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Tragic Events of April 1996
- Jack Coulehan, MD
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
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•Type with double-spacing
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Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
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IN RESPONSE:
In response to Dr. Simcic, my impression is that Australian media do, in fact, feature fewer violent images than U.S. media. Certainly the tenor of Australian television programming is less violent. Nonetheless, as Dr. Simcic notes, the relationship between graphic violence in popular culture and violent crime is unclear.
Dr. Starkenburg argues that the 1996 Australian gun laws have failed because rates of robbery and assault have increased. However, I encourage interested readers to explore the Australian Institute of Criminology Web site (1), which shows that robbery and assault have been increasing since at least 1991. Thus, the “dramatic” change between 1995 and 1998 is unrelated to the 1996 gun laws.
Dr. Tiller cites an op-ed piece by H.L. Richardson, the founder of Gun Owners of America, to support her claim that Australian gun legislation leaves “law-abiding citizens … defenseless against gun-toting criminals” (2). However, she fails to quote Richardson's further statement that “the anti-gun movement is the creature of the most radical leftist elements of the world wide socialist movement.” Dr. Tiller says that she lost her faith in gun control “after looking at the facts.” I encourage her to look at all the facts, not just those selected by H.L. Richardson.
Gun control is a highly emotional issue. The letters from Dr. Tiller and Dr. Driedger highlight the emotional symbolism that guns have to many Americans, who believe that unrestricted gun ownership is a fundamental human (and Constitutional) value. There are definitely Australians who feel the same way. In their minds, the gun issue represents good versus evil, innocent versus criminal. Unfortunately, most human behavior falls within the shades of gray, as physicians are in a particularly good position to know. In 1998–1999, 64 firearm-related homicides (3 per million) occurred in Australia, the lowest number since the Australian Institute of Criminology began monitoring these statistics (1). In contrast, the United States had 9143 known firearm-related homicides in 1998 (41 per million), 14 times the Australian rate. I am aware that stricter gun control laws will not solve the root problems of violence and criminality any more than treating cardiac patients with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors solves the root problem of heart disease. However, unlike Dr. Driedger, I believe that decreasing gun deaths in the United States by 39% would be a significant accomplishment, notwithstanding all the other forms of violence and injustice that plague us here and elsewhere.
Jack Coulehan, MD
State University of New York at Stony Brook; Stony Brook, NY 11794-8036
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
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