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Virginia Tech Shooting

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Gun Violence Prevention?

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Abstract

This chapter gives an overview of the news and policy debates following the second case study, the Virginia Tech school shooting. The focus on mental health restrictions within news media and political debates is outlined. It is then shown how this frame resulted in greater funding for the national background check system and closed a loophole in Virginia law that had allowed the perpetrator to legally purchase his weapons. The reasons why proposals around closing the ‘gun show loophole’ advanced in the news media and GVP activists failed to launch in government are surmised. Discussed thereafter is the ‘concealed carry on campus’ movement for students at colleges and universities to carry concealed firearms, documenting the concerns about such proposals expressed by my interviewees.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Independent Researcher, Glasgow, UK

    Selina E. M. Kerr

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  1. Selina E. M. Kerr
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E. M. Kerr, S. (2018). Virginia Tech Shooting. In: Gun Violence Prevention?. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75313-3_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75313-3_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75312-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75313-3

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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