For more than 60 years, motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of injury-related death among young people. Beginning in 2017, however, firearm-related injuries took their place to become the ...most common cause of death from injury.
The article discusses how recent trends in preventable fatalities related to opioids, motor vehicle crashes, and firearms suggest the need to refocus public health efforts on injury prevention. Some ...of the ways in which injury prevention can be undertaken in the case of teenagers and young adults are highlighted.
IMPORTANCE: Firearm homicide is a leading cause of injury death in the United States, and there is considerable debate over the effectiveness of firearm policies. An analysis of the effectiveness of ...firearm laws on firearm homicide is important to understand optimal policies to decrease firearm homicide in the United States. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between firearm laws and preventing firearm homicides in the United States. EVIDENCE REVIEW: We evaluated peer-reviewed articles from 1970 to 2016 focusing on the association between US firearm laws and firearm homicide. We searched PubMed, CINAHL, Lexis/Nexis, Sociological Abstracts, Academic Search Premier, the Index to Legal Periodicals and Books, and the references from the assembled articles. We divided laws into 5 categories: those that (1) curb gun trafficking, (2) strengthen background checks, (3) improve child safety, (4) ban military-style assault weapons, and (5) restrict firearms in public places and leniency in firearm carrying. The articles were assessed using the standardized Guide to Community Preventive Services data collection instrument and 5 additional quality metrics: (1) appropriate data source(s) and outcome measure(s) were used for the study, (2) the time frame studied was adequate, (3) appropriate statistical tests were used, (4) the analytic results were robust, and (5) the disaggregated results of control variables were consistent with the literature. FINDINGS: In the aggregate, stronger gun policies were associated with decreased rates of firearm homicide, even after adjusting for demographic and sociologic factors. Laws that strengthen background checks and permit-to-purchase seemed to decrease firearm homicide rates. Specific laws directed at firearm trafficking, improving child safety, or the banning of military-style assault weapons were not associated with changes in firearm homicide rates. The evidence for laws restricting guns in public places and leniency in gun carrying was mixed. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The strength of firearm legislation in general, and laws related to strengthening background checks and permit-to-purchase in particular, is associated with decreased firearm homicide rates. High-quality research is important to further evaluate the effectiveness of these laws. Legislation is just 1 part of a multipronged approach that will be necessary to decrease firearm homicides in the United States.
IMPORTANCE: Firearms caused more than 500 pediatric fatalities in 2017—a 50% increase from 2009. Laws regulating firearms are one approach to reducing pediatric firearm fatalities. OBJECTIVE: To ...evaluate the association between state child access prevention (CAP) firearm laws and pediatric firearm fatalities. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A state-level, cross-sectional study of CAP firearm laws throughout the United States, 1991-2016, was conducted using negative binomial regression to analyze differences in state fatality rates in children aged 0 to 14 years. Data analysis was performed from November 21, 2018, to October 18, 2019. EXPOSURES: Implementation of 2 categories of state CAP firearm laws: recklessness laws, which pertain to providing a firearm to a child, and negligence laws, which pertain to accessibility of a firearm within the home. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Rates of firearm fatalities across all intents and by specific intent (homicide, suicide, and unintentional) per 100 000 children aged 0 to 14 years. RESULTS: Twenty-five states passed CAP laws between 1989 and 2000. Between 1991 and 2016, 13 697 firearm fatalities occurred in children aged 0 to 14 years. Recklessness laws were not associated with changes in pediatric firearm fatality rates. Negligence laws overall were associated with significant reductions in firearm fatalities in children aged 0 to 14 years, with a 13% relative reduction in all firearm fatalities (95% CI, −18% to −7%), a 15% relative reduction in firearm homicides (95% CI, −22% to −7%), a 12% relative reduction in firearm suicides (95% CI, −20% to −2%), and a 13% relative reduction in unintentional firearm fatalities (95% CI, −24% to −1%). The most stringent negligence laws were associated with unintentional firearm fatality reductions of 59% (95% CI, −68% to −49%). A total of 3929 deaths (29% of all firearm deaths) were associated with states not having passed the most stringent form of negligence CAP laws. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this study, negligence laws were associated with relative reductions in firearm fatality rates in children aged 0 to 14 years. The most stringent negligence laws were associated with the largest reductions in unintentional firearm fatalities. Recklessness laws were not associated with reduced firearm fatality rates. The passage of negligence CAP laws may have the potential to reduce firearm fatalities in children.
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