Helping doctors talk to patients about guns
Doctors don’t have good ways to talk to their patients about guns—and that’s why an upcoming conference aimed at helping them do so is important, according to David Hemenway, director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center. Hemenway…
Campaign to reduce firearm suicide wins support among NH firearm retailers
For immediate release: October 30, 2014 Boston, MA — Nearly half (48%) of firearm retailers in New Hampshire displayed materials from a firearm suicide prevention campaign generated by a coalition of gun owners and public health professionals, according…

Mass shootings becoming more frequent
The rate of mass shootings in the United States has tripled since 2011, according to a new analysis by researchers from Harvard School of Public Health and Northeastern University. In the last three years, there have been 14…
Harvard Public Health article on guns and suicide wins top award
A spring 2013 Harvard Public Health magazine article titled “Guns & Suicide: The Hidden Toll” has won the Grand Gold Award for Best Article of the Year from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). The…

Guns, public health, and politics
Because the White House’s nominee for surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, tweeted in 2012 that “guns are a health care issue,” the gun lobby took issue and Murthy’s nomination is now in jeopardy. But [[David Hemenway]] of Harvard School…
The danger of guns in homes
Parents with guns in the house should assume their children are aware of the firearms – and possibly have even touched them, according to David Hemenway, professor of health policy and director of the Harvard Injury Control Research…
Gun access heightens risk of suicide, murder
A new study finds that people with access to a gun are three times more likely to commit suicide and almost twice as likely to be murdered. David Hemenway of Harvard School of Public Health—who wrote an editorial…
Living in home with gun linked with higher risk of dying by suicide
People who live in homes with a gun are two to five times more likely to die by suicide than those who live in homes without guns, said [[Matthew Miller]] of Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) in…
New safety measures needed to reduce gun violence
July 18, 2013 — Among developed countries, rates of violence are roughly similar. But in the United States, the chance of dying from a violent act exceeds that of other countries by a wide margin. It’s because of guns,…

Starting a Conversation
[ Spring 2013 ] To foster open discussion about the consequences of gun ownership, public health researchers want to know much more about the lure of guns. Why do people own guns in the first place? How do they perceive…