Your Odds for Accidental Gun Death Rise Greatly in Certain States
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, July 26, 2024 -- Americans' risk of dying in a firearm accident depends in large part on where they live in the United States, a new study finds.
People in Southeastern states like Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama run the greatest risk of a gunshot accidentally killing them, researchers said.
Meanwhile, the risk of accidental gun death is much lower in Northeastern states like Massachusetts, New York, Maryland and Connecticut, results show.
“Crude rates in the states with the highest rates, clustered mostly in the Southeast, were about 10 times the rates in the states with the lowest rates, located mostly in the Northeast,” concluded researcher David Schwebel, a professor of psychology with the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Nationwide, more than 12,300 people died in gun accidents between 2001 and 2021, Schwebel found in his analysis of firearms deaths data maintained by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The researchers also found that specific factors within a state increased the risk of death in a firearms accident.
Unsurprisingly, states with more gun owners carried a higher risk of accidental gun death.
But the study, published July 25 in the journal Injury Prevention, also found that having a higher percentage of families living below the poverty line is associated with an increased risk of accidental death.
Any solution to this risk is not going to be easy, Schwebel said.
“Attempts to alleviate the complex nature of poverty in America are challenging, complex and unlikely to happen quickly,” Schwebel in a journal news release. “Attempts to reduce firearms ownership are equally unlikely, and arguably inappropriate as firearms represent an integral part of culture and life for many Americans, including especially Americans living in rural areas.”
Instead, officials need to focus on policies that promote safe gun handling and storage, Schwebel said.
“Efforts to improve safe use, transport and storage of firearms, plus policy change to promote safer handling of firearms handling and engineering of safety devices for firearms and firearms storage locations are likely to be most effective,” he concluded.
Sources
- BMJ, news release, July 25, 2024
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted July 2024
Read this next
Nearly 30 People in England Get Rare Illness After Botox
TUESDAY, June 24, 2025 — Dozens of people in northeastern England have developed a rare and dangerous illness after receiving Botox injections, according to health officials...
Stem Cell Treatment May Free Some With Type 1 Diabetes From Insulin
TUESDAY, June 24, 2025 — A single infusion of a new stem cell-based treatment may have helped 10 out of 12 people with severe type 1 diabetes stop using insulin, researchers...
Blood Test Might Predict MS Relapse
TUESDAY, June 24, 2025 — A blood test might predict when multiple sclerosis patients are about to suffer a relapse in their symptoms, a new study says. Blood levels of a...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.