Preventing firearm-related deaths and the public good: a contingent valuation study in California
Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz1, Julia J Lund1, Amanda J Aubel1
1Centers for Violence Prevention, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California Davis, 4301 X St., Sacramento, CA 95817, United States.
Introduction:
Firearm-related injuries cause far-reaching harm, yet information about the value the public assigns to the benefits of prevention is limited.
Methods:
We surveyed California adults from the Ipsos KnowledgePanel (N = 2870) about their willingness to pay (WTP), in taxes or donations, to prevent firearm homicides, firearm suicides, and deaths from mass shootings. WTP was calculated using a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation model with a log-logistic error distribution.
Results:
The mean WTP estimate for a program preventing 1 in 10 deaths ranged from $85.16 annually in donations to prevent firearm suicides to $145.63 in additional taxes to prevent deaths from mass shootings. In general, firearm owners were willing to pay less than non-owners; however, Black firearm owners reported the largest WTP, among subgroups and overall. Most respondents were willing to pay the sum-total of their bids to prevent all 3 types of firearm injury; of those, maximum WTP, on average, was $508.08 annually in donations or $534.82 in additional taxes. This implies a statewide total of up to $6.9 billion in perceived benefit.
Conclusion:
As resources for prevention, intervention, and supportive services are threatened or terminated, these findings underscore the substantial public demand for investments in firearm injury reduction efforts.
Related Concept Videos
Framing Effects
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast,...
Decision Making: P-value Method
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is proposed. The claim is based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to the claim is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses: a null hypothesis would be a neutral statement while the alternative hypothesis can...
Coronary Artery Disease IV: Preventive Measures
Survey Safety
Bias in Epidemiological Studies


