Study Says More Gun Laws Result in Fewer Deaths
The study results, published Wednesday in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine, are based on an analysis of four years of data on gun-related homicides and suicides.
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Amid the ongoing debates on gun control, an analysis of four years of data on gun-related homicides and suicides suggests states with the most gun control laws have the fewest gun-related deaths.
The results of the study were published Wednesday, March 6, in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine. According to an Associated Press report, in states with the most gun control-related laws, far fewer people were shot to death or killed themselves with guns than in states with the fewest laws, the study found. And overall, states with the most laws had a 42 percent lower gun death rate than states with the fewest number of laws.
The results are based on data gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2007 to 2010 and information on gun control measures compiled by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Dr. Eric Fleegler, the study's lead author and an emergency department pediatrician and researcher at Boston Children's Hospital, said the study suggests but doesn't prove that gun laws — or something else — led to fewer gun deaths, the Associated Press reports. Fleegler is among hundreds of doctors who have signed a petition urging President Barack Obama and Congress to pass gun safety legislation.
Gun rights advocates argue that strict gun laws have failed to curb high murder rates in some cities, including Chicago and Washington, D.C., while Fleegler said his study didn't examine city-level laws.
Do you think more gun laws are the answer? Tell us in comments.
Residents of Barrow who wish to apply for a a firearms permit can do so in Barrow County Probate Court from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Monday through Friday. A cash fee of $30 is required, and applicants must also be fingerprinted by Barrow County Detention Center staff, for which a separate $50 cash fee is required. Applicants must bring a driver's license to prove residency and age.
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Barrow County Probate Court
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Barrow County Courthouse and Detention Center
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Dave Ballard
7:44 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The actual metric studied was total deaths per 100,000 population per year due to firearms.
The difference between total firearm death rates between states in the top 25% of gun control legislation (meaning, according to the authors' measure, the states which are 25% strictest on guns) and those in the bottom 25% was 6.64 deaths/100,000/y. By the same study's measure, the difference in firearm death rates due to suicide alone in those same states was 6.25 deaths/100,000/y -- nearly all of the total difference.
There was, statistically speaking, an insignificant difference in the rate of homicides due to firearms (absolute rate difference, 0.40 deaths/100 000/y; IRR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.38-0.95) between the upper and lower 25%. No measure was taken of whether the TOTAL suicide rate of the high-regulation states was any lower or higher than the others.
In other words, the difference in the number of firearm deaths can statistically be attributed to those who chose to commit suicide by firearm, as opposed to suicide by any other means.
From the study: "A higher number of firearm laws in a state are associated with a lower rate of firearm fatalities in the state, overall and for suicides and homicides individually. As our study could not determine cause-and-effect relationships, further studies are necessary to define the nature of this association."
Study may be found here: http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1661390
Dave Ballard
7:48 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Also from the study: "Homicides due to legal intervention, unintentional firearm fatalities, and fatalities of undetermined intent (1.1%, 1.9%, and 0.8% of total firearm-related fatalities, respectively) were excluded from the analyses."