What We Can Learn in the Aftermath of Gun Violence

In his upcoming book “What We’ve Become: Living and Dying in a Country of Arms,” Dr. Jonathan Metzl takes an in depth look at Nashville’s 2018 Waffle House shooting. His work as a psychiatrist, professor and director of Vanderbilt’s Department of Medicine, Health, and Society has informed his research on guns, race and mental health.

Dr. Metzl’s book asks was there any law that could have stopped Travis Reinking from carrying out his tragic assault at the Waffle House? And where does need for gun laws intersect with nuanced conversation about who can own and carry a gun in Tennessee? What do we really know about the causes of gun violence?

Then, we hear from WPLN’s Paige Pfleger for an update on her reporting on gun dispossession in the state, and what’s next for her partnership with ProPublica.

Guests:

• Dr. Jonathan Metzl, writer, psychiatrist, sociologist and director of the Department of Medicine, Health, and Society, Professor of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University
• Paige Pfleger, criminal justice reporter, WPLN

This episode was produced by Magnolia McKay.

Further reading:

• Mother of Waffle House shooting victim tries to find hope through her sorrow after the trial
• How Tennessee became one of the most gun-friendly states before the Covenant School shooting