Gun Policy News
Evidence-based firearm violence prevention
Australia's Gun Laws Can't Work in America – For Now
30 March 2018
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Thirteen mass shootings in 18 years, 112 victims shot dead. While this may seem to describe contemporary America, it actually describes a late 20th-century period in Australia. The country's final slaughter occurred in Tasmania in 1996 – the Port Arthur massacre. A lone, "pathetic social misfit" – as described by the judge – killed 35 people. The first 29 bullets from this young man's AR-15 rifle ended the lives of 20 innocents in just 90 seconds.
For... (GunPolicy.org)
Trump & Turnbull: US to Consider an Australian Model on Guns?
23 February 2018
New York Times
WASHINGTON — One of the most powerful moments during President Trump's meeting with survivors and relatives of the Florida school shooting this week came when a student pleaded with the president to do what Australia did after a similar tragedy.
As it happened, Mr. Trump had an opportunity on Friday to get a firsthand report on Australia's crackdown on guns when he hosted the country's prime minister at the White House. But both men quickly discounted any... (GunPolicy.org)
How America's Gun Violence Research Ban Hurt Science
23 November 2016
Huffington Post (USA)
In 1996, Congress passed the Dickey Amendment, effectively banning government research on gun violence. But these days, former Republican representative Jay Dickey sees his namesake amendment for what it was: A mistake.
"I wish we had started the proper research and kept it going all this time," Dickey told The Huffington Post last year. "I have regrets."
Now, a research letter published as part of a series on firearm violence in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine... (GunPolicy.org)
Background Checks May Affect Suicide Prevention Efforts in US
22 November 2016
The Trace (USA)
There is one question Carol Runyan considers vitally important to ask the parents of suicidal teens: Is there a gun in the house?
Runyan, the director of Program for Injury Prevention, Education, and Research at the Colorado School of Public Health, knows the presence of a firearm in a home increases the odds that someone who lives there will take his or her own life. Guns are reliably lethal — research indicates that suicide attempts involving a firearm result in... (GunPolicy.org)
Connecticut's Gun Seizure Law Prevented Suicides: Study
18 November 2016
CT Post (US)
Dozens of suicides have been prevented by the state's 1999 gun-seizure law, according to a new study by researchers from Duke, Yale and the University of Connecticut.
The 17-year-old law allowing for the temporary removal of firearms from potentially suicidal or violent people is a model for the nation, based on the review of 762 gun seizures through 2012.
The study's authors, speaking Thursday to the Connecticut Criminal Justice Policy Advisory Commission in the... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Policy Pointless Without Funds for Public Health Research
17 November 2016
Dallas Morning News (Texas), Editorial
To make an informed decision, you need information. And that's exactly what everybody involved in America's bitter gun debate doesn't have.
Guns kill more than 33,000 Americans a year, yet the clock stopped on government research into this epidemic two decades ago. As is frequently noted, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has funded no in-depth studies of gun violence, its causes, or proposals for its reduction since 1996. That's when the so-called... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Background Checks Work, May Hamper Suicide Prevention
17 November 2016
Channel News Asia (Singapore), Reuters
Gun control laws that mandate a background check before a gun can be temporarily transferred to a friend or family member may interfere with suicide prevention efforts, researchers say.
The research team looked at what happens when people want to temporarily remove firearms from their home because they fear someone in the house might be considering a suicide attempt. In some states, they found, gun control laws may actually hamper the ability to easily transfer a gun... (GunPolicy.org)
California to Pass Background Checks for Purchase of Ammo
4 November 2016
New York Times, Editorial
While Congress shamefully fails to face up to the toll of gun carnage, California's lawmakers and voters are forging ahead with innovative safety measures, including mandatory background checks for the purchase of ammunition, not just guns.
The focus on ammunition sales, for which there are no federal controls, is a creative addition to Proposition 63, a ballot initiative that polls indicate should pass on Tuesday. It is being watched as a barometer of the re-emergence... (GunPolicy.org)
Gaps in Washington Gun Law: US Attorney General's Report
1 November 2016
Northwest News Network (US)
A new white paper by the Washington state attorney general's office finds the state's system of conducting background checks for gun purchases to be fragmented, complex and inconsistent.
In Washington, rifle purchases are fairly straightforward. A licensed gun dealer conducts an instant background check and if approved the sale can go through. But pistol purchases are different. That system relies on 260 local law enforcement agencies and can involve several databases... (GunPolicy.org)
Clinton #2 Tim Caine: US Gun Violence Is a Public Health Crisis
1 November 2016
Time (USA)
In every elected office I have held over the past 20 years, gun violence has been a serious issue. When I was mayor of Richmond, Virginia, our city had one of the highest homicide rates in the country. When I was governor, our commonwealth experienced the worst campus shooting in U.S. history. And as I serve in the U.S. Senate and our country falls victim to one mass shooting after another, Congress has yet to pass any commonsense gun safety legislation. Like many... (GunPolicy.org)
Stricter Gun Control is America Is Inevitable, Says Researcher
1 November 2016
Guns (US)
It doesn't matter which candidate is elected the next leader of the free world next Tuesday, stricter gun control is inevitable — at least according to one onlooker.
Philip Alpers is the founding director of GunPolicy.org, an organization devoted to publishing facts and figures on gun violence and gun control. It's hosted by the Sydney School of Public Health at the University of Sydney in Australia. Alpers says it doesn't matter what Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump... (GunPolicy.org)
A Clever, Voluntary Waiting Term to Curb Gun Suicides - Study
31 October 2016
Forbes (USA)
What if I told you there was an easy way to save thousands of U.S. citizens from death each year that was entirely voluntary and would not infringe on Second Amendment rights? Earlier this month, researchers at the University of Alabama-Birmingham published the feasibility of such an approach to address this public health problem.
The problem? Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. The U.S. experienced 42,773 suicide deaths in 2014, the most... (GunPolicy.org)
Four Election Day Ballots to Advance Gun Control in US States
31 October 2016
Christian Science Monitor
Voters in four states will decide on Election Day whether to enact more stringent firearms laws, as gun control activists outspend gun rights groups in an aggressive policy-shaping strategy that some have likened to the nationwide push for same-sex marriage.
Unlike past elections, there are no state initiatives to expand gun rights anywhere in the United States. The only ballot measures are designed to keep firearms away from people deemed dangerous in Maine, Nevada,... (GunPolicy.org)
Trump or Clinton, Stricter Gun Control Is Inevitable in America
31 October 2016
CNN, Opinion
It's impossible to run for President without having a firm position on gun control. For every candidate in every election campaign, it inevitably becomes a dividing line.
And 2016 is no different. At various stages, Donald Trump has held differing positions on the matter, but has been sufficiently in favor of protecting the second amendment to secure the support of the NRA. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton, while claiming to respect the second amendment, has made clear that... (GunPolicy.org)
Why Such Different Gun Ownership, Suicide Rates in US States?
29 September 2016
The Trace (USA)
Massachusetts and New Hampshire share more than a border, Puritan heritage, and the New England Patriots. Both states are prosperous, with median household incomes and state health care systems that rank among the top ten in the country. They're predominantly white and largely Christian.
Despite these similarities, the two states diverge drastically in a key public health metric. In 2014, the most recent year for which data is available, New Hampshire's gun suicide... (GunPolicy.org)
Study: 70m Guns Added to US Gun Stock Over Past 20 Years
26 September 2016
Northeastern University (USA)
The estimated number of privately-owned guns in America grew by more than 70 million—to approximately 265 million—between 1994 and 2015, and half of that gun stock is owned by only 3 percent of the population, according to a comprehensive national survey co-led by Northeastern University.
The survey, conducted in collaboration with Harvard University, is the first nationally representative survey of... (GunPolicy.org)
Main Motivation to Own a Gun: Fear of Other People - US Study
19 September 2016
The Trace (USA)
Amid a historic plunge in the national violent crime rate, more Americans than ever are arming themselves to protect against attack by other people, a new survey of U.S. gun ownership by researchers at Harvard and Northeastern universities reveals. Their weapon of choice is a handgun, which is portable and easily concealable, and in many states, can be carried in an increasing number of public places.
Pistols, revolvers, and other handguns account for a majority of the... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Owners Asked to Remove Guns From Suicidal Friends
7 September 2016
Slate (USA)
Mass shootings make the headlines, but the majority of all gun deaths—nearly two-thirds each year—are actually suicides. Nearly half the people who killed themselves in 2014—21,334 out of 42,773—did so using a gun, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted in a report in April.
So, finding a way to reduce this specific type of violence could have a big impact, Robert Gebbia, CEO of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, realized. But the... (GunPolicy.org)
Ten Essential Facts About Guns and Suicide - Myths Cost Lives
6 September 2016
The Trace (USA)
Despite an alarming uptick in homicides in some urban areas in the last few years, violent death rates are significantly lower than they were in the 1990s. There is one notable exception to this trend. Suicide rates for men and women have steadily increased for the past 15 years.
The statistics are bleak. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the U.S. From ages 10 to 34, it is the second leading cause. Last year, at least 40,000 people in the U.S. died by... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Dealers, Health Experts Combine to Curb Gun Suicide
3 September 2016
Christian Science Monitor
HOOKSETT — As the longtime owner of a gun store, Ralph Demicco is passionate about his firearms. At the modest ranch house he built himself outside this rural New Hampshire town, he keeps a collection of rifles, shotguns, pistols, and antique weaponry, including two cast-iron cannons that he stores in the barn beneath an oval wooden wall plaque inscribed with the Second Amendment.
On special occasions, he wheels out his beloved cannons – replicas of Dutch and... (GunPolicy.org)
California Funds Major Effort to Understand US Gun Violence
31 August 2016
NY Mag (USA)
Despite the fact that the United States has a very, very high rate of gun deaths compared to other developed countries, we actually know very little about the public-health threat posed by firearms. That's because Congress, working closely with the NRA, passed legislation in the 1990s barring the Centers for Disease control from spending money on any research that could be seen as pro-gun-control, and the CDC has interpreted this ban in a broad manner — the NRA's... (GunPolicy.org)
California First US State to Fund a Gun Violence Research Hub
29 August 2016
Capital Public Radio News (US)
University of California President Janet Napolitano announced Monday her intent to establish the University of California Firearm Violence Research Center at UC Davis' Sacramento campus under the direction of Garen Wintemute, an emergency department physician and recognized authority on the epidemiology of firearm violence who has conducted leading-edge research for more than 30 years.
The new center, funded with an appropriation of $5 million over the next five years... (GunPolicy.org)
Armed and Aging: Should Seniors Face Tighter Gun Controls?
18 August 2016
New America Media
Richard Swift grew up in the era of John Wayne and Gene Autry, cinematic cowboys whose armed antics drove his daydreams. He had a BB gun years before the first whiskers sprouted on his chin. At 12, he got a .22-caliber rifle that he'd lug around the hills and fields of his rural southeastern Pennsylvania burg, shooting targets and learning to hunt.
"Mostly, I was just shooting things that were there, like a stick floating down the creek. I'd shoot bumblebees if they... (GunPolicy.org)
Reducing Access to Guns Lowers Suicide Rates Internationally
28 July 2016
EurekAlert (US)
NEW YORK -- Researchers from Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI) have found that legislation reducing access to firearms has lowered firearm suicide rates in other countries. This finding is based on evidence from around the world on the relationship between firearm ownership and firearm suicide rates.
The report was published recently in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
To reduce firearm suicide rates in the... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Violence and Children: US Pediatricians Take a Stand
18 July 2016
New York Times
What does it mean to consider gun violence a public health problem, especially when it comes to children?
The American Academy of Pediatrics announced the development of a new initiative last week reacting to the violence in St. Paul, Baton Rouge and Dallas, an attempt as pediatricians to find ways to protect children, adolescents and young adults.
This isn't a new issue for the academy; the existing policy on firearm injuries in children emphasizes the importance of... (GunPolicy.org)
Better Training for Doctors Could Reduce US Gun Suicide Rate
29 June 2016
Ball State Daily (USA)
The majority of mental health professionals believe firearm issues are greater among mentally ill people, yet new studies suggest these professionals may not posses the training and the ability to play a role in preventing firearm trauma themselves.
Of all the people who die of firearm violence, most die from firearm suicides. Of those who die of firearm suicides, the majority — nearly 75 percent — may have a diagnosable mental disorder.
Each year more than 41,000... (GunPolicy.org)
California Lawmakers Fund Centre for Gun Violence Research
23 June 2016
New York Times, Editorial
For two decades, Congress has effectively blocked federal money from being used for basic research on gun violence and its effect on public health. All efforts to lift this restriction have been repeatedly rejected by Republicans who seem to believe that the less people know about gun violence and how to prevent it, the better.
California lawmakers, faced with this failure by the federal government, are moving ahead to finance public research on their own. The... (GunPolicy.org)
Not So Fast: Why Australia Should Still Worry About Guns
23 June 2016
Daily Life (Australia)
Not for Charlotte Bacon, who would never turn seven. Not for Ana either. Not for Madeleine Hsu. Not for Jack or Gracie. Not Jesse nor James.
God knows, nothing moved politicians to talk hopes and prayers like the 20 murdered children of Sandy Hook Elementary School but nothing moved them to make change. Nearly four years later, another mass shooting and 49 dead in Orlando.
On Monday, US senators still couldn't come together to pass any gun control measures at all.... (GunPolicy.org)
Doctors Should Push Gun Control, Says Medical Journal NEJM
22 June 2016
NBC News (USA)
American doctors should join the increasingly bitter battle on gun control, the influential New England Journal of Medicine said Wednesday.
The medical journal's editorial board joined a growing group of medical professionals taking side in the highly politicized gun debate, even as Democrats staged a sit-in on the floor of Congress and the Senate voted against four proposed firearms measures.
"The devastation wrought by firearms is not inevitable, and to consider... (GunPolicy.org)
Australia's Successful Gun Reforms Could Inform US Policies
22 June 2016
Guardian
A new study from Australia shows how the country's sweeping gun law reform was followed by a decline in mass shootings, homicides and suicides in the last two decades – changes that researchers said could inform US gun policy.
Since 49 people were killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, gun control advocates have again presented Australia as an example of successful gun reform.
After the April 1996 shooting in Australia where one man killed 35 people and... (GunPolicy.org)
California Funds Gun Research Shunned by US Congress
17 June 2016
Wired (San Francisco)
Scientists have been collecting data on car crash deaths and casualties for decades. Studies of the dangers of tobacco number in the many hundreds. But the US government has never funded a research center to study gun violence. Yesterday, the California legislature approved a budget allocating $5 million to establish the California Firearm Violence Research Center. This information really wants to be free.
What scientists don't know about the public health impact of... (GunPolicy.org)
Peak US Research Body Avoids Studying Gun-Related Deaths
16 June 2016
ABC News (USA)
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies a variety of public health threats every year, from infectious diseases to automobile safety. But for 15 years, the CDC has avoided comprehensive research on one of the top causes of death in the U.S.: firearms.
While the CDC keeps surveillance data on gun injuries and deaths, it has not funded a study aimed at reducing harm from guns since 2001. The CDC estimates that firearms are one of the top five causes... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Lobby, Gun Safety Group Head to Head in Sydney Debate
16 June 2016
9News (Australia), Australian Associated Press
Emotion must be stripped away from public debate around Australian gun controls, a national policing summit has heard.
Samara McPhedran, a Griffith University senior researcher and chair of Women in Shooting and Hunting (WiSH), says emotions have muddied the crafting of firearm regulations.
"Unfortunately, many decisions in this area seem driven by emotion rather than informed debate," Dr McPhedran told police forces and counter-terror experts in Sydney on... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Injuries Are Now More Often Lethal Due Number, Severity
14 June 2016
Health Day (USA)
Injuries from senseless gun violence -- like those witnessed in Orlando on Sunday morning -- may be increasing in severity in ERs across the United States, a new study suggests.
"Americans mourn firearm-related fatalities every day," said lead researcher Dr. Angela Sauaia, a professor of public health and surgery at the University of Colorado, in Denver. "Mass shootings are just the tip of the iceberg of the daily tragedy witnessed by trauma surgeons in emergency... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Violence a 'Public Health Crisis' - American Medical Assn
14 June 2016
National Public Radio (USA)
Days after the deadly mass shooting in Orlando, Fla., the American Medical Association says it is adopting a policy calling gun violence in the U.S. "a public health crisis," and it says it will actively lobby Congress to overturn 20-year-old legislation blocking research on gun violence by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Even as America faces a crisis unrivaled in any other developed country, the Congress prohibits the CDC from conducting the very... (GunPolicy.org)
Mental Illness Is Not a Big Part of the Gun Violence Problem
7 June 2016
Atlantic (USA)
After a shooting, once the dust has settled, and the initial shock and panic has abated somewhat, fearful minds begin to cast about for explanations. Given the frequency with which gun deaths occur in the United States, "Why did this happen?" and "Who could do something like this?" are questions the country faces with grim regularity.
Unfortunately, a consistent and dangerous narrative has emerged—an explanation all-too-readily at hand when a mass shooting or other... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Violence: 'Ordinary' 4-Shot Shootings Alone Killed 462
26 May 2016
New York Times, Editorial
Only in America: A computer algorithm about guns has been created to predict who is most likely to be shot soon, or to shoot someone.
The Chicago Police Department, desperate to reduce gun violence by street gangs, authorized this unusual tool three years ago and has been using it to track and caution the most likely offenders.
It is a remarkable state of affairs that local governments must resort to such an approach to deal with the reality of gun mayhem. Yet it is... (GunPolicy.org)
Nine US States Have Abnormally High Gun Death Rates - Study
25 May 2016
The Trace (USA)
In public health, there are totals which can give researchers and policy makers a raw sum of cost or human loss. There are per capita counts, which allow for more meaningful comparisons of an issue's frequency across population groups and geographic boundaries. And thanks to a research scientist named Francis Boscoe, there is another metric, known as "distinctive causes of death." Calculating the difference between state and countrywide averages for the same sources of... (GunPolicy.org)
Firearm Ownership Closely Tied to Suicide Rates - US Study
19 May 2016
Medical Xpress
States with higher estimated levels of gun ownership had higher incidents of gun-related suicides, with firearm ownership alone explaining 71 percent of the variation in state-level gun suicide rates for males and 49 percent for females, a new study by Boston University School of Public Health researchers shows.
The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, covers 33 years, from 1981 to 2013, and is the most comprehensive analysis of the association... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Dealer Founds Movement to Prevent Firearm Suicides
18 May 2016
Scientific American
Ralph Demicco feels as though he has watched the 53-minute surveillance video 100 times, searching it for clues to preventing tragedy. He sees a young man walk into his gun shop in Hooksett, N.H. The man asks about buying a handgun. "He engaged the clerk in small talk, totally disarmed the clerk," Demicco says. "No way in heck that clerk would suspect that three quarters of an hour after the conversation that person would take his life."
And yet the 24-year-old man did... (GunPolicy.org)
Nothing to Stop US Doctors Asking Patients About Their Guns
17 May 2016
US News & World Report
Physicians often don't ask patients whether they have a gun at home, but a group of doctors say it's time to start.
Dr. Garen Wintemute, director of the violence prevention research program at the University of California—Davis wrote recommendations for discussing gun ownership with patients in an article published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. They recommended that doctors first ask during routine screening whether a patient keeps a gun in the house. If... (GunPolicy.org)
Sandy Hook Gun Lawsuit Can Learn From 'Big Tobacco' Fight
14 May 2016
CNN
Families of the victims in the 2012 massacre by shooter Adam Lanza in Newtown, Connecticut, are no longer united only in their grief. Some of them are also now part of a potentially precedent-setting lawsuit seeking accountability from the gunmaker, Remington.
At issue are what the families allege are the manufacturer's marketing strategies and other trade secrets on military-style weapons.
Although the trial is not set to begin until April 2018, the case is moving... (GunPolicy.org)
White House Hopes to Launch US Smart Gun Technology
29 April 2016
NBC News (USA)
The White House hopes it can finally launch smart gun technology — childproof weaponry aimed at stopping accidental shootings and increasing gun safety.
The administration is, for the first time, trying to put in place the requirements needed so law enforcement could eventually use smart guns. It's using findings in a new report from the Defense, Homeland Security and Justice Departments — agencies that were directed in January to look into the matter as Obama... (GunPolicy.org)
Activists Say US Gun Violence is a Crisis Driven by Profit
10 April 2016
Daily Nexus (USA)
Legislators and activists spoke Thursday night at the Marjorie Luke Theatre on gun violence in America and what can be done to address the "profit-driven crisis" causing mass shootings, domestic violence, suicide and accidents across America.
The panel discussion, which followed a screening of the film "Making a Killing: Guns, Greed, and the NRA," included the film's director, Robert Greenwald; State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson; Assemblymember Das Williams; Mayor... (GunPolicy.org)
141 Doctors Groups Urge Congress to Fund Gun Research
6 April 2016
Guardian
A coalition of more than 100 medical groups is asking Congress to fund research on gun violence at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to end a decades-long drought of federal public health research on the subject.
The groups sent a letter on Wednesday requesting that Congress "end the dramatic chilling effect of the current rider language restricting gun violence research and to fund this critical work".
The lack of gun violence research at the CDC is... (GunPolicy.org)
Former CDC Leaders Say US Govt Restricts Gun Research
4 April 2016
Trace (USA)
For nearly two decades, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has devoted scant resources to the study of gun violence, even as fatal shootings constitute a public health issue claiming more than 30,000 lives each year. That lack of research is widely attributed to the Dickey Amendment, language tucked into a 1996 appropriations bill that the CDC, lawmakers, and the press have interpreted as blocking the agency from conducting research on firearms deaths and... (GunPolicy.org)
Do You Own a Gun? Why Your Kid's Doctor Needs to Know
1 April 2016
Washington Post, Opinion
'Do you have guns in the home?" It's a standard question pediatricians ask patients and their parents, an entry into a conversation about storage and safety.
"Of course not — we don't believe in that," answered one mother who came to our practice with her 7-year-old.
Her son looked up from his iPad and grinned. "But Bobby's dad has a really cool gun! Bobby showed it to me last week."
"What do you mean?" his mother asked. "A toy gun?"
"No, a real one!" he boasted,... (GunPolicy.org)
California Should Lift NRA Veil Which Hides Gun Violence
29 March 2016
Los Angeles TImes, Editorial
Bang, bang, we're dead.
More than 196,000 people died of gunshot wounds in the United States between 2009 and 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An additional 400,000 suffered nonfatal gunshot wounds from 2009 to 2013 (the last year for which that data is available). Nearly 600,000 victims in all, from toddlers picking up unattended guns to suicides to domestic violence casualties to those killed in mass shootings.
Why is the United... (GunPolicy.org)
US Senators Say Feds Should Fund Research on Gun Violence
25 March 2016
San Francisco Chronicle
The federal government should fund research into the causes of gun violence, Connecticut senators have urged.
Connecticut Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, both Democrats, joined Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, and 14 Democratic senators in a letter urging colleagues to grant money to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research causes of gun violence.
"We must take this important step because only the United States government is in a position to... (GunPolicy.org)
Liberia,Sierra Leone,New Zealand,United Kingdom
Hospital-Based Research in Liberia on Armed Violence
19 February 2016
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War / IPPNW (USA)
Results of hospital-based research in Liberia on armed violence spearheaded by members of IPPNW was published recently by the Small Arms Survey in Switzerland. A main finding of The Value of Hospital Data - Understanding and Preventing Intentional Injury in Liberia (1) was that the Liberian Armed Violence Observatory (LAVO) is not receiving all the data it needs to most effectively inform intervention strategies on armed violence prevention.
"Our analysis of hospital... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War / IPPNW (USA)
10 Americans Who Shaped the Gun Debate This Year
28 December 2015
Trace (USA)
Deborah Azrael, gun-violence researcher
Despite some 300 million guns in circulation in America, research on guns and gun violence remains seriously underfunded. Among the handful of public health experts helping to expand the available pool of data is Dr. Deborah Azrael of Harvard's Injury Control Research Center. Azrael co-authored a seminal study in 2015 that found firearm suicide rates are higher in states with higher rates of gun ownership, underscoring the... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Australia,Brazil,Argentina,United Kingdom
Australian Gun Expert Critiques America: You've Lost Control
10 December 2015
Washington Post, Opinion
Although we foreigners can offer no immediate solution to America's gun infestation, we can see how you lost control of the plague of armed violence. Outsiders are also perplexed to see that you've done so little to grant your citizens a basic human right — the freedom to live without fear of death by gunshot.
Historically, there's little mystery as to how it began. The early laws of each European empire relied on two pillars of gun safety: Firearm owners were... (GunPolicy.org)
Basic Gun Violence Research Is Seriously Underfunded
10 November 2015
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Amid the bloodbaths of 21st-century America, you might think that there would be a lot of research into the causes of gun violence, and which policies work best against it.
You would be wrong.
Gun interests, wary of any possible limits on weaponry, have successfully lobbied for limitations on government research and funding, and private sources have not filled the breach. So funding for basic gun violence research and data collection remains minuscule —... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Violence a Public Health Issue: US Surgeon General
16 August 2015
Guardian (UK)
The nation's chief doctor said he doesn't regret saying gun violence is a public health issue, calling his difficult confirmation process a consequence of speaking out.
Surgeon general Vivek Murthy said Saturday that the backlash from his gun control statement was disappointing but not a surprise.
He was confirmed in December in the face of opposition from the National Rifle Association, in a rare defeat for the powerful gun lobby.
Murthy said the challenging... (GunPolicy.org)
Toxic, Contaminated US Gun Ranges Win Federal Contracts
13 April 2015
Seattle Times
In early November 2008, state workplace-safety inspectors slammed a contaminated commercial gun range in Kent with 15 violations, including failure to fix previous lead hazards, and fined it $42,400.
The very next day, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) awarded Champion Arms in Kent a five-year contract worth $205,200 for the Federal Air Marshal Service to use the indoor gun range for training.
Federal law requires agencies to follow health and safety... (GunPolicy.org)
20 Young Shooters Suffer Lead Overexposure at US Gun Club
20 October 2014
Seattle Times, Series
The youngsters knew their sport could be dangerous, even deadly.
But for the junior team at the Vancouver (Wash.) Rifle and Pistol Club, the peril that emerged from their sport didn't come from a stray bullet.
It came from lead.
In 2010, blood tests revealed that 20 youths had been overexposed to the poisonous metal after shooting in the club's dirty, poorly ventilated range.
"It was devastating," said Marc Ueltschi, the junior team coach and a club member. "It... (GunPolicy.org)
'Worst Case' Seattle Gun Range Poisoned Dozens With Lead
17 October 2014
Seattle Times, Series
In a cramped hotel room on Christmas Eve, a pale and hollow-eyed man embraced his two children and whispered they'd be OK.
Despite his assurances, Manny Romo, a 34-year-old ironworker, wasn't so certain about the future. Will I die? he wondered. Who will take care of my family?
An invisible assailant had invaded the bodies of Romo and his two kids, attacking their bones, brains and nerves.
They were contaminated with lead. And it came from an unexpected place.
In... (GunPolicy.org)
Lead Poisoning, Neglect a Major Threat at US Shooting Ranges
17 October 2014
Seattle Times, Series
A confused 38-year-old father in Kentucky rarely crawled out of bed.
A conservation volunteer in Iowa lost feeling in his hands and feet.
A 5-year-old girl in South King County doubled over in pain and vomited.
The cause of their suffering: lead poisoning. The source: dirty gun ranges.
Indoor and outdoor, public and private, gun ranges dot the national landscape like bullet holes riddling a paper target, as the popularity of shooting has rocketed to new heights with... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Lobby Opposition to Surgeon General 'Unacceptable'
19 March 2014
New England Journal of Medicine, Editorial
Surgeons general of the United States have often championed important causes that improve the nation's health. Leroy Burney and Luther Terry took on the issue of smoking and health. C. Everett Koop championed the treatment of HIV-AIDS as a medical condition. With the nomination of Dr. Vivek Murthy, who aims to take on the epidemic of obesity, President Barack Obama is striving to continue this tradition.
Murthy, whose parents immigrated to the United States from India,... (GunPolicy.org)
Firearm Injuries Cost US Over $16 Billion in Hospital Care Over 9 Years
4 November 2013
ScienceDaily
Firearm injuries in the U.S. cost more than $16 billion in hospital resources between 2000 and 2008, according to new research released today at the American Public Health Association's 141st Annual Meeting in Boston.
According to the research, 275,939 victims of gunfire in the U.S. resulted in 1.7 million days of hospital service - an average of 6.7 days per incident. The average cost of medical treatment for each hospitalization was $59,620. Additionally, roughly one... (GunPolicy.org)
Op-Ed: Instead of Studying Gun Violence, Americans Just Argue About It
29 October 2013
LiveScience, Opinion
Is gun violence a public-health epidemic?
The unfortunate truth is this: Scientists simply don't know, because hard statistics either don't exist, aren't current, aren't readily available or can't be researched nationally under the usual rules. Until a few months ago, federal science agencies were essentially barred from even studying gun violence within a public-health epidemic framework.
The United States is the only country in the world that treats gun ownership as... (GunPolicy.org)
Guns and Aggression in Young US Assault Victims
8 July 2013
Science Daily (USA), Media release
They're young. They've been injured in an assault - so badly they went to the emergency room. And nearly one in four of them has a gun, probably an illegal one. What happens next?
A new study by the University of Michigan Injury Center provides data that could be important to breaking the cycle of gun violence that kills more teens and young adults than anything except auto accidents.
In the new issue of the journal Pediatrics, the team from the U-M Injury Center... (GunPolicy.org)
Expert Panel Says Better US Data on Gun Issues Needed
5 June 2013
New York Times
WASHINGTON — A panel of experts convened in response to the school shooting last year in Newtown, Conn., gave the federal government an ambitious set of priorities on Wednesday for research on guns, ending what experts said has been a 17-year hiatus in the study of gun violence after Congress took away federal money for the topic in the 1990s.
President Obama has included $10 million for gun-related research in his 2014 budget, the first federal financing for the... (GunPolicy.org)
US Begins to Notice Scandal of Federal Ban on Gun Control Research
23 March 2013
Los Angeles Times, Opinion
Like a lot of people who follow the gun debate, I was surprised to learn earlier this year that for more than a decade, Congress has made it nearly impossible for our premier federal health research institutions to study gun violence.
That became evident when President Obama announced his series of executive orders in response to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
In one of those orders, he directed the Centers for Disease Control and... (GunPolicy.org)
How a Patient's Suicide Changed a Doctor's Approach to Guns
20 March 2013
NPR (USA)
Dr. Frank Dumont knew one of his favorite patients was getting depressed.
When Dumont first started seeing him in his family practice, the man was in his 70s. He was active and fit; he enjoyed hiking into his 80s. But then things started to change.
"He started complaining of his memory starting to slip," Dumont says. The man would forget where he had placed objects, and he'd struggle to remember simple words and phrases.
Dumont prescribed antidepressants and saw him... (GunPolicy.org)
What America Doesn't Know About Gun Violence is Killing Them
26 January 2013
New York Times, Editorial
In one of the 23 executive actions on gun control signed this month, President Obama instructed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal science agencies to conduct research into the causes and prevention of gun violence. He called on Congress to aid that effort by providing $10 million for the C.D.C. in the next budget round and $20 million to expand the federal reporting system on violent deaths to all 50 states, from the current 18.
That Mr.... (GunPolicy.org)
US Scientists Urge Authorities to End Limits on Gun Safety Research
10 January 2013
Reuters
Research restrictions pushed by the National Rifle Association have stopped the United States from finding solutions to firearms violence, more than a hundred scientists from virtually every major U.S. university told Vice President Joe Biden's task force on gun violence in a letter on Thursday.
In the wake of the December school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, and other mass homicides, the group of economists, health researchers, educators, doctors and... (GunPolicy.org)
Curbing Gun Violence in America: Lessons from Public Health Successes
7 January 2013
Journal of the American Medical Association
The tragic slaughter of innocents in Newtown, Connecticut, has horrified and refocused the nation on the burden of gun violence. Each year in the United States, more than 30 000 individuals are killed by guns (homicides, suicides, and unintentional fatalities) — 85 deaths per day plus many hundreds of nonfatal injuries. Gun homicide alone causes 11,000 deaths each year, more than all US troops killed throughout the last decade in Iraq and Afghanistan. Remarkably, the... (GunPolicy.org)
One Leader of a Democracy Reversed His Nation's Gun Laws in 12 Days
17 December 2012
CNN, Opinion
Editor's note: Philip Alpers is Adjunct Associate Professor at the Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney. A policy analyst in the public health effects of gun violence and small arms proliferation, his web site GunPolicy.org compares armed violence and gun laws, country by country.
SYDNEY, Australia - Could the leader of a democracy reverse his nation's slide toward the ever more permissive use of firearms and mandate stringent new gun control laws in... (GunPolicy.org)
GPNHeader: Guns Where Tobacco Was in 1950s: Death Toll Amenable to Science
25 November 2012
Denver Post (Colorado)
Gun violence must be treated as a public-health issue — such as alcohol, smoking and traffic — say people concerned about gun-related death rates from mass shootings and random shots nationwide.
"Guns are where tobacco was in the 1950s," said Garen Wintemute, director of the Violence Prevention Research Program, who practices emergency medicine at the University of California at Davis School of Medicine. "There's a little bit of science and a great deal of... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Lobby War on Research into Effects of Gun Violence Continues
26 July 2012
Salon (USA)
As the tragic shooting in Colorado last week has reignited the debate over guns, one key public policy question — does gun control save lives? — is almost impossible to answer thanks to a dearth of research on the subject. That lack of research is no accident. It's the product of a concerted campaign by the gun lobby and its allies on Capitol Hill to stymie and even explicitly outlaw scientific research into gun violence in what critics charge is an attempt to... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Violence: The Public Health Issue Politicians Want to Ignore
24 July 2012
Forbes (USA)
On the morning a 24-year old man armed with two Glock automatic handguns, a shotgun, an AR-15 assault rifle and chemical gas went on a shooting rampage at a midnight screening of a Batman movie, the National Rifle Association sent out a tweet to its 6,000 followers: "Good morning, shooters. Happy Friday! Weekend plans?"
Perhaps we can excuse the horrible timing and chalk up the insensitivity of the tweet to a clueless social media coordinator who didn't quite notice... (GunPolicy.org)
Harvard Researchers Warn of 'Harmful' Law to Gag Doctors on Gun Risk
10 November 2011
Boston Globe
Florida lawmakers caused a stir among the medical community this summer when they passed a law prohibiting doctors from asking most patients about whether they have a gun at home. Many pediatricians in particular were outraged, saying proper storage of firearms is a critical child safety issue.
The National Rifle Association supported the law, saying such questioning invades people's privacy.
The law hit a roadblock in September, when a federal judge granted an... (GunPolicy.org)
US Psychiatric Nurses Need Training to Reduce Gun Suicides, Homicides
1 November 2011
Medical Xpress (USA)
"Graduate Psychiatric Nurses' Training on Firearm Injury Prevention" found that in spite of the concrete recommendations from American Psychiatric Nursing Association, only 9.4 percent of psychiatric nursing programs in the U.S. reported training their students to look for signs that patients might shoot themselves or someone else, said study co-author Jagdish Khubchandani, a community health education professor in the university's Global Health Institute and Department... (GunPolicy.org)
85% of Gun Suicides Committed with Hunting Rifle in Quebec [Fr]
28 September 2011
La Seigneurie (Canada)
[Translated summary: With automn's arrival, many Quebecers take out their hunting equipment. The Director of Public Health would like to take this opportunity to remind hunters to be vigilant when handling their firearms to ensure their safety and that of their loved ones. Indeed, no less than 85% of suicides and 17% of homicides with firearms in Quebec are committed with a hunting carbine or shotgun.]
Avec l'arrivée de l'automne, de nombreux Montérégiens sortent... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Query Off Limits for Florida Doctors, Gun Injuries a Health Issue?
8 August 2011
New York Times, Letter
As a primary care physician, I regularly ask patients questions that many people would consider rude, inappropriately nosy or just irrelevant in polite conversation.
Do you wear your seat belt? How much alcohol do you usually drink? Do you use recreational drugs? Have you ever injected yourself with anything? Do you have sexual relations, and if so, with men, women or both?
Questions like these have long been a standard part of medical interviewing, and for good... (GunPolicy.org)
US Doctors Call Gun Safety 'Preventive', Gun Lobby Labels It 'Invasive'
13 June 2011
Boston Globe
Pediatricians regularly give parents advice about how to keep their children safe at home: Stash toxic cleaners where young children cannot get to them, fence the backyard swimming pool, require bike helmets, and keep any firearms unloaded and locked away.
Physicians call this kind of preventive care "anticipatory guidance". When it comes to guns, the National Rifle Association calls it an invasion of privacy.
Governor Rick Scott this month signed a law making Florida... (GunPolicy.org)
Florida Law That Bans Doctors from Asking about Guns Will Be Challenged
3 June 2011
ABC News (USA) / AP
Doctors and gun control groups say they will challenge a Florida law, signed Thursday by Gov. Rick Scott, that bans physicians from asking patients about gun ownership.
"Gov. Rick Scott should realize the risks to public health and safety that he would be sanctioning by giving into the gun lobby's agenda," the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence said in a joint statement with the Florida chapters of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family... (GunPolicy.org)
Doctors Sue Florida Governor Over Public Health and Guns Gagging Law
2 June 2011
Miami Herald / AP
TALLAHASSEE, Florida - Physician and gun control groups say they will sue to block a new Florida law signed Thursday by Gov. Rick Scott that prevents doctors from asking patients about gun ownership.
It was one of 48 bills Scott signed into law, including two historic Medicaid measures. Subject to federal waivers, they will put the health care of nearly 3 million low-income and disabled Floridian into the hands of for-profit companies and hospital networks.
Other... (GunPolicy.org)
Ohio Police Shift Crime-reduction Focus from Guns to Jailing Repeat Offenders
31 May 2011
Columbus Dispatch (Ohio)
Columbus police take guns off the streets at a pace of about eight a day, 250 a month, 3,000 a year.
In the police property room on Fairwood Avenue are derringers and AK-47s, ancient Colts and slick new Glocks. There are Hi-Points that cost less than $200 and Les Baer custom pistols that likely set back the original buyer a few grand.
Columbus Police Officer Ky H. Reed started work in the property room last summer after an injury took him off the streets. It has been... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Homicide Dwarfed by 'The Other' Gun-Violence Problem: Suicide
14 April 2011
Atlantic (USA), Opinion
The Newark Star-Ledger reports on the disturbing number of suicides among police officers in New Jersey -- sadly a national phenomenon as well. The unusual stress of police work and its effect on family life plays a large part, but so does availability of firearms. An opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine observed a few years ago:
In 2005, the most recent year for which mortality data are available, suicide was the second-leading cause of death among... (GunPolicy.org)
Should Australian Police be Contributing to the Gun Death Toll in the USA?
14 April 2011
Croakey / Crikey (Australia), Blog
Should Australia be contributing to the gun toll in the USA?
It's a timely question for the Defence Export Control Office in the Department of Defence in Canberra, says Adjunct Associate Professor Philip Alpers, of GunPolicy.org at the Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney.
Philip Alpers writes:
If Canberra follows precedent, around 10,000 surplus Australian police firearms will soon be for sale in pawn shops and gun shops across the United States.
To... (GunPolicy.org)
Oscar Winner Launches 'Gun Fight' Documentary on US Armed Violence
13 April 2011
Daily Democrat (California), TV preview
Garen Wintemute, an emergency room physician and public health epidemiologist at UC Davis Medical Center, is among the featured experts in the documentary "Gun Fight," which premieres on HBO Wednesday.
The documentary, directed by two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple, looks at the complex issues surrounding firearms and debate over how best to reduce gun violence in the U.S.
Kopple and her film team shadowed Wintemute and emergency department physicians and... (GunPolicy.org)
The Truth About Switzerland - Gun Laws Americans Would Call 'Tyrannical'
28 March 2011
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (USA), Web page
In Switzerland — a nation in which a "well regulated Militia" still plays a leading role in national defense — guns are a hot issue. A February referendum on new gun policy proposals quickly turned into a national debate on Switzerland's gun culture and citizen/soldier tradition. The resulting dialogue in this landlocked nation of mountains and lakes has been fascinating and shed light on some long-perpetuated myths about Switzerland's gun laws.
Responding to... (GunPolicy.org)
Children, Guns Not a Good Mix: Australian Gun Lobby Push to Lower Age
27 March 2011
Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne), Opinion
Few topics divide like guns. I don't like guns, and I definitely don't think children and guns should be allowed to mix.
Did you know that in Victoria, a child can carry and shoot a gun provided they are in the company of a licensed adult?
We should all be appalled by that.
We have tough gun control laws - have done since Port Arthur when John Howard bulldozed the National Firearm Agreement through - but there is a loophole that needs to be addressed because children... (GunPolicy.org)
Infatuated with Guns, Americans Can't Think Straight on Public Health Risk
30 January 2011
New York Times, Opinion
Americans are infatuated with guns. And when you're infatuated, you sometimes can't think straight. Maybe that's why, three weeks after the Tucson shootings that shook the nation, we're still no closer to banning oversize magazines like the 33-bullet model allegedly used there. Maybe it will help clarify issues if we imagine an alternate universe — one in which Americans exhibit their toughness not with assault weapons but with assault vehicles, a world in which our... (GunPolicy.org)
Why Does US Gun Lobby Prohibit Public Health Research on Gun Injury?
29 January 2011
Philadelphia Inquirer, Editorial
Just because Americans have the right to bear arms shouldn't mean that public-health experts stop studying ways to reduce the risk of deadly gun violence.
That, however, effectively has been U.S. policy since the mid-1990s. That's when the National Rifle Association went ballistic over a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found that having a gun in the house for protection actually made a family less safe.
As spelled out in a front-page... (GunPolicy.org)
Philanthropy Must Challenge Idea That US Gun Violence Can't Be Stopped
14 January 2011
Chronicle of Philanthropy (USA), Opinion
"We see this latest tragedy and ask, How could this happen? How could it not happen, when we systematically make it easier for angry and troubled people to get ever-more-powerful guns, and harder for the police and public-health people to stop the mayhem?"
Those words appeared in The Chronicle of Philanthropy 2007, in the days after the Virginia Tech massacre. Three and a half years later, our nation's gun laws have gotten weaker, the gun lobby has become emboldened,... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Regulation for Public Health: A Better Memorial for Tucson Victims
13 January 2011
Los Angeles Times, Editorial
Thursday's "Morning Edition" reported an increased interest in the same high-capacity ammunition magazine used in last Saturday's massacre, which allowed 31 bullets to be shot in rapid succession. Sales have gone up dramatically at the Arizona gun shop Glockmeister. And at Don's Guns and Galleries in Indianapolis, owner Don Davis has seen an influx of young people at his shooting range experimenting with how fast they can change those same ammunition magazines in their... (GunPolicy.org)
It's Time: Use Public Health as Rallying Point to Curb Toll of Gun Violence
11 January 2011
Montreal Gazette (Québec), Editorial
A blast from a handgun ended the life of 9-year-old Christina Green, a sunny little girl who had gone to meet Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords because she wanted to learn more about politics.
Christina was one of six people to die in the attack Saturday that included the attempted assassination of Giffords. Jared Loughner, a 22-year-old man believed to be mentally unstable, has been charged with murder and attempted murder.
There is a particular horror about... (GunPolicy.org)
To Save Lives, Swiss Doctors Back Ban on Army Machine Guns at Home
9 January 2011
SwissInfo
Swiss doctors consider it their professional duty to back an initiative aimed at restricting access to firearms to be voted on in a nationwide ballot on February 13.
The Swiss Medical Association, which represents the overwhelming majority of practising doctors, considers the initiative an important part of suicide prevention.
"It is about public health and suicide prevention. This is our core business, to save lives," said the association's president, Jacques de... (GunPolicy.org)
NRA-led Gun Lobby Wields Powerful Influence Over Feds, US Politics
15 December 2010
Washington Post
Behind the scenes, federal agents in charge of stopping gun trafficking to Mexico have quietly advanced a plan to help stem the smuggling of high-powered AK-47s and AR-15s to the bloody drug war south of the border.
The controversial proposal by officials at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives calls for a measure strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association: requiring gun dealers to report multiple sales of rifles and shotguns to ATF.
The gun... (GunPolicy.org)
Kingston, Ontario Police Unanimous in Their Support of Gun Registry
23 September 2010
Kingston This Week (Ontario)
The vote among those in Kingston who wear a gun to work is unamimous: Keep the national gun registry going.
From the top cop to the uniform officers, the concensus among Kingston police officers is to keep the much-debated gun registry in place.
The Kingston Police Services Board hosted a press conference September 15 as part of the National Day in Support of the Long-Gun Registry.
"We believe the national firearms registry is a valuable asset and system that assist... (GunPolicy.org)
Illegal Guns Impossible to Quantify, Most in Australia Come from Theft
24 August 2010
Sydney Morning Herald
Three separate shootings in just seven hours in which two people died have reignited questions about how people get their hands on guns.
Official statistics from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research indicate gun crime is at a lower level than it was two years ago.
However, a violent Sunday night in Sydney included a home invasion in Werrington in which Devril Leuthwaite, 17, was fatally shot in front of his family.
It came just three weeks after senior... (GunPolicy.org)
Public Health Claims Are 'Red Herring,' Canada Firearm Registry Futile
5 August 2010
Western Producer (Canada), Opinion
Many public health advocates believe that scrapping the long-gun registry would open the door to increases in suicides, domestic violence and murders against women.
As chair of the standing committee on Public Safety and National Security, I have received letters from doctors, nurses, and women's rights groups that suggest passing Bill C-391 to eliminate the registry would increase crime. This short-sighted conclusion is not supported by either statistical analysis or... (GunPolicy.org)
Progressive California Can Expect Many Challenges to Gun Control Law
4 July 2010
Sacramento Bee (California), Column
The list is tragically long.
Five children dead at Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, 1989. Nine dead at 101 California St. in San Francisco, 1993. Nineteen wounded in the North Hollywood shootout, 1997. Four Oakland police officers shot dead, 2009.
Thousands of others have died needlessly but attracted little attention. No state has shed more blood because of gun violence than California.
And no state has done more to combat the carnage. In the past 20 years,... (GunPolicy.org)
Losing Canada's Gun Registry will Increase Suicides - Health Professionals
28 April 2010
Toronto Sun (Ontario)
OTTAWA, Ontario — Scrapping Canada's long-gun registry would undermine significant gains in suicide prevention since the registry was put in place, emergency doctors and public health organizations say.
In an open letter to MPs Wednesday, 28 medical and health organizations said most firearms deaths in Canada are suicides, and the guns most frequently used are rifles and shotguns. They argued gun-related deaths and suicides in particular have diminished since the... (GunPolicy.org)
Obama Redefines US Gun Control Research to Fit Liberal Conclusions
22 October 2009
Washington Times
For a decade, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been forbidden by Congress from doing research on gun-control issues. Such piddling hurdles as federal law don't matter to the Obama administration.
With a wave of a hand, the CDC has simply redefined gun-control research so the ban no longer applies. They're not researching guns; they're researching alcohol sales and their impact on gun violence, or researching how teens carrying guns affect the rates... (GunPolicy.org)
Republicans Try to Shut Down Slowly Emerging US Gun Safety Research
19 October 2009
Washington Times
More than a decade after Congress cut funding for firearms research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), another federal health agency has been spending millions of dollars to study such topics as whether teenagers who carry firearms run a different risk of getting shot compared with suffering other sorts of injuries.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) also has been financing research to investigate whether having many liquor stores in a... (GunPolicy.org)
Strident, Dismissive US Supreme Court Sides With Foes of Gun Control
30 September 2008
Journal of the American Medical Association / JAMA. 2008;300(13):1575-1577, Editorial
In District of Columbia v Heller, The Supreme Court held, for the first time in its history, that the Second Amendment grants an individual right to possess and use firearms for personal use, which encompasses the right to keep a loaded handgun at home for self-defense. Justice Scalia, writing for a bitterly divided court that split 5 to 4 along ideological lines, said that the Second Amendment "surely elevates above all other interests the right of law-abiding,... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Journal of the American Medical Association / JAMA. 2008;300(13):1575-1577
Partners, Children of US Gun Owners Face Higher Risk of Suicide - Study
4 September 2008
New England Journal of Medicine 359:10:989-991
This past June, in a 5-to-4 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court struck down a ban on handgun ownership in the nation's capital and ruled that the District's law requiring all firearms in the home to be locked violated the Second Amendment. But the Supreme Court's finding of a Second Amendment right to have a handgun in the home does not mean that it is a wise decision to own a gun or to keep it easily accessible. Deciding whether to own a gun... (GunPolicy.org)
Family Suicide Risk Appears 2-10 Times Higher in US Homes with Guns
3 September 2008
New Scientist (USA)
Are gun owners more likely to kill themselves? Two doctors who think so are asking lawmakers and psychologists to take a new look at the risks of firearms.
Matthew Miller of the Harvard School of Public Health studied four years of data in the US and found higher rates of suicides involving firearms in states with more gun owners — up to four times higher for men and eight times higher for women. The numbers of suicides not involving firearms, on the other hand, were... (GunPolicy.org)
Most Readers Find Gun Control Outside Realm of Public Health - MedPage
22 July 2008
MedPage Today, Poll
Gun regulation is not a public health issue, according to more than 80% of some 2,000 respondents to a MedPage Today poll.
When the editors of the New England Journal of Medicine decried the recent Supreme Court decision overturning the District of Columbia's handgun law, they did so claiming the issue is a matter of public health. Now doctors in the trenches have weighed in with their own views.
The responses from physicians who are registered members of the site... (GunPolicy.org)
Annual Report Launched at UN: Global Gun Theft, Trafficking, Gun Violence
14 July 2008
United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI), New York, Media release
As delegates gathered in New York to consider the implementation of the Programme of Action on the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons, the Small Arms Survey 2008: Risks and Resilience, was launched at a Headquarters press conference this morning.
The book is the eighth annual review of global small arms issues, which is produced by a team of researchers based in Geneva, Switzerland, and a worldwide network of local researchers. The publication was... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI), New York
Court Ruling 'Will Lead to More Deaths,' Say US Doctors, Major Med Journal
9 July 2008
Reuters
WASHINGTON — Last month's Supreme Court ruling striking down a strict gun control law in the U.S. capital will lead to more deaths and accidental injuries, the editors of the New England Journal of Medicine said on Wednesday.
They joined a growing clamor from medical doctors, especially emergency room physicians, who fear a surge of accidental deaths, murders and suicides if handguns become more easily available than they already are.
The ruling struck down a law in... (GunPolicy.org)
Most US Gun Deaths Nothing to Do with Crime: Owners Kill Selves and Kin
7 July 2008
Wilmington News Journal (Delaware), Editorial
News last week that suicides accounted for most of the firearm deaths in homes is no reason for handgun ban activists to feel vindicated in their opposition to the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Second Amendment.
The decision focused on citizens' ability to defend themselves from home intruders in Washington, D.C. But research shows that surprisingly often, gun owners use the weapons on themselves.
Suicides accounted for 55 percent of the nation's nearly... (GunPolicy.org)
Guns for Safety? Dream On, Conservative Justices of the Supreme Court
28 June 2008
Washington Post
The Supreme Court has spoken: Thanks to the court's blockbuster 5 to 4 decision Thursday, Washingtonians now have the right to own a gun for self-defense. I leave the law to lawyers, but the public health lesson is crystal clear: The legal ruling that the District's citizens can keep loaded handguns in their homes doesn't mean that they should.
In his majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia explicitly endorsed the wisdom of keeping a handgun in the home for... (GunPolicy.org)
Guns, Fear, the Constitution, and the Public's Health in America - NEJM
3 April 2008
New England Journal of Medicine (USA), 358:14:1421-1424, Opinion
It is 1992, and schoolmates Yoshihiro Hattori and Webb Haymaker have been invited to a Halloween party. Yoshi, a 16-year-old exchange student and avid dancer, wears a white tuxedo like John Travolta's in Saturday Night Fever. By mistake, they stop at a house up the block from their destination. No one answers the doorbell.
Inside are Rodney and Bonnie Peairs. She opens a side door momentarily, sees the boys, and yells to her husband, "Get the gun." He does (it is a... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: New England Journal of Medicine (USA), 358:14:1421-1424
NY Mayor Receives Harvard Award for Gun Control, Public Health Efforts
21 October 2007
Newsday (New York) / AP
NEW YORK — Mayor Michael Bloomberg was named the recipient of an award from the Harvard School of Public Health for his administration's efforts to improve the health of New Yorkers, the school announced Sunday.
Bloomberg will receive the 2007 Julius B. Richmond Award, the school's highest honor, Oct. 29 at a private ceremony and lecture at Harvard.
The Bloomberg administration has mounted successful campaigns to improve millions of residents' health and safety,... (GunPolicy.org)
US Police Chiefs Blast Gun Show Loophole, Urge Public Health Approach
19 September 2007
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The International Association of Chiefs of Police issued a report Wednesday that calls for stronger gun laws and urges law enforcement agencies to better educate the public about gun violence and to form more partnerships with public health officials in preventing firearms-related deaths.
The organization, which includes police executives from around the country, made 39 recommendations in the report, intended as a guide in countering a rise nationwide in gun violence... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Lobby 'Fear Mongering,' Siding with Thugs in Weapon Trafficking
17 July 2007
Deseret Morning News (Utah), Editorial
It's one of the oldest debates in the book — public health and safety versus personal freedom. Smokers and non-smokers went the rounds over that issue, as have people concerned about the Patriot Act.
Now the National Rifle Association is reading from the same books.
This debate comes down to how much information is too much information for the government. If law enforcement officials can curb violent acts against innocent people by gaining more access to the who,... (GunPolicy.org)
Melbourne Shooting Prompts Calls for Illegal Gun Crackdown in Australia
4 July 2007
ABC News (Australia) / 7.30 Report, Transcript
ALI MOORE: Last month, Melbourne's CBD came to a chilling standstill when a triple shooting claimed the life of a father of three and injured two others. The violent act has ignited calls by the anti-gun lobby to push for tougher laws to deal with handguns. While police have confirmed a handgun was used, they won't give details of the brand or whether it had a serial number. But that hasn't stopped a growing debate over the illegal gun trade in Australia and whether... (GunPolicy.org)
Estimated 20,000 Handguns Still Available on Australian Black Market
18 June 2007
Sydney Morning Herald
Despite the crackdown on handguns prompted by earlier massacres, an estimated 20,000 are held illegally in Australia.
Also, more than half the perpetrators of multiple gun killings were licensed gun owners, said Philip Alpers, a gun-control researcher at the University of Sydney's School of Public Health.
He said there was no easy solution to stop handgun killings, given blackmarket supplies to criminals and the potential of the tightly regulated sporting shooting... (GunPolicy.org)
Plane Reported Shot Down by Wedding Celebratory Gunfire
12 October 2003
BBC News
Guests at a wedding in central Serbia have apparently shot down a small aircraft by mistake.
They were celebrating in the traditional way — firing off shot after shot into the air above the wedding party.
Unfortunately, there was a two-seater aircraft flying overhead.
One eye-witness told reporters the plane was shot in the left wing.
He saw flames coming from the aircraft which a few moments later it flew into overhead power-cables.
Two men on board are... (GunPolicy.org)
Science of Violence: Guns, Politics and Public Health [Part 2 of 2]
29 March 1998
Washington Post Magazine
[Continued from Part 1 of 2]
The Best Defense
None of the numbers about the risks of keeping a gun in the home was irrefutable. No scientist involved was arguing that the question was firmly settled or that gun research should stop. But in the political trenches, the trend seemed clear.
Here's our proof! The gun controllers chorused happily. And they sent spokesmen like Paul Newman out to trumpet it.
It's a conspiracy to ban guns! The anti-controllers howled. And in... (GunPolicy.org)
Science of Violence: Guns, Politics and Public Health [Part 1 of 2]
29 March 1998
Washington Post Magazine
The evangelists of "injury control" believe that scientific knowledge and public health activism can break America's cycle of firearms mayhem. But can they survive the treacherous politics of gun control?
Trigger Points
It's a gray winter morning and Brian Wiersema is steering his Mazda Navajo east on Landover Road en route to Prince George's County police headquarters. He drives past Jimmy's Crab House and some other places familiar from the local crime reports ("A... (GunPolicy.org)
US Surgeon General Calls Gun Violence an 'Epidemic'
1 January 1994
Mother Jones (USA)
Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders's crusade to promote health education and awareness encompasses the "epidemic," as she calls it, of gun violence. Frank and opinionated, she told us what Americans need to do-now.
Q: The National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently said that gun-related deaths and injuries make gun violence one of the major public-health hazards in the country. Do you agree?
A: Yes, I do. Homicide, often involving guns, is a disease that... (GunPolicy.org)
US Surgeons General on Gun Violence 'Epidemic'
15 June 1992
Philadelphia Local News (Philly.com)
Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and George Lundberg, editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, think that if we look closely at death rates due to firearms, it will make gun-control advocates out of most of us.
Consider a few of them:
- Between 1960 and 1980, the U.S. homicide rate due to guns increased 160 percent, while the population rose 26 percent.
- Nationally, gunshot wounds are the second biggest cause of death among Americans age... (GunPolicy.org)