Hutchinson 1

Jake Hutchinson

Debra Jizi

UWRT 1103

April 3, 2018

Annotated Bibliography

Follman, Mark, et al. “US Mass Shootings, 1982-2018: Data from Mother Jones' Investigation.”

Mother Jones, 14 Mar. 2018, www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-

mother-jones-full-data/.

This is an analysis of mass shootings. It lays out the qualities of mass shootings. These

include four or more fatalities, indiscriminate towards victims, meaning most people

were not specific targets, not a result of another crime, and not personal, taking out most

domestic violence and gang crime. This also has a chart of all mass shootings in America

since 1982. It documented certain aspects like the number of victims and kind of weapon

used. Most importantly for me, it listed if the shooter had previous documented signs of

mental health disorders. It was found that over half, 54 out of 99, had previous signs. This

is important to my topic because it shows that mental illness has a large impact on mass

shootings.

I find this to be a credible article. This was written by Mark Follman, who has had many

articles in other publications such as The New York Times, Fox News, and NPR. He also

teaches journalism at San Francisco State University. This article is updated periodically

to include the latest mass shootings. Almost every listing in the chart has a link to another

news outlet, such as CNN or NYT, to back the information provided.

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Friedman, Matthew, et al. “Crime Trends: 1990-2016.” Crime Trends: 1990-2016 | Brennan

Center for Justice, 18 Apr. 2017, www.brennancenter.org/publication/crime-trends1990-

2016.

This is an analysis of a report describing crime trends in the US since 1990. A big take

away was that all crime has been decreasing since then. Violent crime and murder have

dropped by half but have seen a recent increase in large cities. For me this means less

guns are being used to commit crime. This data hopefully will reflect changes in gun laws

to show a correlation between gun violence and gun control.

I believe this article to be credible. The main author, Matthew Friedman, has a degree in

journalism from University of Colorado Boulder. The information in the article is

compiled from the FBI Uniform Crime Report, which is the most accurate account of

crime for the US. The article is up to date covering all the years I am focusing my study

on.

Longley, Robert. “See a Timeline of Gun Control in the U.S. from 1791 to the Present.”

ThoughtCo, 22 Feb. 2018, www.thoughtco.com/us-gun-control-timeline-3963620.

This website provides a detailed timeline of import events in the history of gun laws. It

includes important laws like the Brady Bill of 1994. This will help me see how the

changing gun laws affect the rates of gun violence in America. I will be able to use this

with data on crime rates to see how each event in gun laws changed the gun crime. The
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Brady bill is of most interest to me as we see the beginning and end of the bill in the

timeframe I am focused on.

I believe this to be a credible article. The author has 26 years of government experience

and that is relevant to the current laws about guns. The article contains information from

February of this year, so it is current. This is a timeline and the article sticks to facts and

quotes any relevant speakers on each event. The author has several other articles on other

government related events and history.

United States, Congress, Curtin, Sally C, et al. “Increase in Suicide in the United States, 1999–

2014.” Increase in Suicide in the United States, 1999–2014, Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention, 22 Apr. 2016. www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db241.htm.

This report from the CDC tells how suicide rates are increasing over the last two decades.

This is important to me because suicide makes up two thirds or all gun violence and

suicide has a very strong correlation to depression and other mental illness. Suicide rates

have risen by almost 25%. The rate has been increasing more since 2006, indicating that

suicide is quickly becoming a larger problem. The data also shows firearms are the

leading suicide method and that this is growing despite gun laws.

I believe this source is credible. This is a government report. The report takes its

information directly from its own files on causes of death. There are no opinions

presented in the article. The report includes data though 2014, which is relevant to my

study as I am interested in the recent trends of mental illness and gun violence.
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Weinberger, Andrea, et al. “Depression Is on the Rise in the U.S., Especially Among Young

Teens.” Depression Is on the Rise in the U.S., Especially Among Young Teens, 30 Oct.

2017, www.mailman.columbia.edu/public-health-now/news/depression-rise-us-

especially-among-young-teens.

This article is a summary of a study done by Columbia university. Depression rates have

risen since 2005 by almost 50%. This is important because the increase in depression has

increased along with the rate of mass shootings. To me this means that more depression

could be a cause of more mass shootings. The article found the largest rise in depression

is among young, white people. This is also the group responsible for most mass

shootings.

I find this to be a credible article. The information presented is directly from an academic

study done by the authors. Andrea Weinberger, the main author, currently teaches at the

Yale School of Medicine. She has a PhD in clinical psychology. This article and study

are current and describe current and relevant information for my study. This article was

published by Columbia University, a well known and reputable college.