In many rural and urban Missouri counties, poverty and desperation drive high rates of firearm homicides and suicides. How does economic mobility affect community violence? Experts say a lack of income, employment, and housing could explain why some of the state’s highest levels of gun violence are in St. Louis, the state’s largest city, and the southeastern Bootheel region, a largely rural area.
Join American Public Square at Jewell and The Kansas City Star at 12:30 p.m. on March 31 for the next program in our series Gun Violence in Missouri: Seeking Solutions.
Our discussion will focus on economic mobility and how the public health approach to gun violence could improve outcomes for Missouri.
Our expert panel will discuss the root causes of gun violence and take the conversation further to identify actionable plans aimed at addressing these urgent issues for the greater good of our communities.
This digital event is part of the Missouri Gun Violence Project, a two-year, statewide journalism collaboration investigating the causes and possible solutions to gun violence. It is supported by the nonprofits Report for America and Missouri Foundation for Health. The Star has partnered on this project with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Springfield News-Leader.
The discussion will be moderated by Kaitlin Washburn, a member of the gun violence reporting team at The Kansas City Star.