Citation

Ellyson AM, Rowhani-Rahbar A, Mehari KR. JAMA Netw. Open 2023; 6(10): e2340564.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, American Medical Association)

DOI

10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.40564

PMID

37851450

Abstract

Young adulthood, important in so many ways in the life course of individuals, is a particularly high-risk period for sustaining firearm-related harm.1 In 2020, suicide and homicide were 2 of the top 3 leading causes of death among adults ages 25 to 30 years, and approximately 49% of suicides and 89% of homicides in this age group involved a firearm.2 Elsewhere in JAMA Network Open, Sivaraman and colleagues3 study the longitudinal patterns of firearm access and ownership from childhood (ages 9-16 years) to young adulthood (ages 25-30 years) and examine whether experiences of violence during these 2 developmental periods are associated with initiating or maintaining gun access or ownership in young adulthood.3 They describe 4 patterns of access and ownership across these 2 periods: never (275 of 1260 participants [25.9%]), adult only (64 participants [7.1%]), childhood only (408 participants [31.9%]), and consistent (373 participants [35.1%]). There were differences in sex, race, urbanicity, and socioeconomic status across these identified patterns. There were also some differences in the experiences of violence across these identified patterns. Adult-only owners were less likely to have experienced bullying but more likely to have witnessed trauma as a child compared with never owners. There were minimal to no differences between consistent owners and childhood-only owners. Overall, the findings of Sivaraman and colleagues3 provide a heterogenous picture on how violence exposure may be associated with young adult firearm access and ownership decisions.

This study has several strengths. First, much of the existing longitudinal work primarily focuses on youth in urban areas or on certain firearm-related behaviors, like handgun carrying.4,5 Sivaraman and colleagues3 focus on gun access and ownership and include a large proportion of rural youths as well as American Indian or Alaska Native youths, both groups understudied in terms of firearm-related behavior and harm. Second, this study is set in the Southeastern United States, a region with a relatively high rate of gun ownership and a specific gun culture that prior research shows is broadly associated with opposition to firearm registration, permits, and bans.6-8 Third, longitudinal evaluations capturing transitions in gun access and ownership from childhood to young adulthood like those by Sivaraman and colleagues3 are important in understanding opportunities for injury prevention during a period of heightened risk.

Language: en