Blog
Hear from experts working to reduce firearm injury
The Epidemiology of Case Fatality Rates for Suicide in the Northeast
In examining the method-specific case fatality rate of suicides in seven northeastern states, researchers found that while firearms counted for a small portion of attempted suicides, they accounted for the majority of fatalities.
Veterans and Suicide: A Reexamination of the National Death Index-linked National Health Interview Survey
Results of this paper reveal that suicide risk among male veterans is modestly increased, though not significantly, compared to the male nonveterans.
Racial and Ethnic Differences in Homicides of Adult Women and the Role of Intimate Partner Violence – United States, 2003-2014
This morbidity and mortality report by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention finds that young, racial/ethnic minority women are disproportionately affected by homicide and that many of these cases were the result of intimate partner violence.
Silencing the Science on Gun Research
Despite the increasing burden of firearm violence in the United States, there have been ongoing efforts to suppress funding for research on firearm violence and prevention.
Trends and Burden of Firearm-related Hospitalizations in the United States Across 2001- 2011
Using the 2001-2011 Nationwide Inpatient Sample database, researchers in this paper found that despite a steady case-fatality rate for firearm-related injuries in the 2000s, the lengths of stay and hospitalization costs have increased.
The True Cost of Gun Violence in America
This journalistic piece found that the annual total cost of firearm-related death and injury in the United States was estimated at $229 billion for 2012 and that some costs, such as the mental health toll of trauma, remain difficult to quantify accurately.
Violent Death Rates: The US Compared with other High-income OECD Countries
Compared to other high-income countries, this study found that the rate of firearm-related death was significantly higher and has also increased between 2003 and 2010.
Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control has created an interactive, online database, WISQARS, to compile data about fatal and nonfatal injury, violent death, and cost of injury. This database is accessible to the public.
Change in Emergency Department Providers’ Beliefs and Practices After Use of New Protocols for Suicidal Patients
In this survey of Emergency Department physicans and nurses at multiple sites, researchers found evidence supporting universal suicide screening, including asking suicidal patients about their access to firearms.
Bullying and Weapon Carrying: A Meta-analysis
In this meta-analysis to examine the association between involvement in bullying and weapon carrying amongst adolescents, researchers found that victims, bullies, and bully-victims were more likely to carry weapons than uninvolved adolescents.
Beyond the trigger: The Mental Health Consequences of In-home Firearm Access among Children of Gun Owners
Given the high prevalence of households with firearms, this study researched the impact of firearm availability on psychological outcomes of children in the household, finding significantly increased depressive symptoms, particularly in female adolescents.
Attributable Risk of Psychiatric and Socio-economic Factors for Suicide from Individual-level, Population-based Studies: A Systematic Review
Using a systematic review and meta-analysis, this study found that "prevention strategies that focus on lower socio-economic strata (more distal risk factors) have the potential to have similar population-level effects as strategies which target more proximal psychiatric risk factors in the prevention and control of suicide." The results of this study can potentially help shape policy to focus on broader socio-economic factors rather than just individual ones when assessing for suicide risk in populations.