| Support for new policies to regulate firearms. Results of two national surveys. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 9738090 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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BACKGROUND: New policy options are emerging in the debate regarding the regulation of firearms in the United States. These options include the treatment of firearms as consumer products, the design of which can be regulated for safety; denial of gun ownership to those convicted of misdemeanors; and strategies to curtail the illegal sale of guns. The public's opinion of these innovative gun-policy options has not been thoroughly assessed. METHODS: We conducted two telephone surveys of 1200 adults each in the United States in 1996 and 1997-1998. Cognitive interviews and pretests were used in the development of the survey instruments. Potential participants were then contacted by random-digit dialing of telephone numbers. RESULTS: A majority of the respondents favored safety standards for new handguns. These standards included childproofing (favored by 88 percent of respondents), personalization (devices that permit firing only by an authorized person; 71 percent), magazine safeties (devices that prevent firing after the magazine or clip is removed; 82 percent), and loaded-chamber indicators (devices that show whether the handgun is loaded; 73 percent). There was strong support for policies prohibiting persons convicted of specific misdemeanors from purchasing a firearm. Support for such prohibitions was strongest for crimes involving violence or the illegal use of a firearm (83 to 95 percent) or substance abuse (71 to 92 percent). There was also widespread support for policies designed to reduce the illegal sale of guns, such as mandatory tamper-resistant serial numbers (90 percent), a limit of one handgun purchase per customer per month (81 percent), and mandatory registration of handguns (82 percent). Even among the subgroup of respondents who were gun owners, a majority were in favor of stricter gun regulations with regard to 20 of the 22 proposals covered in the poll. CONCLUSIONS: Strong public support, even among gun owners, for innovative strategies to regulate firearms suggests that these proposals warrant serious consideration by policy makers. |
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Authors:
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S P Teret; D W Webster; J S Vernick; T W Smith; D Leff; G J Wintemute; P J Cook; D F Hawkins; A L Kellermann; S B Sorenson; S DeFrancesco |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't |
Journal Detail:
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Title: The New England journal of medicine Volume: 339 ISSN: 0028-4793 ISO Abbreviation: N. Engl. J. Med. Publication Date: 1998 Sep |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 1998-09-22 Completed Date: 1998-09-22 Revised Date: 2006-11-15 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 0255562 Medline TA: N Engl J Med Country: UNITED STATES |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 813-8 Citation Subset: AIM; IM |
Affiliation:
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Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Adult Aged Consumer Product Safety / legislation & jurisprudence* Crime Data Collection Firearms / legislation & jurisprudence*, standards Humans Middle Aged Public Policy Random Allocation Safety / legislation & jurisprudence, standards United States |
| Comments/Corrections | |
Comment In:
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N Engl J Med. 1999 Jan 21;340(3):234-5
[PMID:
9917229
]
N Engl J Med. 1998 Sep 17;339(12):843-5 [PMID: 9738096 ] N Engl J Med. 1999 Jan 21;340(3):235 [PMID: 9917230 ] N Engl J Med. 1999 Jan 21;340(3):234; author reply 235-6 [PMID: 9917228 ] |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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