Firearm Access, Homicide, and Suicide Among People Who Live With Gun Owners

Program

Is living with a gun owner associated with an increased risk of dying by suicide or homicide? New studies suggest that answer is yes. In a cohort study of millions of California residents, researchers found that the risk of dying by homicide doubled for people living with a handgun owner. Women had especially elevated risks of dying by homicide. In a separate analysis of the California cohort, researchers found that women’s suicide rates also increased substantially when a person they live with acquired a gun, and the higher-than-expected risk they faced was attributable to suicides committed with a gun. Children also face elevated risks, as prior research has shown. New research finds that one-third of adolescents who live in a home with firearms can access a loaded firearm within five minutes, and many have easier access to firearms in the home than their parents suspect. In this webinar, NCGVR-supported researchers will discuss these findings.

Presenters

David Studdert: Homicide Risk Among People Who Live With Gun Owners

David Studdert is professor of law and of health policy at Stanford University, and Senior Associate Vice Provost for Research there. He teaches torts and health law at Stanford Law School. Dr. Studdert’s research explores how the legal system influences the health and well-being of populations. He has a special interest in injury, and has studied medical error, suicide, transport accidents, and firearm violence.

NCGVR-funded project: Firearm-Related Mortality among Cohabitants of Gun Owners

Matthew Miller: Suicide Risk Among Women Living With Handgun Owners

Matthew Miller is a professor of health sciences and epidemiology at Northeastern University, adjunct professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and co-director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center. Dr. Miller is an expert in injury and violence prevention. His research encompasses intentional and unintentional injury, with an emphasis on firearm-related violence and suicide prevention. In addition to research in injury and violence prevention, Dr. Miller’s scholarship includes observational studies in pharmacoepidemiology and commentaries about the often unrecognized tension between research and therapy in clinical trials. Dr. Miller received the Excellence in Science Award from the American Public Health Association, and the Reviewer of the Year award from the American Journal of Public Health. Dr. Miller teaches research methods at Northeastern.

NCGVR-funded project: Firearm-Related Mortality among Cohabitants of Gun Owners

Carmel Salhi: Adolescents' Access to Household Firearms In the U.S.

Carmel Salhi is an associate professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Northeastern University. He is an epidemiologist whose work focuses on the relationship between children and youth’s familial relationships, violence-related experiences, and their mental health. Dr. Salhi’s research incorporates qualitative methods to improve its applied relevance for investigating, preventing, and mitigating the effects of violence. His primary research areas are: 1) access to household firearms among US children and youth; 2) violence exposure and refugee mental health and well-being, from their country of origin to their country of resettlement. In both domains, his work examines violence as a phenomenon that is socially structured and defined. Dr. Salhi teaches epidemiological theory and methods, global health, and discrimination and health at Northeastern University.

NCGVR-funded project: Determinants of How Firearms Are Stored in Households with Children