Citation

Laqueur H, Kagawa RMC, Wright M, Wintemute GJ. Health Aff. (Hope) 2019; 38(10): 1719-1726.

Affiliation

Garen J. Wintemute is the Baker-Teret Chair in Violence Prevention and a professor of emergency medicine at the UC Davis. He directs the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program and the University of California Firearm Violence Research Center.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Project HOPE - The People-to-People Health Foundation)

DOI

10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00608

PMID

31589539

Abstract

Intimate partner violence is a major public health problem in the US. Both firearms and alcohol have been documented to contribute to the risk and severity of this violence. Yet there has been little research examining the nexus of the two risk factors. This study sought to determine whether alcohol-related problems, as indicated by a history of conviction for offenses such as driving under the influence (DUI), were associated with risk for future intimate partner violence among authorized purchasers of handguns in California. Using a longitudinal cohort design, we found that purchasers with prior DUI convictions (and no other criminal history) had close to three times the risk of subsequent arrest for an intimate partner violence offense than did those with no criminal history at the time of the index firearm purchase. The regulation of firearm ownership among people with alcohol use problems may represent an important opportunity to reduce intimate partner violence and the escalation of firearm-related harm.

Language: en

Keywords

Access to care; Alcoholism; Handguns; Health policy; Intimate partner violence; Pharmaceuticals; Public health; Violence