RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Examining the relationship between the prevalence of guns and homicide rates in the USA using a new and improved state-level gun ownership proxy
JF Injury Prevention
JO Inj Prev
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 424
OP 426
DO 10.1136/injuryprev-2014-041187
VO 20
IS 6
A1 Michael Siegel
A1 Craig S Ross
A1 Charles King
YR 2014
UL http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/20/6/424.abstract
AB Determining the relationship between gun ownership levels and firearm homicide rates is critical to inform public health policy. Previous research has shown that state-level gun ownership, as measured by a widely used proxy, is positively associated with firearm homicide rates. A newly developed proxy measure that incorporates the hunting license rate in addition to the proportion of firearm suicides correlates more highly with state-level gun ownership. To corroborate previous research, we used this new proxy to estimate the association of state-level gun ownership with total, firearm, and non-firearm homicides. Using state-specific data for the years 1981–2010, we modelled these rates as a function of gun ownership level, controlling for potential confounding factors. We used a negative binomial regression model and accounted for clustering of observations among states. We found that state-level gun ownership as measured by the new proxy, is significantly associated with firearm and total homicides but not with non-firearm homicides.