Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-dnltx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-17T19:03:01.227Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Firearms Data Gap

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 January 2021

Abstract

The firearms data infrastructure in the United States is severely limited in scope and fragmented in nature. Improved data systems are needed in order to address gun violence and promote productive conversation about gun policy. In the absence of federal leadership in firearms data systems improvement, motivated states may take proactive steps to stitch gaps in data systems. We propose that states evaluate the gaps in their systems, expand data collection, and improve data presentation and availability.

Type
Symposium Articles
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Gramlich, J., What the Data Says About Gun Deaths in the U.S. (August 16, 2019), Pew Research Center, available at <https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/08/16/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s> (last visited August 17, 2020); Ranney, M.L. et al., “A Consensus-Driven Agenda for Emergency Medicine Firearm Injury Prevention Research,Annals Emergency Medicine 69, no. 2 (2017): 227.Google Scholar
NORC, The State of Firearms Data in 2019 (January 2020), available at <https://www.norc.org/PDFs/Firearm%20Data%20Infrastructure%20Expert%20Panel/State%20of%20Firearms%20Research%202019.pdf> (last visited August 17, 2020) [hereinafter cited as NORC Report].+(last+visited+August+17,+2020)+[hereinafter+cited+as+NORC+Report].>Google Scholar
Id., at 2.Google Scholar
Stark, D.E. and Shaw, N.H., “Funding and Publication of Research on Gun Violence and Other Leading Causes of Death,” JAMA 317, no. 1 (2017): 84-86; Cunningham, R.M. et al., “Federal Funding for Research on the Leading Causes of Death among Children and Adolescents,” Health Affairs 38, no. 10 (2019): 1653-1661.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hemenway, D., Private Guns Public Health (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2017): at xiv.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
See NORC Report, supra note 2, at 1.Google Scholar
Barber, C., Azrael, D., and Hemenway, D., “A Truly National Violent Death Reporting System,” BMJ 19, no. 4 (2013): 1695-1701.Google Scholar
Annual Gun Law Scorecard, Giffords Law Center, available through <https://lawcenter.giffords.org/scorecard> (last visited May 29, 2020).+(last+visited+May+29,+2020).>Google Scholar
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “National Violent Death Reporting System Web Coding Manual” (December 2018), available at <https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nvdrs/NVDRS-WebCodingManual.pdf> (last visited August 17, 2020).+(last+visited+August+17,+2020).>Google Scholar
New York State Department of Health, Suicide and Self-Harm, NYS Health Connector, available at <https://nyshc.health.ny.gov/web/nyapd/suicides-in-new-york> (last visited August 17, 2020).+(last+visited+August+17,+2020).>Google Scholar
See Letter from the CDC to Senator Robert Menendez (May 3, 2019), available at <https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6208476-CDC-Redfield-response-May-2019.html> (last visited August 17, 2020) [hereinafter CDC Letter].+(last+visited+August+17,+2020)+[hereinafter+CDC+Letter].>Google Scholar
E.g., New York State Department of Health, Homicide and Assault Injuries in New York State, available at <https://www.health.ny.gov/statistics/prevention/injury_prevention/homicide_assault.htm> (last visited August 17, 2020).+(last+visited+August+17,+2020).>Google Scholar
E.g., Connecticut State Department of Public Health, Calendar Year 2016 Connecticut Hospitalization Tables, available at <https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/Departments-and-Agencies/DPH/hisr/hcqsar/healthcare/pdf/HospitalDischargeNarr2016.pdf?la=en> (last visited August 17, 2020).+(last+visited+August+17,+2020).>Google Scholar
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting, Criminal Justice Information Services, available at <https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/ucr> (last visited August 17, 2020).+(last+visited+August+17,+2020).>Google Scholar
Federal Bureau of Investigation, 30 Questions and Answers about NIBRS Transitions October 2018), available at <https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/ucr/30-faqs-about-nibrs-transition-oct-2018.pdf/view> (last visited August 17, 2020).+(last+visited+August+17,+2020).>Google Scholar
E.g., Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, Connecticut Family Violence 2018 Detailed Report (October 2019), available at <https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DESPP/Division-of-Crimes-Analysis/Family-Violence-Detailed-Report-2018.pdf> (last visited August 17, 2020); New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, Domestic Homicide in New York State 2018, Criminal Justice Research Report, available at <https://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/crimnet/pubs.htm> (last visited August 17, 2020).+(last+visited+August+17,+2020);+New+York+State+Division+of+Criminal+Justice+Services,+Domestic+Homicide+in+New+York+State+2018,+Criminal+Justice+Research+Report,+available+at++(last+visited+August+17,+2020).>Google Scholar
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, Connecticut Family Violence 2018 Homicide Report (June 2019), available at <https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DESPP/Division-of-Crimes-Analysis/2018-Family-Violence-Homicide-Report.pdf> (last visited August 17, 2020).+(last+visited+August+17,+2020).>Google Scholar
Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCVS Redesign: Subnational, available at <https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=911> (last visited August 17, 2020).+(last+visited+August+17,+2020).>Google Scholar
Dzau, V.J. and Leshner, A.I., “Public Health Research on Gun Violence: Long Overdue,” Annals of Internal Medicine 168, no. 12 (2018): 876-878, at 876.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hemenway, supra note 5, at 19.Google Scholar
CDC, “Motor Vehicle Safety: A 20th Century Public Health Achievement,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 48, no. 18 (1999): 369374.Google Scholar
Hemenway, D., While We Were Sleeping: Success Stories in Injury and Violence Prevention (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2009).Google Scholar
Azrael, D. et al., “Data on Violent Injury,” in Ludwig, J. and Cook, P. J., eds., Evaluating Gun Policy (Washington, DC: Brookings, 2003): 412–30; Segui-Gomez, M., “Driver Air Bag Effectiveness by Severity of the Crash,” American Journal of Public Health 90, no. 10 (2000): 1575–81.Google Scholar
District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 592, 628 (2008); McDonald v. City of Chicago, Ill., 561 U.S. 742, 750 (2010).Google Scholar
National Rifle Association of America, Inc. v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives, 700 F.3d 185, 194 (5th Cir. 2012).Google Scholar
E.g., Roberts v. United States Jaycees, 468 U.S. 609, 625 (1984); Williams-Yulee v. Florida Bar, 575 U.S. 433, 444 (2015).Google Scholar
Siegel, R. and Blocher, J., Why Regulate Guns?, Take Care Blog (November 30, 2019), available at <https://takecareblog.com/blog/why-regulate-guns> (last visited December 2, 2020).+(last+visited+December+2,+2020).>Google Scholar
U.S.C. § 922(g)(9); United States v. Skoien, 614 F.3d 638, 642–44 (7th Cir. 2010).Google Scholar
Skoien, 614 F.3d at 643–644.Google Scholar
Heller v. District of Columbia, 670 F.3d 1244, 1258–60 (D.C. Cir. 2011).Google Scholar
Silvester v. Harris, 843 F.3d 816, 827–28 (9th Cir. 2016).Google Scholar
Id., at 828.Google Scholar
New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc. v. Cuomo, 804 F.3d 242, 261-62 (2d Cir. 2015).Google Scholar
See NORC Report, supra note 2, at 4.Google Scholar
E.g., Rabinowitz, M. et al., The California Criminal Justice Data Gap (April 2019), at 5, 7 [hereinafter California Data Gap Report].Google Scholar
See CDC Letter, supra note 11.Google Scholar
See California Data Gap Report, supra note 36.Google Scholar
Adhia, A. et al., “The Role of Intimate Partner Violence in Homicides of Children Aged 2-14 Years,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 56, no. 1 (2019): 3846.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wertz, J. et al., “A Typology of Civilians Shot and Killed by US Police: A Latent Class Analysis of Firearm Legal Intervention Homicide in the 2014-2015 National Violent Death Reporting System,” Journal of Urban Health (2020): 112.Google Scholar
See Hemenway, supra note 5, at 219.Google Scholar
Wintemute, G.J. et al., “Subsequent Criminal Activity among Violent Misdemeanants Who Seek to Purchase Handguns,” JAMA 285, no. 8 (2001): 10191026.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laqueur, H. et al., “Alcohol-Related Crimes and Risk of Arrest for Intimate Partner Violence among California Handgun Purchasers,” Health Affairs 38, no. 10 (2019): 17191726.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wintemute, G.J. et al., “Mortality Among Recent Purchasers of Handguns,” New England Journal of Medicine 341, no. 21 (1999): 15831589.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cummings, P. et al., “The Association between the Purchase of a Handgun and Homicide or Suicide,” American Journal of Public Health 87, no. 6 (1997): 974978.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
E.g., Florida Department of Health, Florida COVID-19 Dashboard, available at <https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/96dd742462124fa0b38ddedb9b25e429> (last visited August 17, 2020).+(last+visited+August+17,+2020).>Google Scholar