt from the Fox News article ‘Gun seizures spike nationally, as states pass laws aimed at curbing mass shootings’
This page presents an extended excerpt from a Fox News article, used in a research study on how people reason about scientific information in polarized topics.
To clarify the evidence referenced in general terms in the original article, I have attached relevant research from Kivisto and Phalen (2018) looking at the effects of firearm seizure laws in Connecticut.
Hosting these pages serves a study task in which participants selected one of eight excerpts and drafted a social-media post (Bluesky). Hosting does not imply endorsement by the original authors or outlets.
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Sources
Courts are issuing an unprecedented number of orders to seize firearms from people they deem to be mentally ill or threats to others, following a rash of state-level legislation aimed at curbing mass shootings across the country.
Even as conservatives sound the alarm about potential Second Amendment violations, supporters — sometimes across party lines — say these “red flag” laws are among the most promising tools to reduce the nearly 40,000 suicides and homicides by firearm each year in the country.
Connecticut has the nation’s longest-standing red flag law, which went into effect in 1999 after a mass shooting at the state lottery office. Authorities there say new awareness of the law contributed to a spike in 2018 in warrants issued to take away weapons — 268, the highest total on record, according to court data.
One quasi-experimental study found that the Connecticut law reduced gun suicides by more than 10 percent in recent years, compared to less than two percent before renewed awareness.
