Reducing firearm injury: A population-level approach

Firearm injuries are a critical threat to public health with negative psychosocial impacts that ripple out from survivors and their loved ones to communities and societies. Firearm injuries are often understood in individualistic terms, however, focusing on individual-level risk factors and approaches to mitigating consequences among individual survivors. In this commentary, we propose a reframing of firearm injuries and their prevention as a population-level health challenge. We argue that firearm injuries occur within a social, economic, and political landscape that contributes inequity in risk and postinjury outcomes across communities. We then demonstrate how a public health approach can be used to classify prevention approaches based on their timing, from preinjury to long-term postinjury, and targeted socioecological level, from individuals to societies. We conclude with recommendations to advance the field, including interdisciplinary and multisectoral collaboration, rigorous research to fill key gaps, and sustained efforts to build trust with affected communities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).