In a story Aug. 11 about gun violence as a public health problem, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Daniel Webster of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research in Baltimore said gun ownership sometimes goes up after a shooting in an area. Webster said gun-carrying sometimes increases, not gun ownership.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Doctors target gun violence as a social disease

Is a gun like a virus? After mass shootings, doctors target gun violence as a social disease

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE

AP Chief Medical Writer

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Is a gun like a virus, a car, tobacco or alcohol? Yes, say public health experts, who in the wake of recent mass shootings are calling for a fresh look at gun violence as a social disease.

What we need, they say, is a public health approach to the problem, like the highway safety measures, product changes and driving laws that slashed deaths from car crashes decades ago, even as the number of vehicles on the road rose.