The Science of Gun Policy: A Critical Synthesis of Research Evidence on the Effects of Gun Policies in the United States, Second Edition

Smart, Rosanna; Morral, Andrew R.; Smucker, Sierra; Cherney, Samantha; Schell, Terry L.; Peterson, Samuel; Ahluwalia, Sangeeta C.; Cefalu, Matthew; Xenakis, Lea; Ramchand, Rajeev; Gresenz, Carole Roan

doi:10.7249/rr2088-1

Cited by 45 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 132 publications

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“…8,31 Overall, the effects of these laws on suicide rates are inconclusive. [8][9][10][31][32][33] The majority of these studies focused on suicide mortality in the youngest age groups (<21 years of age) and did not investigate effects at the individual level, however, thereby precluding the ability to account for actual access and use of rearms during childhood at the person level and the possibility for delayed effects across the lifespan. Person-level analyses may therefore provide novel information about how rearm availability and suicide risk are related, thereby complementing previous research, the majority of which has examined aggregate correlations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association of firearm exposure during youth with lifetime incidence of suicide ideation and suicide attempts

Bryan

Anestis

2021

Preprint

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Background: Preliminary evidence suggests firearm availability may increase the risk for suicide ideation and attempts, two common precursors to suicide death. Little is known about which aspects of firearm availability may account for this association. The primary purpose of this study was to examine associations among multiple dimensions of firearm availability with lifetime history of suicide ideation and attempts.Methods: A cross-sectional, anonymous survey was administered to 6200 U.S. adults from March 5, 2020, to March 17, 2020. Participants were asked to report firearm availability, firearm use, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors over the lifespan. Results: Rates of lifetime suicide ideation were significantly elevated among participants reporting a firearm in their childhood home (odds ratio [OR]=1.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.1-1.5). Rates of lifetime suicide attempt were significantly elevated among participants reporting a firearm in their childhood home (OR=1.8, 95% CI=1.5-2.2) and participants who first acquired a firearm before the age of 11 (OR=3.8, 95% CI=2.6-5.8). Among participant with a lifetime history of suicide ideation, rates of lifetime suicide attempt were significantly elevated among participants who first acquired a firearm before the age of 11 (OR=3.0, 95% CI=1.4-6.4), but this relationship was no longer significant when adjusting for demographics and negative affectivity (OR=2.4, 95% CI=0.96-6.0). Conclusions: Adults who were raised in a home with a firearm and/or first acquired a firearm were significantly more likely to have attempted suicide during their lives. Additional research examining the mechanisms by which early life firearm exposure might increase suicide risk across the lifespan is warranted.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association of firearm exposure during youth with lifetime incidence of suicide ideation and suicide attempts

Bryan

Anestis

2021

Preprint

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“…A RAND survey of the evidence for CAP laws found that CAP laws may decrease the risk of unintentional injury and death in children. 7 Policymakers are urged to expand safe storage laws, which require that firearms be stored unloaded and locked, and CAP laws, which place liability on adults who permit youth to have access to a firearm without supervision.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergency Department Visits for Firearm-Related Injuries among Youth in the United States, 2006–2015

Lee¹,

Camp²,

Jairam³

et al. 2020

J. Law. Med. Ethics

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Firearm injuries are a significant public health problem. Prior studies have analyzed firearm death data or adult firearm injury data, but few studies have analyzed firearm injury data specifically among youth. To inform the current debate surrounding gun policy in the United States, this study aims to provide an estimate of the immense burden of youth firearm injury and its associated risk factors. Therefore, we performed a descriptive analysis of the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS), the largest all-payer emergency department database in the United States, from January 2006 to September 2015. All patients age < 21 who presented with any diagnosis of firearm-related injuries were included. There were an estimated 198,839 incidents of firearm-related emergency department visits for patients age < 21 from 2006 through 2015. After presenting to the ED, an estimated 11,909 cases resulted in death. The population adjusted rate of firearm-related emergency department visits was highest in the South and Midwest. This study demonstrates the significant burden of firearm injury among youth. Having a reliable estimate of the number of children harmed by firearms each year is a critical tool for policymakers — and may make common-sense gun safety measures more politically possible.

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“…Studies of the effects of gun laws that rely on cross-sectional designs or simple longitudinal designs (without a control group) would therefore not be classified as difference-in-difference designs. In their comprehensive review of the literature on the effects of gun policy, Smart et al (2020) rely on this criterion to identify the studies summarized in their review as they believe that such designs provide the strongest evidence of causal effects.…”

Section: Gun Laws and Youth Suicide By Firearm: The Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although there is a large literature on the effects of gun laws on various measures of violent crime, far fewer studies have examined the effects of gun laws on suicide and even fewer focus on youth suicide rates (Smart et al, 2020). The literature on youth suicide by firearm has largely focused on two types of gun laws, both of which are designed to limit youth access to guns.…”

Section: Gun Laws and Youth Suicide By Firearm: The Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of state gun laws on youth suicide by firearm: 1981–2017

Kappelman

Fording

2021

Suicide & Life Threat Behav

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Background Many studies have found that state gun laws that regulate the purchase and possession of firearms can lead to a reduction in suicide rates. Yet, the literature has primarily focused on the effects of state gun laws on adult suicides, despite the fact that some gun laws are specifically tailored to restrict the purchase and possession of firearms by youths. Aims In this study, we estimate the effect of two such laws—Child Access Prevention (CAP) laws and minimum age laws—on youth suicide by firearm rates. Materials & Methods Our sample consists of state‐level panel data for 41 states observed over the years 1981–2017. Results Based on a series of negative binomial regression analyses, we confirm previous research by finding that CAP laws are associated with a decrease in youth suicides by firearm, especially among males. However, we show that this effect is limited to states that have adopted relatively strict CAP laws. We also find that minimum age laws serve to reduce the youth suicide rate, but once again this effect is largely concentrated among males. Finally, we investigate the possibility that these effects were countered to some degree by “means substitution”—the substitution of firearms with other methods of suicide. Discussion Similar to other studies that have examined this question, we find no effect of youth‐targeted gun laws on nonfirearm suicide deaths. Conclusion Despite the noteworthy increase in youth suicide rates over the last decade, our results suggest that state laws which restrict firearm access to young people continue to represent a potentially effective strategy for suicide reduction.

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The Science of Gun Policy: A Critical Synthesis of Research Evidence on the Effects of Gun Policies in the United States, Second Edition

Cited by 45 publications

References 132 publications

Association of firearm exposure during youth with lifetime incidence of suicide ideation and suicide attempts

Association of firearm exposure during youth with lifetime incidence of suicide ideation and suicide attempts

Emergency Department Visits for Firearm-Related Injuries among Youth in the United States, 2006–2015

The effect of state gun laws on youth suicide by firearm: 1981–2017

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