Firearms and Gun Control: A Public-Health Concern

Abstract

Because of the serious consequences of the growing number of human injuries that involve firearms, gun control has become a concern of public health. In 1975, firearms caused the deaths of 271 persons in Massachusetts. Of that number, 145 (54 per cent) committed suicide; 112 (41 per cent) were homicides, and 14 persons (5 per cent) died in accidents or legal interventions and in unspecified situations.¹ In the same year, firearms were the 13th leading cause of death in Massachusetts, second only to accidents as a cause of death for persons between the ages of 15 and 39,¹ and accounting . . .