Citation

Doucette ML, Crifasi CK, Frattaroli S. Am. J. Public Health 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Mitchell L. Doucette is with the Department of Health Science, Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, and the Injury Prevention Center at Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Hartford. Cassandra K. Crifasi and Shannon Frattaroli are with the Center for Gun Policy and Research, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, American Public Health Association)

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2019.305307

PMID

31622144

Abstract

Objectives. To examine the impact of right-to-carry (RTC) firearm laws on firearm workplace homicides (WPHs) in the United States from 1992 to 2017.Methods. We employed 2 longitudinal methods to examine the average effect (pooled, cross-sectional, time-series analysis) and the state-specific effect (random effects meta-analysis) of RTC laws on WPHs committed by firearms from 1992 to 2017 in a 50-state panel. Both methods utilized a generalized linear mixed model with a negative binomial distribution.Results. From 1992 to 2017, the average effect of having an RTC law was significantly associated with 29% higher rates of firearm WPHs (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.14, 1.45). No other state-level policies were associated with firearm WPHs. Sensitivity analyses suggest robust findings. State-specific estimates suggest that passing an RTC law during our study period was significantly associated with 24% increase in firearm WPH rates (95% CI = 1.09, 1.40).Conclusions. This is the first study to our knowledge to examine the link between RTC firearm laws and firearm WPHs.

FINDINGS indicate that RTC laws likely pose a threat to worker safety and contribute to the recent body of literature that finds RTC laws are associated with increased incidence of violence. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print October 17, 2019: e1-e7. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2019.305307).

Language: en