Investigating the Link Between Gun Possession and Gun Assault

We investigated the possible relationship between being shot in an assault and possession of a gun at the time. We enrolled 677 case participants that had been shot in an assault and 684 population-based control participants within Philadelphia, PA, from 2003 to 2006. We adjusted odds ratios for con...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of public health (1971) 2009-11, Vol.99 (11), p.2034-2040
Main Authors: Branas, Charles C, Richmond, Therese S, Culhane, Dennis P, Ten Have, Thomas R, Wiebe, Douglas J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accident Prevention
Adult
Age groups
Aged
Assaults
Biological and medical sciences
Case-Control Studies
Confounding (Statistics)
Data collection
Female
Firearms
Firearms - statistics & numerical data
Gender
Humans
Incidence
Interviews
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Miscellaneous
Murders & murder attempts
Odds Ratio
Philadelphia - epidemiology
Public health
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Research and Practice
Same sex marriage
Shootings
Studies
Variables
Violence - prevention & control
Violence - statistics & numerical data
Wounds, Gunshot - etiology
Wounds, Gunshot - mortality
Wounds, Gunshot - prevention & control
Young Adult
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Summary:We investigated the possible relationship between being shot in an assault and possession of a gun at the time. We enrolled 677 case participants that had been shot in an assault and 684 population-based control participants within Philadelphia, PA, from 2003 to 2006. We adjusted odds ratios for confounding variables. After adjustment, individuals in possession of a gun were 4.46 (P < .05) times more likely to be shot in an assault than those not in possession. Among gun assaults where the victim had at least some chance to resist, this adjusted odds ratio increased to 5.45 (P < .05). On average, guns did not protect those who possessed them from being shot in an assault. Although successful defensive gun uses occur each year, the probability of success may be low for civilian gun users in urban areas. Such users should reconsider their possession of guns or, at least, understand that regular possession necessitates careful safety countermeasures.
ISSN:0090-0036
1541-0048
DOI:10.2105/AJPH.2008.143099