Values analysis is an extremely powerful tool in the hands of the policy analyst. We have already seen how it can help develop better advice, improve program design, and illuminate the complexities of contentious policy questions. And values analysis can do so much more: it can also help to develop novel policy packages – ones that may even be more effective than the same old solutions we tend to default to. To prove it, let’s dig into one of the most contentious issues for our neighbors to the south: gun control.
It’s no secret that gun violence is a major public policy issue in the United States. Rates of firearm-related deaths are higher in the U.S. than in any other OECD country, a rate eight times higher than in Canada and nearly 100 times higher than in the UK. Worse still, gun violence soared in 2020 and 2021, perhaps signaling the end of a multi-decade decline in violent crime. As of 2021, 72% of Americans believe gun violence to be either a “very big problem” or a “moderately big problem.”
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