Citation

Ellyson AM, Gause EL, Rowhani-Rahbar A, Rivara FP. Am. J. Prev. Med. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.amepre.2020.05.016

PMID

33011007

Abstract

Intentional self-harm with a firearm comprised 24,438 of 48,312 (50.6%) U.S. suicide deaths in 2018. However, information about the type of firearm used in firearm death is limited, inhibiting the evaluation of policies to combat this growing public health problem. Firearm laws are often narrow, applying to certain firearms. For example, as of 2020, 7 of the 12 states with a permit-to-purchase law only require a permit for handguns. Research evaluating the impact of firearm policy on firearm death using the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) has typically evaluated all firearm deaths regardless of firearm type. The saliency of firearm policy may only be present for a subset of those deaths. The estimated impact of these policies would be notably more precise and less biased if firearm type were more frequently classified and available to researchers. This study explores geographic and temporal variation in the proportion of firearm suicides classified as unspecified in NVSS data.

Language: en