Citation

Mouzos J, Rushforth C. Trends Iss. Crime Crim. Justice 2003; 269.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Australian Institute of Criminology)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This examination of firearm related deaths in Australia between 1991 and 2001 focuses on the five main types of fatal firearm injury: suicide, homicide, accidents, legal intervention (ie deaths as a result of law enforcement officers performing their duties), and those deaths classified as undetermined by the coroner. The examination finds a 47 per cent decrease in annual numbers of firearms related deaths between 1991 and 2001, with a fall in the number of suicides accounting for the largest part of that decrease. Nine out of 10 firearm related deaths involved males. Compared to firearm related suicides and accidents, where less than 10 per cent involved the death of a female, a higher proportion of firearm related homicides involved a female victim (33%). Persons under the age of 15 years were least likely to die as a result of a firearm related injury. Males and females who suffered a fatal firearms injury tended to follow a similar age distribution, with persons aged between 24 and 34 years accounting for the largest number of firearm related deaths. There appears to be a shift in age related risk between 1991 and 2001. In 1991, males aged between 15 and 24 years had the highest risk of firearm related fatal injury (rate of 9.5%), whereas in 2001 males aged 65 years and older had the highest risk (rate of 4.9%). A hunting rifle was the type of firearm most commonly involved in firearm related deaths, although there has been an increase in the use of handguns. The paper also discusses the implications of these findings for research and policy. The availability of accurate and complete information concerning the type of firearm used in suicide and accidental deaths, as well as in homicide, has important implications for policies such as the newly introduced policy governing handguns; while the finding that suicide has consistently accounted for the majority of firearm related deaths has implications for the requirement that health professionals must notify Firearms Registrars if a person who possesses a firearms licence becomes mentally unstable.