Beliefs about the risks of guns in the home: analysis of a national survey.
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OBJECTIVES: While epidemiological evidence suggests homes with guns are more likely to be the site of a suicide or homicide than homes without guns, the public's perception of these risks remains unknown. This study assesses the prevalence of the belief that homes with guns are safer than homes without guns, and factors associated with this belief. METHODS: Telephone interviews were conducted with a random sample of 4138 registered voters in urban areas in the US. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess correlates of beliefs about the safety of keeping a gun in the home. RESULTS: Twenty nine per cent of respondents believed keeping a gun in the home makes the home more safe, 40% said less safe, 23% said it depends, and 9% were unsure. The belief that a home is more safe with a gun was associated with being male, young, completing 12 years or fewer of education, having no children living at home, Republican party affiliation, and low levels of trust in the police for protection. Prior exposure to violence and fear of victimization were not associated with the outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Findings may increase understanding about the public's perception of the risk in keeping guns in the home and assist educational efforts to decrease the risk of these injuries. (+info)
Blindness due to firearm eye injuries in rural western Uttar Pradesh.
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In a retrospective analysis of 440 cases of firearm injuries, 104 patients had ocular injuries. Following treatment only 14 patients (13.5%) could regain visual acuity of > or = 6/60. (+info)
Suicide in the farming community: methods used and contact with health services.
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Farmers have a high rate of suicide (1% of suicides in England and Wales). This study sought to test whether farmers would be less likely to have been in contact with primary or mental health services before death due to their reluctance to seek help. The study also sought to identify other characteristics that differentiated suicide among male farmers from other professional groups. A retrospective case-control design was used comparing male farmers with an age and sex matched control group. Cases were all members of the farming community within the Exeter Health District on whom suicide or open verdict had been recorded between 1979 and 1994. 63 Cases were identified and entered into the study. Controls were non-farmers with the same verdict who were matched for age (5 year age bands) sex and social class. Farmers were significantly more likely to use firearms to kill themselves (42% of farmers v 11% controls). They were less likely to use a car exhaust or to die by poisoning (9% farmers v 50% controls). Farmers were significantly less likely to leave a suicide note (21% farmers v 41% controls). There was no significant difference between farmers and controls for numbers in contact with their general practitioner or mental health services in the 3 months before death. There may be some differences in help seeking behaviour between farmers and the general population as over 30% of farmers presented with exclusively physical symptoms. General practitioners should consider depressive and suicidal intention in farmers presenting with physical problems. When depression is diagnosed consideration should be given to the temporary removal of firearms as the high rate of suicide in the farming community may be strongly influenced by access to means. (+info)
Public opinion about guns in the home.
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OBJECTIVES: (1) Determine the frequency of gun ownership, acquisition, and transfer; (2) assess gun storage practices; and (3) compare the views of firearm owning and non-owning adults regarding the protective value of keeping a gun in the home. SETTING AND METHODS: Over three different time periods (1995, 1996, and 1999) stratified, random digit telephone surveys were conducted in a five county area of metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. Five hundred adults (aged 21+ years) responded to each survey. RESULTS: The proportion of Atlanta area households reporting firearm ownership was generally stable over this interval (38%, 40%, and 35% respectively). The percentage of gun owning households containing a handgun (approximately 75%) was stable as well. In 1995, more than half of gun owning households kept one or more guns unlocked; since that time, the trend has been gradually downward. In 1995, 44% of gun owning respondents kept one or more guns loaded, compared with 38% in 1996 and 40% in 1999. A majority of respondents to all three surveys (55%) agreed with the statement "A home with a gun is less secure than a home without a gun, because a gun can be involved in an accidental shooting, suicide or family homicide". Among five home security measures, respondents rated a burglar alarm most effective, and keeping a gun in the home least effective. CONCLUSIONS: In Atlanta, many households keep a firearm for protection, but they are ambivalent about the associated risks. These findings suggest that education about gun safety should include a discussion of the risks of unsafe storage, and non-lethal alternatives for home security. (+info)
Physician firearm ownership as a predictor of firearm injury prevention practice.
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OBJECTIVES: This study explored the relation between physicians' gun ownership and their attitudes and practices regarding firearm injury prevention. METHODS: Internists and surgeons were surveyed, and logistic regression models were developed with physicians' personal involvement with firearms (in the form of a gun score) as the primary independent variable. RESULTS: Higher gun scores were associated with less agreement that firearm injury is a public health issue and that physicians should be involved in firearm injury prevention but with a greater likelihood of reporting the inclusion of firearm ownership and storage as part of patient safety counseling. CONCLUSIONS: Despite being less likely to say that doctors should participate in firearm injury prevention, physician gun owners are more likely than nonowners to report counseling patients about firearm safety. (+info)
When criminals are shot: A survey of Washington, DC, jail detainees.
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INTRODUCTION: Criminals are at high risk of being victims of violence, but little is known about their victimization. METHODS: A screen of Washington, DC, detainees found that 1 in 4 had been wounded in events that appear unrelated to their incarceration. Extensive interviews were conducted with 79 men entering the city jail from March through June 1997; the men reported 93 prior events in which they had been shot within the past 5 years. RESULTS: Eighty-three percent had personally witnessed someone being shot, and 46% had a family member killed with a gun. In the incidents in which they were shot, most were victims of robberies, assaults, and crossfires. The shootings were serious -- 35% were hit by more than 1 bullet, more than 90% went to the hospital, and 40% still had some disability from the wounds. These detainees report being shot by other criminals rather than by law-abiding citizens. Ninety percent would prefer to live in a world without easy access to firearms. CONCLUSION: These young men live in a violent world of gunplay. The overwhelming majority would prefer that firearms were not so readily available. (+info)
Gun use in the United States: results from two national surveys.
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OBJECTIVES: To determine the relative incidence of gun victimization versus self defense gun use by civilians in the United States, and the circumstances and probable legality of the self defense uses. METHODS: National random digit dial telephone surveys of the adult population were conducted in 1996 and 1999. The Harvard surveys appear unique among private surveys in two respects: asking (1) open ended questions about defensive gun use incidents and (2) detailed questions about both gun victimization and self defense gun use. Five criminal court judges were asked to assess whether the self reported defensive gun uses were likely to have been legal. RESULTS: Even after excluding many reported firearm victimizations, far more survey respondents report having been threatened or intimidated with a gun than having used a gun to protect themselves. A majority of the reported self defense gun uses were rated as probably illegal by a majority of judges. This was so even under the assumption that the respondent had a permit to own and carry the gun, and that the respondent had described the event honestly. CONCLUSIONS: Guns are used to threaten and intimidate far more often than they are used in self defense. Most self reported self defense gun uses may well be illegal and against the interests of society. (+info)
National estimates of non-fatal firearm related injuries other than gunshot wounds.
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OBJECTIVE: To characterize non-fatal firearm related injuries other than gunshot wounds (non-GSWs) treated in hospital emergency departments in the United States that occur during routine gun handling and recreational use as well as violence related use of a firearm. METHODS: Cases were identified through the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). During the study period, 1 January 1993 through 31 December 1996, NEISS consisted of a nationally representative sample of 91 hospitals in the United States having at least six beds and providing 24 hour emergency services. RESULTS: An estimated 65 374, or an average of 16,300 per year, non-fatal, non-GSWs were treated in American hospital emergency departments during the four year study period. Fifty seven per cent of all the non-fatal, non-GSWs were violence related, most of which involved being struck by a firearm. The majority of unintentional non-fatal, non-GSWs were self inflicted and occurred during routine gun handling or recreational use of a firearm; 43% of these injuries resulted from gun recoils. CONCLUSIONS: Non-fatal, non-GSWs make a notable contribution to the public health burden of firearm related injuries. Firearm related injury prevention programs should focus on not only the reduction of gunshot wounds but also the reduction of unintentional and violence related non-GSWs. (+info)