Firearm related deaths in the United States continue to increase. In 2020, 53 percent of all suicides involved firearms and 79 percent of all homicides involved firearms, the highest rate recorded in more than 25 years according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham conducted an observational study analyzing data on state firearm-related deaths from Jan. 1, 2000 to Dec. 31, 2019. Results recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggest that certain firearm laws in one state were associated with other states’ firearm-related deaths. Additionally, permit-to-purchase laws were associated with decreased firearm-related death rates both within a state and nearby states.
“Guns are easily transportable and there are relatively few barriers to gun migration and gun trafficking from states with weak gun regulations to states with strong gun regulations,” said Ye Liu, doctoral student in the UAB School of Public Health and first author. “While previous literature has shown the evidence that particular firearm laws are associated with interstate firearm migration, policymakers are also interested in understanding which firearm law will have the greatest spillover effects on interstate firearm-related death.”
The laws evaluated in this study included background checks, various licensing requirements, bans on purchasing a handgun on behalf of another, prohibition of firearm possession by persons who committed violent misdemeanors, required relinquishment and discretion in granting a concealed carry permit. The study found that permit requirement for purchasing all firearms had an interstate association with decreased total firearm-related deaths and homicide. In addition, the prohibition of firearm possession for individuals who have committed a violent misdemeanor had an interstate association with decreased firearm suicide.
“The presence of interstate association between firearm laws and firearm-related deaths suggests policy initiatives to reduce gun trafficking are an important component in eliminating firearm violence,” said Bisakha Sen, Ph.D., Blue Cross Blue Shield Endowed Chair in Health Economics, Department of Health Policy and Organization , and senior author. “It underlines the importance of synergic legislative actions among states to help form an effective approach to reduce firearm-related deaths.”
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