Objectives: We sought to estimate the effect of Connecticut's implementation of a handgun permit-to-purchase law in October 1995 on subsequent homicides.
Methods: Using the synthetic control method, we compared Connecticut's homicide rates after the law's implementation to rates we would have expected had the law not been implemented. To estimate the counterfactual, we used longitudinal data from a weighted combination of comparison states identified based on the ability of their prelaw homicide trends and covariates to predict prelaw homicide trends in Connecticut.
Results: We estimated that the law was associated with a 40% reduction in Connecticut's firearm homicide rates during the first 10 years that the law was in place. By contrast, there was no evidence for a reduction in nonfirearm homicides.
Conclusions: Consistent with prior research, this study demonstrated that Connecticut's handgun permit-to-purchase law was associated with a subsequent reduction in homicide rates. As would be expected if the law drove the reduction, the policy's effects were only evident for homicides committed with firearms.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302703 | DOI Listing |
BMC Public Health
January 2025
Sefako Makgatho University, Ground Floor, Clin Path Building, Room No. 37. Garankuwa, Pretoria, South Africa.
Background: Femicides, defined as the gender-based killing of women, are a pressing public health issue worldwide, with South Africa experiencing some of the highest rates globally. This study focuses on the North-west region of Tshwane, particularly the Garankuwa area, aiming to address gaps in understanding the epidemiology, demographics, circumstances, and pathology associated with femicides. The Garankuwa mortuary serves as the primary site for this investigation, providing a detailed analysis over a ten-year period, shedding light on contributing risk factors in the context of systemic gender inequality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSSM Popul Health
March 2025
School of Public Affairs, Penn State Harrisburg, 777 W. Harrisburg Pike, Middletown, PA, 17057, USA.
Homicide is a significant measure of quality of life and serves as a reference point for a comparison between neighborhoods. Despite its unique relevance to homicide, the role of medical resources, specifically emergency hospital services, has been underexplored in the literature. This study addresses this gap by examining the relationship between emergency hospital availability and homicide rates across counties in Pennsylvania, using advanced spatiotemporal modeling techniques.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Public Health
January 2025
Centre for Medicine and Society, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Background: Internal displacement and cross-country migration are an increasing global phenomenon drawing the attention of politicians and the public. Causes and effects on the migrants and receptor populations are varied and often shaped by immigration laws and how migrants and refugees are being dealt with by local conditions, policy frameworks and by the host population (receptors). The massive influx of Venezuelan migrants into Colombia for more than a decade has characteristics which warrant a systematic analysis to identify contextual and individual factors favouring and hindering the well-being of migrants and their new Colombian neighbours of the receptor population.
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