Stay-at-home orders and firearms in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Firearms are a leading cause of death and injury in the United States, and this trend has continued during the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to identify whether states designated gun retailers as essential businesses in their stay-at-home orders and characterize other references that could affect firearm acquisition during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this cross-sectional policy review, we assessed stay-at-home orders issued in March or April 2020. Orders were reviewed in their entirety, and any reference to firearms, firearm retailers, shooting ranges, or other relevant elements was documented. Forty-three states and the District of Columbia issued stay-at-home orders. Most considered federal firearm licensees to be among essential businesses or made provisions for them to remain open during widespread business closures. Others referenced the US Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) advisory memorandum on essential critical infrastructure workers which named workers supporting firearm manufacturing and retail among essential workers. Therefore, stay-at-home orders issued in most states included provisions for firearms retailers to remain open, at least in some capacity. Only four states and the District of Columbia did not include federal firearms licensees among essential businesses or include provisions for them to be open. Meanwhile, an all-time high in firearm background checks indicates firearm sales have markedly increased. Given the associations between firearm access and injury risk, the effects of continued firearm access facilitated by these orders should be the focus of future research.

Unintended Consequences of COVID-19 on Pediatric Falls From Windows: A Multicenter Study

“…A study from the Netherlands found that school closures were associated with a 3-times higher rate of emotional abuse, defined as emotional neglect or witnessing domestic violence 16 . The rise in firearm injuries during the pandemic has been noted in pediatric patients 2 , 11 and adult patients 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 . A rise in firearm sales during the pandemic has also been noted 19 , 21 .…”

Practice Note: Domestic Violence Advocacy and Response to Intimate Partner Homicide in the COVID-19 Era

“…These trends emerged both in an increase in number of people screening high risk with DA-LE scores, which represent survivors of domestic violence' likelihood of near lethal and lethal violence, and is administered by law enforcement officers, and in the frequency of extreme and severe violence in cases referred to JGCC advocates for services. JGCC and community organizations also observed more firearms being used by abusive partners to threaten survivors, a potential outcome of a massive rise in gun purchases during the pandemic and a nationally reported 35% increase in fire-arm related homicides over previous years (Hoops et al, 2020;Kegler et al, 2022;Kerner et al, 2022;Miller et al, 2022).…”

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“…Gun violence has also been studied, particularly in the USA, either as part of a set of crimes [11,12] or individually [13][14][15]. Most of these studies begin by registering "a surge in gun sales, driven by public panic and unfounded fears" [32] (p.53).…”

“…Most of these studies begin by registering "a surge in gun sales, driven by public panic and unfounded fears" [32] (p.53). In this regard, Hoops et al studied the broad availability of weapons and legislation in states such as Missouri and Nevada that guarantee the sale of weapons during states of emergency (2020) [15]. According to a survey conducted by Kravits-Wirtz et al (2020) [33], in California alone, 110,000 people bought weapons in response to the pandemic, of which 47,000 were first-time owners.…”

“…One pending issue is the particular effect of the quarantine and lockdown on gun violence. In the USA, the sudden increase in arms purchases indicated a possible rise in gun violence [10] and resulted in specific research that studied this issue, either as part of a set of crimes [11,12] or on its own [13][14][15]. In the rest of the American continent, the analysis of gun violence has generally been included in studies of homicides and battery (during the pandemic [16]), but it is mostly not analyzed as a specific phenomenon (e.g., shootings), possibly due to the lack of official information.…”