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Firearm availability and unintentional firearm deaths
M Miller1, D Azrael, D Hemenway
1Department of Health Policy and Management, Boston, MA 02115, USA. mmiller@hsph.harvard.edu
Accident; Analysis and Prevention
|June 28, 2001
Summary
States with higher gun availability experience significantly higher rates of unintentional firearm deaths across all age groups. This association persists regardless of factors like poverty or location, highlighting a direct link between firearm prevalence and fatal injuries.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
- Injury Prevention
Background:
- Nearly 30,000 Americans died from unintentional firearm injuries between 1979 and 1997.
- Half of these deaths occurred in individuals under 25, with 4,600 deaths in children under 15.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between state-level firearm availability and unintentional firearm death rates.
- To analyze this association across different age demographics, controlling for potential confounding variables.
Main Methods:
- Utilized pooled cross-sectional time-series data for all 50 US states from 1979 to 1997.
- Employed a proxy for firearm availability and negative binomial models to assess the link with unintentional firearm deaths.
Main Results:
- A significant and robust association was found between gun availability and unintentional firearm deaths nationwide and across all age groups.
- States with the highest gun availability had, on average, nine times the rate of unintentional firearm deaths compared to states with the lowest availability.
- This association was consistent across genders and racial groups (Whites and African Americans).
Conclusions:
- A disproportionately high number of unintentional firearm deaths occurred in states with greater gun prevalence.
- The elevated risk of unintentional violent death is not solely attributable to state poverty, urbanization, or geographic region.