Citation

Siegel M, Ross CS, King C. Inj. Prev. 2014; 20(6): 424-426.

Affiliation

Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, , Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/injuryprev-2014-041187

PMID

24740937

Abstract

Determining the relationship between gun ownership levels and firearm homicide rates is critical to inform public health policy. Previous research has shown that state-level gun ownership, as measured by a widely used proxy, is positively associated with firearm homicide rates. A newly developed proxy measure that incorporates the hunting license rate in addition to the proportion of firearm suicides correlates more highly with state-level gun ownership. To corroborate previous research, we used this new proxy to estimate the association of state-level gun ownership with total, firearm, and non-firearm homicides. Using state-specific data for the years 1981-2010, we modelled these rates as a function of gun ownership level, controlling for potential confounding factors. We used a negative binomial regression model and accounted for clustering of observations among states. We found that state-level gun ownership as measured by the new proxy, is significantly associated with firearm and total homicides but not with non-firearm homicides.

Language: en