Preventing Firearm Injuries: A Review of Epidemiologic Research

Firearms are second only to motor vehicles as a cause of fatal injury in the United States. Approximately 59% of suicides and 61% of homicides involve firearms. Handguns comprise less than one third of all firearms in private hands in the United States, but they kill more Americans each year than all types of shotguns and rifles combined. Several analyses strongly suggest a link between readily available firearms and rates of violent death; two case-control studies strongly suggest that keeping a gun in the home is associated with an increased risk of suicide. Potential strategies to prevent firearm injuries include banning or restricting the supply of particularly dangerous firearms, educating the public about the risks of keeping a gun in the home, modifying existing firearm designs to make them more resistant to unauthorized use of unintentional discharge, altering weapons or ammunition to limit wound severity, and using bulletproof barriers more widely. Given adequate knowledge and the will to act, many firearm-related deaths and injuries can be prevented.