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Short report
Firearm homicides among hispanics and white non-hispanics: measuring disparities
  1. Eugenio Weigend Vargas1,
  2. Hsing-Fang Hsieh1,
  3. Daniel B Lee1,
  4. Jason E. Goldstick1,2,3
  1. 1 Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
  2. 2 Injury Prevention Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
  3. 3 Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Eugenio Weigend Vargas, Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; eugeniowv{at}gmail.com

Abstract

Firearm homicides are increasing in the United States, and firearm homicides are a critical driver of racial health disparities. One such disparity that has received limited attention is excess firearm homicides among Hispanics, relative to White Non-Hispanics; comprehensively characterising this disparity is the purpose of this brief report. Using data from CDC WONDER, we examined temporal trends (2012–2021) in firearm homicide rate disparities between Hispanics and White Non-Hispanics in the U.S. Focusing on recently elevated rates (2018–2021), we estimated this disparity across demographics (gender, age, urbanicity, and race), and across U.S. states. These data clearly show nearly universal excess firearm homicide among Hispanics, relative to White Non-Hispanics, with larger differences among men, younger age groups, and in metropolitan areas. Similarly, nearly all states show higher rates of firearm homicide among Hispanics, relative to White Non-Hispanics, though the magnitude of the difference varies substantially.

  • Health Disparities
  • Firearm
  • Mortality

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ip-2023-044933

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors Conception and design of study: EWV and JG. Acquisition and analysis of data: EWV. Revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content: H-FH and DBL.

    • Funding Research was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number T32HD108054. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

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