Tag Archives: nih

02.28.11
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Gun Utopias? Firearm Access & Ownership in Israel & Switzerland (2011)

TITLE: Gun Utopias? Firearm Access & Ownership in Israel & Switzerland (2011)
SOURCE: Journal of Public Health Policy (JPHP)
AUTHOR(S): Janet Rosenbaum
LINK: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3267868/

RESEARCH QUESTION: Gun advocates claim that mass-casualty events are mitigated & deterred with three policies: (1) permissive gun laws, (2) widespread gun ownership, (3) encouragement of armed civilians who can intercept shooters, & cite Switzerland & Israel as exemplars; is it true?

FINDINGS: Compared with the US, Switzerland & Israel have lower gun ownership & stricter gun laws, & their policies discourage personal gun ownership. The Swiss federal government requires gun permit applicants to demonstrate need for protection against a specific risk & pass weapons safety & firearm use regulation tests. Permit holders may own only one handgun for 6 months, after which they must renew their permit every 3 months. Israel rejects about 40% of gun permit applicants, more than any country in the western world. Israel requires all guns to have an Interior Ministry permit & an identifying mark for tracing, & limits which citizens may apply for a permit, based on their residence, occupation, or role in national defense. Applicants are excluded if they take psychotropic drugs or have been arrested for drug use or domestic violence (even if not convicted), & must also pass a Hebrew language test. Permit holders may own only one handgun & must renew their permit annually or whenever their residence, occupation, or national defense role changes. Switzerland gun owners report higher gun-violence victimization rates than non-gun owners. Israel only 81st out of 179 countries in rate of gun ownership. Only 2% of Swiss military members keep their gun post-service. Israel bans use of personal guns for terrorism or crime prevention.

IMAGES: Reason for owning gun, Switzerland v USA: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3267868/figure/F2/

Proportion of households with gun, Switzerland v USA: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3267868/figure/F1/

TAGS: Israel, Switzerland, Ownership rates, gun culture, myths, comparative policies, international

TWEETS: https://twitter.com/hospiceman/status/304656940154363904

10.17.02
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Rates of Household Firearm Ownership & Homicide Across US Regions & States, 1988–1997 (2002)

TITLE: Rates of Household Firearm Ownership & Homicide Across US Regions & States, 1988–1997 (2002)
SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health
AUTHORS: Matthew Miller, Deborah Azrael, & David Hemenway
LINK: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1447364/

FINDINGS: Across states, more guns = more homicide, “ in areas where household firearm ownership rates were higher, a disproportionately large number of people died from homicide.”

12.31.00
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Firearm Availability & Homicide Rates in 26 countries (2000)

TITLE: Firearm availability & homicide rates across 26 high-income countries (2000).
ABSTRACT: http://1.usa.gov/Ycl5EQ
http://jonathanstray.com/papers/FirearmAvailabilityVsHomicideRates.pdf
BITLY WEB STATS: http://bit.ly/11WxSlb+
AUTHOR(S): David Hemenway & Matthew Miller

FINDINGS: Nations offering easiest access to guns also have most gun violence. Among developed nations, the United States has the highest rate of civilian gun ownership, & the highest homicide rate. There’s a strong & statistically significant association between gun availability & homicide rates; where guns are more available, there are more homicides.

02.17.97
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Characteristics of automatic or semi-automatic firearm ownership (1997)

TITLE: Characteristics of automatic or semi-automatic firearm ownership (1997)
SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health (AJPH), 87(2): 286–288
AUTHOR(S): D Hemenway and E Richardson
LINK: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1380810/

FINDINGS: (1) Owners of semi-automatic guns are more likely to binge drink & live in the South than other gun owners; (2) 60% of gun owners reported owning an automatic or semiautomatic firearm

NOTE: Data collected from 800 random telephone surveys.