Harvard Injury Control Research Center
Our mission is to reduce the societal burden of injury and violence through surveillance, research, intervention, evaluation, outreach, dissemination, and training.
Other Countries
We read the police narratives for every homicide in Jamaica, 1998-2002. The murder rate has been increasing steadily in Jamaica, and most of the murders are completed with firearms. The principal motives are disputes and revenge. Drugs, gangs, and political killings are no longer the main factors associated with murder.
Lemard, Glendene; Hemenway, David. Violence in Jamaica: An analysis of homicides 1998-2002. Injury Prevention. 2006; 12:15-18.
Using data for all firearm-injured patients in the Canadian National Trauma Registry, we evaluated demographic and causal factors of injury. We found that about 40% of the shooting victims died in-hospital, with 83% of fatalities occurring on the first day. ISS score, first systolic blood pressure, first Glasgow Coma Scale score, male gender and self-inflicted injury were all predictors of in-hospital death.
Finley, Christian J; Hemenway, David; Clifton, Joanne; Brown D Ross; Simons, Richard K; Hameed S Morad. The demographics of significant firearm injury in Canadian trauma centres and the associated predictors of in-hospital mortality. Canadian Journal of Surgery. 2008; 51:197-203.
We assess the relationship between handgun prevalence and firearm suicide across the 32 states of Mexico for 2005. Where there were more handguns, there were more firearm suicides. There was no relationship between handgun prevalence and non-firearm suicides.
Miller, Matthew; Borges, Guilherme. Firearms and suicide in Mexico: Intimations of mortality. Jovenes. 2009; 32: 90-107.
Gun advocates cite Switzerland and Israel as exemplars of nations with widespread gun ownership, permissive gun laws, and encouragement of armed civilians who can deter and thwart shootings. These claims are evaluated with analysis of the International Crime Victimization Survey data and translation of laws and original source material. Compared with the United States, Switzerland and Israel have lower rates of gun ownership, stricter gun control laws, and their policies discourage gun ownership.
Rosenbaum, Janet E. Gun utopias? Firearm access and ownership in Israel and Switzerland. Journal of Public Health Policy. 2012; 33:46-58.
Data from a 2017 household telephone survey of over 1,300 adults living in nine Mexican cities found that only 3% of homes contain firearms. Most individuals who report owning firearms possess only one gun, having purchased it recently for self-defense. Respondents were much more likely to believe that crime in Mexico would increase rather than decrease if guns were allowed in more places.
Esparza, David Perez and Hemenway, David. What is the level of household gun ownership in urban Mexico? An estimate from the first Mexican survey on gun ownership 2917. Injury Prevention. 2019; 25:93-97.
Surveys in Sao Paulo city, Brazil in 2003, 2008, 2013 found that while only 1.5% of the population reported living in a home with firearms, 15.7% would obtain one if they could. The desire to own a firearm was associated with both alcohol consumption and binge drinking.
Justus M, Miller M, Hemenway D. The relationship between alcohol consumption and the desire to own a firearm: an empirical study of citizens in Sao Paulo city, Brazil. Public Health. 2020: 179:186-194.
As is common in many countries, in Hong Kong and the US, women attempt suicide more often than men, but males suicide rates are higher. In both countries, this can be largely explained by men using more lethal means (jumping in Hong Kong, guns in the US).
Cai Z, Chang Q, Yip PSF, Conner A, Azrael D, Miller M. The contribution of method choice to gender disparity in suicide mortality: A population-based study in Hong Kong and the United States of American. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2021; 294:17-23.
At minimum, it shows what can be accomplished if conservatives are willing to step up and respond to the problem.
Negin J, Alpers PA, Nassar N, Hemenway D. Australian firearm regulation at 25—successes, ongoing challenges and lessons for the world. New England Journal of Medicine. 2021; 384:1581-1583.