Original contribution
Accidental firearm fatalities among New Mexico children

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0196-0644(05)81120-5Get rights and content

Study hypothesis:

Risk factors associated with unintentional gunshot fatalities among children include gender and race of the decedent, type of firearm used, and whether loaded guns are stored within the home.

Study population:

All New Mexico children 0 to 14 years old unintentionally killed by a firearm between 1984 and 1988.

Methods:

The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator master mortality file was reviewed retrospectively to identify all unintentional firearm fatalities occurring in New Mexico children during a five-year period. Medical investigator, autopsy, and police reports were analyzed to identify epidemiologic factors associated with these deaths. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used to analyze the data.

Results:

Twenty-five unintentional firearm fatalities were identified. These deaths occurred most frequently among children playing with loaded firearms found within the home. A disproportionate number involved handguns.

Conclusion:

The study results provide a basis for preventive strategies that limit accessibility or decrease lethality of loaded firearms within the home.

References (28)

  • RockettI et al.

    Homicide, suicide, motor vehicle crash, and fall mortality: United States' experience in comparative perspective

    Am J Public Health

    (1989)
  • Handgun Control Inc

    Handgun Facts

    (1982)
  • BakerSP

    Without guns, do people kill people?

    Am J Public Health

    (1985)
  • FingerhutLA et al.

    International and interstate comparisons of homicide among young males

    JAMA

    (1990)
  • BakerSP et al.
  • WintemuteGJ

    Firearms as a cause of death in the United States, 1920–1982

    J Trauma

    (1987)
  • National Rifle Association

    NRA Firearm Fact Card 1990

    (1990)
  • BakerSP et al.

    Firearms and public health

    J Public Health Policy

    (1980)
  • KellermanA et al.

    An analysis of firearm related deaths in the home

    N Engl J Med

    (1986)
  • National Safety Council (NSC)

    Accident Facts, 1984 Edition

    (1984)
  • NSC

    Accident Facts, 1985 Edition

    (1985)
  • NSC

    Accident Facts, 1986 Edition

    (1986)
  • NSC

    Accident Facts, 1987 Edition

    (1987)
  • NSC

    Accident Facts, 1988 Edition

    (1988)
  • Cited by (36)

    • Unintentional firearm deaths: A comparison of other-inflicted and self-inflicted shootings

      2010, Accident Analysis and Prevention
      Citation Excerpt :

      Except for the age and gender distribution of these decedents, surprisingly little else is known about the circumstances of these deaths. What is known is largely based on a few studies, usually focused on children and adolescents with data often limited to a specific county (Dowd et al., 1994; Grossman et al., 1999; Schaechter et al., 2003), city (Ranney et al., 2009) or state (Cherry et al., 2001; Martin et al., 1991; Zavoski et al., 1995). Data on the circumstances of unintentional firearm fatalities in the United States have recently become available from the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Hemenway et al., 2009; Karch et al., 2008; Steenkamp et al., 2006).

    • Firearm availability and unintentional firearm deaths

      2001, Accident Analysis and Prevention
      Citation Excerpt :

      While many studies of firearm fatalities in the US have been conducted, only a moderate number have focused on unintentional firearm deaths. Those that have (Rushforth et al., 1974; Morrow and Hudson, 1986; Cole and Patetta, 1988; Wintemute et al., 1988, 1987, 1989; Carter, 1989; Waller et al., 1989; Lee et al., 1991; Martin et al., 1991; Dowd et al., 1994; Annest et al., 1995; Sinauer et al., 1996), report valuable but limited descriptive information about the context in which the unintentional shootings, fatal and non-fatal, take place, and usually provide only correlates of injuries at one locality rather than statistical analyses of national data. To the authors knowledge, the only previous national study of the effect of gun availability on the unintentional firearm deaths found that laws making gun owners criminally liable if someone is injured because a child gains unsupervised access to a gun appears to reduce unintentional shooting deaths among children younger than 15 years (Cummings et al., 1997).

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text