Understanding and Preventing Violence, Volume 1This 1993 book from the National Research Council arm of the National Academy of Sciences presents one of the first comprehensive, yet readable syntheses of America's experience of violence and offers a fresh, interdisciplinary approach to its understanding, its consequences and its prevention. The book provides the most complete, up-to-date responses available to these fundamental questions: How much violence occurs in America? How do different processes—biological, psychosocial, situational, and social - interact to determine violence levels?; What preventive strategies are suggested by our current knowledge of violence?; and, What are the most critical research needs? In a country like the United States that is awash with guns, particularly handguns that are easily concealable, the problem of violence is particularly pressing.

Guns Used in Crime - 2001This is the year 2001 report from the U.S. Dept. of Justice on demographics and statistics of firearm use in criminal activity in the United States. It has much of the information contained in the ATF's Youth Interdictive Crime Initiative, but covers a more broad range of demographics. The information is based on a wide range of peer-reviewed scientific sources and public census information, and like its ATF counterpart, is among the most reliable in publication. It is thorough and readable.

The FBI's Year 2001 Uniform Crime ReportThis is the year 2001 annual summary report on known information about crime and criminals in the United States from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is the most respected and most cited publication in existence regarding crime rates, trends and demographics in the United States today.

The Sane Guns Web SiteThis site is maintained by Mike Rosenberg and is dedicated to providing a scientific forum for discussion of firearms and related issues. Rosenberg presents a wealth of science and broadly based information concerning firearm related crime. The site is unique in that it is based almost entirely on science and well cited sociological data, as it relates to different perspectives on firearm issues. The overwhelming majority of publications and web sites devoted guns and crime are at best sermon pulpits. At worst, they border on paranoia and hysterical mob mentality—“Out of my cold, dead, hands!!......" In this flood of rhetoric, the Sane Guns web site is a voice of science, reason, and reliable data that is far too rare today.

Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice and Institute of MedicineThis is a book from the National Research Council arm of the National Academy of Sciences which examines patterns and trends in crimes by children and adolescents based on arrest data, victim reports, and other sources, and the causes and potential solutions to such crimes. It includes background on the American juvenile court system, useful comparisons with the juvenile justice systems of other nations, and other important information for assessing this problem. This book is one of the best and most thorough overviews in print of the issues, popular misconceptions, and the most promising avenues for solving juvenile crime problems.

Econometric Modeling as Junk SciencePDF VersionThis article by sociologist Ted Goertzel of Rutgers University discusses how multiple regression math models have been misused in sociological studies. Most of his discussion centers on the way John Lott of Yale and David Mustard misused such models to "prove" that increased handgun ownership as measured by "Shall Issue" laws leads to reduced crime rates. During the 90’s Lott published a popular book based on this research titled More Guns, Less Crime that was immediately embraced by the NRA and other Far-Right interests as little less than divine revelation. Soon thereafter it was discovered that Lott's models had been poorly designed and were riddled with "clustered" data (i.e. - independent variable data that was inadvertently correlated with other variables and therefore not truly independent). They were even found to have basic computer code errors that prevented them from even calculating many of Lott’s foundational results correctly. Needless to say, none of this made any dent in the book's popularity with the Far-Right or dissuaded them from canonizing Lott. This article first appeared in condensed form in the Spring 2002 edition of the Skeptical Inquirer as Myths of Multiple Regression & Murder: Econometric Modeling as Junk Science. It is reprinted here in full with the author's permission.