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Deer Hunting Season and Firearm Violence in US Rural Counties.
Patrick Sharkey1, Juan Camilo Cristancho2, Daniel Semenza3,4,5
1Princeton University School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton, New Jersey.
JAMA Network Open
|August 14, 2024
Summary
The start of deer hunting season significantly increases firearm violence in rural US counties. This suggests a need for targeted policies to reduce gun shootings during peak hunting periods.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Criminology
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Firearm violence is a critical public health issue in the United States.
- Research on firearm violence in rural areas is limited, especially studies using exogenous variation in firearm prevalence.
- Understanding the link between firearm availability and shootings is crucial for developing effective prevention strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the association between the commencement of deer hunting season and the incidence of shootings in rural US counties.
- To investigate how firearm prevalence, particularly during hunting seasons, influences gun violence rates in less populated areas.
Main Methods:
- A cohort study design was employed, analyzing data from 854 rural US counties between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2021.
- Data on shootings were sourced from the Gun Violence Archive and matched with information on the timing of deer hunting seasons.
- Poisson regression models were used to compare shootings during the first three weeks of hunting season with the week prior, controlling for temporal factors.
Main Results:
- The start of deer hunting season was associated with a significant increase in daily shootings.
- Specifically, the incidence rate ratio for total shootings was 1.49 (95% CI, 1.13-1.95) in the first week and 1.41 (95% CI, 1.02-1.94) in the second week of hunting season.
- These findings were robust when excluding hunting accidents and were more pronounced in states with higher numbers of hunting licenses per capita.
Conclusions:
- The commencement of deer hunting season is linked to a substantial rise in firearm violence in rural areas.
- The study underscores the role of firearm prevalence in gun violence, particularly in regions with significant hunting activity.
- Findings suggest the necessity for targeted public health policies to mitigate firearm violence during critical periods like the early weeks of deer hunting season.
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