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Firearm death in US vs other countries

Gun violence in the US is the leading cause of death among children and teenagers, drives down life expectancy, and cost the economy around $557bn in 2022, says a report from the Commonwealth Fund, a non-profit organisation that researches healthcare issues and promotes improved quality and efficiency in healthcare.1The study used data from the global burden of disease study from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle.Mass shootings in the US get much media attention but represent less than 2% of gun deaths in the US, the report says. Mass shootings are those in which four or more people are shot or killed, excluding the shooter. There were 656 mass shootings in the US in 2023, reports the Gun Violence Archive,2 and at least 385 so far this year.An earlier Commonwealth Fund study showed that in 2019 the US had 10.4 deaths per…

Unintentional firearm injury & deaths in adolescents

Approximately 15% of pediatric firearm injuries are unintentional. While demographic characteristics of unintentional firearm injuries have been described, the relationship between injury characteristics and m…

Neighborhood predictors of suicide

Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States with rates increasing over the past two decades. The rate of suicide is higher in rural areas, but a greater number of people in urban areas die by suic…

Psychosocial well-being and firearm storage practices

Objective

Gun safety practices can play a pivotal role in preventing suicide and unintentional injuries involving a firearm. This study aimed to assess whether psychosocial well-being, measured by emotional support, feeling of social isolation and life satisfaction, influenced safe storage practices among individuals who had firearms in or around their home.

Methods

Data are from the firearm safety module of the 2022 Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance System survey of 11 722 individuals having firearms and living in California, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico and Ohio. Respondents were asked to identify how guns were stored in their homes including: (1) not loaded, (2) loaded but locked and (3) loaded and unlocked. Multinomial logistic regression models with controls for sociodemographic correlates assess the relative risks of certain storage measures.

Results

Relative to the base outcome of not loaded, the adjusted relative risks of having firearms loaded and unlocked among individuals who usually/always felt socially isolated were 1.72 (95% CI: 1.02 to 2.88) times that of individuals who never felt socially isolated. The adjusted risks among individuals who were dissatisfied with their life were 1.82 (95% CI: 1.02 to 3.24) times that of their counterparts who were very satisfied. The adjusted risks were not statistically significant among individuals who rarely/never received needed emotional support compared with individuals who always received support.

Conclusion

The results suggest a strong relationship between social isolation and life satisfaction and safe storage practices at home. Policies designed to improve psychosocial well-being, therefore, may present an important opportunity for preventing unintentional firearm injuries.