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Harvard Injury Control Research Center

Policy

A) Public Health Approach 

55-56. Public health approach
These articles summarize the public health problems caused by firearms, and the public health approach to reducing firearm injuries.

Publication:  Hemenway, David. “A Public Health Approach to Firearms Policy” in Mechanic, David; Rogut, Lynn B; Colby, David C; Knickman, James R. eds.  Policy Challenges in Modern Health Care. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers U Press, 2005. pp. 85-98.

Publication: Hemenway, David. "The Public Health Approach to Reducing Injury and Violence." Stanford Law and Policy Review. 2006, 17:635-56. 

 

57. Public health approach, lessons from other public health arenas
The public health approach to reduce the problems of motor vehicles, tobacco and alcohol is applied to firearms policy.
Major findings: Manufacturers try to focus prevention efforts on the user rather than the product. Public health efforts emphasize systematic data collection and a multi-faceted policy approach that includes modifying the product and the environment.
Publication: Hemenway, David.  "The Public Health Approach to Motor Vehicles, Tobacco, and Alcohol, with Applications to Firearms Policy."  Journal of Public Health Policy.  2001; 22:381-402.

58. Public health approach to protecting children

The public health approach provides innovative ideas for protecting children from firearm injury.

Publication:  Hemenway, David.  “Protecting Children from Firearm Violence.”  Big Ideas for Children: Investing in our Nation’s Future.  First Focus. 2008. pp. 203-210.

 
59. Future injury prevention success stories
A chapter in the book focuses on future success stories and includes a summary of policies aimed at reducing firearm injury.
Publication: Hemenway, David. “Future Successes.” In:While We Were Sleeping: Success Stories in Injury and Violence Prevention. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2009.
 

B) EVALUATION

60. Effect on homicide of gun carrying laws
We analyzed the effect on homicide of changes in state-level gun carrying laws using pooled cross-sectional time-series data for 50 states from 1979-1998.

Major findings: There was no statistically significant association between changes in concealed carry laws and state homicide rates.  The finding was consistent across a variety of models.

Publication: Hepburn, Lisa; Miller, Matthew; Azrael, Deborah; Hemenway, David.  “The Effect of Nondiscretionary Concealed Weapon Carrying Laws on Homicide.”  Journal of Trauma. 2004; 56:676-681.


61. Effect of child access prevention laws on unintentional child firearm fatalities
We analyzed the effect on unintentional firearm fatalities to children of child access prevention (CAP) laws, which allow a firearm owner to be charged with a crime if a child gains access to an unsecured firearm, using pooled cross-sectional time series data for 50 states from 1979-2000.
Major findings: States that enacted CAP laws--with felony rather than misdemeanor penalties-- experienced grater subsequent declines in the rate of unintentional firearm deaths for children age 0 to 14 compared to states not enacting CAP laws.
Publication: Hepburn, Lisa; Azrael, Deborah; Miller, Matthew; Hemenway, David. “The Effect of Child Access Prevention Laws on Unintentional Child Firearm Fatalities, 1979-2000.” Journal of Trauma.  2006; 61:423-28.
 

62. Evaluations of gun policies that ensure that no effect will be found.
This article on statistics describes the limitations of studies that claim no effect of gun shows, and no effect of the Australian gun buyback.

Pubication: Hemenway, David.  “Finding Nothing.”  Journal of Public Health Policy.  in press.