NCJ Number
169096
Date Published
1997
Length
30 pages
Annotation
The scale of the firearm epidemic in the United States has helped to make this country the overwhelming leader in homicide rates for 15- to 24-year-old males among countries of the world; this constitutes a public health crisis that requires a public health strategy.
Abstract
Numerous studies in the medical literature indicate that handguns meet standard epidemiological criteria for a cause of environmental death. Taken together, these studies suggest a particular causal sequence: fear of crime leads to high and rising levels of handgun ownership and unsafe storage; these cause ready access to handguns; the access -- at times of anger, sadness, intoxication, or fear -- leads to a heightened risk of injury and death, which is highest when the accessible handguns are most lethal (for example, currently popular semiautomatic pistols). When firearm deaths and injuries are viewed as an epidemic phenomenon and the handgun as the agent of the epidemic, it makes sense to address this as one would any other epidemic; this involves efforts to reduce the spread of the agent. A public health approach to firearm injuries has a number of consequences for prevention planning. First, it defines an approach to policy that is based on science. Second, it focuses on protection of the many at risk, not just management of those who are hurt. Third, it defines measurable health outcomes to gauge success in addressing the epidemic. It focuses public attention and mobilizes support from the private sector. The public health strategy includes limiting exposure to the agent of death, i.e., the gun and its dangers. Laws must be passed to limit the accessibility and the dangerousness of handguns. 4 figures, 13 tables, and 104 references