Firearms and Gun Control: A Public-Health Concern

Mahler, Anthony J.; Fielding, Jonathan E.

doi:10.1056/nejm197709082971011

Cited by 18 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 3 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This is different from reports from developed centers like Hamburg in Germany [23] and Washington DC in the USA [17,24] with a high suicide rate from firearms. It has been shown that a strong correlation exists between the presence of firearms in the home and firearms injury and death [17,24]. The lack of constitutional rights to bear firearms in Nigeria could explain this rare incidence of suicide by firearms in the country.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 97%

“…The male preponderance documented among patients here is a global phenomenon [6-8, 17, 19] with a minimum ratio of 9 : 1 [4,17,18,20]. Many reports, as confirmed here, also showed the highest incidence in the extremities [4][5][6]19], while others reported a preponderance of abdominal GSI [7].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

“…However, gunshot trauma is associated with the highest case-fatality ratio among the various causes of trauma [15,16]. Indeed, GSI is the second leading cause of trauma death in our environment [16] and also worldwide [17] -second only to road traffic accidents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Epidemiology and Outcome of Gunshot Injuries in a Civilian Population in West Africa

Solagberu

2003

European Journal of Trauma

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background and Objectives: Gunshot injuries (GSI) were first reported in West Africa following the Nigerian civil war of [1967][1968][1969][1970]. Recent wars within and around the West African subregion have further encouraged easy access to sophisticated and locally manufactured firearms. This report examines the epidemiology and management of GSI in an urban settlement in West Africa. Patients and Methods: GSI data was collected prospectively for 24 months beginning September 1999: age, sex, velocity of gunshot, circumstances of GSI, whether accidental or intentional, and by whom (self-inflicted, police, armed robbers, and others via riots and/or students' secret cult activities), region(s) affected, operative interventions, and outcome of care. Results: 107 GSI patients were seen, comprising 99 males and eight females (M : F ratio = 16.8 : 1), 79 of whom (73.8%) were analyzed comprising 71 males and eight females (M : F ratio = 9 : 1); mean age 29.9 ± 13.0 years (range 5-75 years). Intentional GSI occurred in 66 cases (83.6%) -45 from armed robbers (57.0%), the others from police gunshots, assaults, religious/communal riots, and cultists. No suicide-related GSI were recorded. Accidental GSI occurred in 13 (16.5%) -eight from hunters and five from the police. 16 of the 79 (20.3%) were high-velocity gunshots. The regions affected were extremities 29 (35.7%), multiple regions 23, chest twelve, abdomen eight, head six, and neck one. 13 deaths (16.5%) occurred, all before surgical intervention -twelve in the emergency room because of late reporting and lack of blood transfusion. Ten of the deaths (76.9%) resulted from gunshots to either the chest or abdomen. 27 patients (34.2%) were successfully treated, eleven of whom had operations, while the majority (39 patients, 49.4%) was discharged against medical advice to traditional healers for bullet extraction. Conclusion: Wars in West Africa have caused a high incidence of GSI in peace times through armed robbery. Suicide-related GSI is rare in Nigeria unlike in many developed countries. Only every fifth GSI is a result of a high-velocity gunshot. Mortality determinants are the region of GSI and injury-arrival time. The logistics in the emergency room leading to unacceptable deaths requires an overhaul. Half of GSI victims discharged themselves to native healers for extraction of pellets, portraying the beliefs of patients about GSI.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Epidemiology and Outcome of Gunshot Injuries in a Civilian Population in West Africa

Solagberu

2003

European Journal of Trauma

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Unintentional shootings were "accidents," a safety concern. The National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence took a unifying approach in 1969 (48), but few others followed suit (27,42). Calls to action in the 1980s by Baker and colleagues (9,10) and by others (2,31) led to a series of epidemiologic and policy studies that firmly established the value of this new approach (4,35,55,62,70).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Epidemiology of Firearm Violence in the Twenty-First Century United States

Wintemute

2015

Annu. Rev. Public Health

243

148

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This brief review summarizes the basic epidemiology of firearm violence, a large and costly public health problem in the United States for which the mortality rate has remained unchanged for more than a decade. It presents findings for the present in light of recent trends. Risk for firearm violence varies substantially across demographic subsets of the population and between states in patterns that are quite different for suicide and homicide. Suicide is far more common than homicide and its rate is increasing; the homicide rate is decreasing. As with other important health problems, most cases of fatal firearm violence arise from large but low-risk subsets of the population; risk and burden of illness are not distributed symmetrically. Compared with other industrialized nations, the United States has uniquely high mortality rates from firearm violence.

show abstract

“…Firearm related violence, in particular, drew calls for its recognition as a public health problem at least as far back as the 1970s. [2][3][4] No doubt scholars could go back in time even further to document key events, spokespersons, and publications that raised the issue of violence as a public health problem. * In the late 1980s, this idea was resonating at the same time as a more visible and better funded federal public health presence in injury control emerged at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).…”

Section: Emergence Of the Nvdrsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The US National Violent Death Reporting System: domestic and international lessons for violence injury surveillance

Weiss

Gutiérrez²,

Harrison³

et al. 2006

Inj Prev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives: This article reviews and comments on the development, strengths and limitations of the US National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) from a variety of domestic and international perspectives. Methods: The authors were provided preliminary copies of the manuscripts in this special edition and examined them to understand and put in context the elements and uses of the NVDRS so far. Their comments are based on their reading and interpretation of these papers plus their own combined experience in injury and public health surveillance from four different countries: the US, Colombia, Australia, and South Africa. Results: The NVDRS is bigger than the sum of its parts because it links existing data from multiple sources. Its adoption of modern relational database technologies offers advantages over traditional injury surveillance databases and creates new opportunities for understanding, collaboration, and partnerships. Challenges include overcoming resource limitations so that it can become a truly national system, measuring and improving its sensitivity and comparability, and the need to examine mortality in context with serious non-fatal violent events. Conclusions: The NVDRS is an important work in progress for the US. Each country should examine its own needs, traditions, resources, and existing infrastructure when deciding what kind of violence surveillance system to develop. However, collaboration in developing common definitions and classifications provides an important foundation for international comparisons.

show abstract

Firearms and Gun Control: A Public-Health Concern

Cited by 18 publications

References 3 publications

Epidemiology and Outcome of Gunshot Injuries in a Civilian Population in West Africa

Epidemiology and Outcome of Gunshot Injuries in a Civilian Population in West Africa

The Epidemiology of Firearm Violence in the Twenty-First Century United States

The US National Violent Death Reporting System: domestic and international lessons for violence injury surveillance

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About