Citation

González-Guarda RM. JAMA Health Forum 2023; 4(6): e232201.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, American Medical Association)

DOI

10.1001/jamahealthforum.2023.2201

PMID

37261834

Abstract

Firearm injury, a leading public health concern and cause of death, is on the rise in the US.1 In regard to firearm mortality, the US is an outlier: firearm homicide rates are almost 25 times higher and suicide rates are almost 10 times higher than in other high-income countries.2 Firearm deaths disproportionately affect young people and historically marginalized groups. In fact, firearm injuries surpassed motor vehicle collisions in 2019 as the leading cause of death for children and adolescents younger than 19 years of age.2 Black, Hispanic, and American Indian individuals are disproportionately affected.3-6 Inequities in firearm deaths are most dramatically observed among young Black men aged 20 to 24 years, who are up to 22.5 times more likely to die from a firearm homicide than their non-Hispanic White counterparts,6 making this a major driver of health inequities related to US life expectancy.

Major public health efforts are needed to curb firearm injuries and deaths in the US and to address stark health inequities. Lessons drawn from the biggest accomplishments in public health in the US and across the globe call upon strategies that move beyond individual-level interventions such as treating mental health conditions to multilevel strategies that focus on changing policies, engineering new safety strategies, and initiatives within communities to mobilize change in social norms and behaviors. Lessons from major public health accomplishments during the past 50 years from tobacco control, motor vehicle safety, and COVID-19 can be applied to firearm injury prevention to provide potential solutions to the firearm injury crisis in the US...

Language: en