Underestimates of unintentional firearm fatalities: comparing Supplementary Homicide Report data with the National Vital Statistics System

Abstract

Objective:A growing body of evidence suggests that the nation’s vital statistics system undercounts unintentional firearm deaths that are not self inflicted. This issue was examined by comparing how unintentional firearm injuries identified in police Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) data were coded in the National Vital Statistics System.Methods:National Vital Statistics System data are based on death certificates and divide firearm fatalities into six subcategories: homicide, suicide, accident, legal intervention, war operations, and undetermined. SHRs are completed by local police departments as part of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports program. The SHR divides homicides into two categories: “murder and non-negligent manslaughter” (type A) and “negligent manslaughter” (type B). Type B shooting deaths are those that are inflicted by another person and that a police investigation determined were inflicted unintentionally, as in a child killing a playmate after mistaking a gun for a toy. In 1997, the SHR classified 168 shooting victims this way. Using probabilistic matching, 140 of these victims were linked to their death certificate records.Results:Among the 140 linked cases, 75% were recorded on the death certificate as homicides and only 23% as accidents.Conclusion:Official data from the National Vital Statistics System almost certainly undercount firearm accidents when the victim is shot by another person.

The Effect of Child Access Prevention Laws on Unintentional Child Firearm Fatalities, 1979???2000

“…24 It is generally agreed that the nationally reported data for unintentional firearm deaths undercount the number of fatalities and that the practices of state coroners and medical examiners vary when classifying the cause of death in unintentional firearm shootings. 2,25,26 Our results could have been affected if states differentially experienced recording changes during the study period that resulted in a significant shift in the type of firearm deaths coded as unintentional. At this time, there is no evidence that such changes have occurred.…”

Unintentional firearm deaths: A comparison of other-inflicted and self-inflicted shootings

“…Mortality datasets like WISQARS that rely solely on death certificate data only have information about the victim. In addition, the intent of the shooter is not always easily determined, and medical examiners are not uniform in their classifications (Barber et al, 2002;Hanzlick and Goodin, 1997). A strength of the National Violent Death Reporting System is that it uses information from multiple sources to try to consistently and accurately distinguish unintentional from intentional firearm deaths.…”

UK Armed Forces Unintentional Firearm Injuries

“…Other country's militaries do not actively place this sort of information in the public domain. UK society and Police Forces have a low rate of intentional and unintentional firearm injuries and deaths [10][11][12] compared to other countries [13][14][15], although the accuracy of some of this data is disputed [16]. The comparatively low rate of UK gun ownership [17] may be one explanation; nevertheless UK unintentional general injury fatalities are significantly lower than elsewhere [18,19].…”