Latest news with #firearmviolence
CNN
10 hours ago
- Health
- CNN
States that weakened gun laws saw rise in pediatric mortality, study finds
Firearms have risen to become the leading cause of death among children and teens in the United States in recent years, but a new study joins a growing set of evidence that gun laws can make a difference. A landmark Supreme Court case in 2010 – McDonald v. Chicago – ruled that the Second Amendment applies to local governments, leading to a flurry of new laws and a deeper divide in state policy around firearms, with some states tightening restrictions and others weakening gun-related laws. Over the next 13 years, thousands more children died from firearm violence than earlier trends would have predicted – and all of the increase happened in groups of states that had more permissive gun laws, according to a study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics. Researchers grouped states into three categories based on firearm ownership and use policies – most permissive, permissive and strict – using a composite of policy scorecards from nonprofit advocacy groups: Brady, Everytown for Gun Safety and the Giffords Law Center. They found significant increases in the number of children who died from guns in states with looser laws: more than 6,000 additional deaths in states with the most permissive laws between 2011 and 2023, and more than 1,400 additional deaths in states considered to have permissive laws. Half of the states considered to have strict firearm laws – California, Maryland, New York, and Rhode Island – saw a decrease in pediatric firearm mortality in that time. Overall, there was an increase in child deaths from firearm-related homicides and an even greater increase in child deaths from firearm-related suicides, the study found. But pediatric mortality from others causes – including other suicides – did not increase in this time. Experts emphasize that many gun-related injuries and deaths are preventable, especially among children. 'In some ways, suicide can be more preventable than homicide, and a lot of that has to do with what children and youth have access to when they are having suicidal ideation,' said Dr. Lois Lee, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention. 'Means matter,' said Lee, who has researched the topic but was not involved in the new study. If more states had adopted stricter gun laws, many more children would be alive today, said Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, who was the lead author of the new study. 'It's not a pipe dream. The best-case scenario isn't some fictitious place. The best-case scenario is just a bunch of states that we currently live in, or don't,' he said. The new research didn't identify the specific types of gun policy that were the most harmful or most protective, but earlier research has suggested that background checks, secure storage laws and policies that otherwise prevent child access to guns are associated with lower pediatric firearm mortality. Dr. Christopher Rees, a pediatric emergency physician at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and assistant professor at Emory University School of Medicine, was not involved in the new study but has researched the effects that policy can have on pediatric firearm mortality and cared for patients who have been directly affected. 'It's not a political issue at the bedside,' he said. 'We should approach this as a way of protecting children and keeping children out of the emergency department.' In his own experience, he has noticed a difference between practicing in Massachusetts, a state which the new study considers to have strict firearm policy, and Georgia, which is considered to be among the most permissive. 'When I was a fellow in Boston at Boston Children's Hospital, I saw zero firearm-related injuries or fatalities,' Rees said. 'Since I have moved to Atlanta, I can't count how many children I have taken care of who have been involved in firearm-related injuries.' Firearms surpassed car accidents to become the leading cause of death among children and teens in the US in 2020, and Rees said that the philosophy behind seatbelts can serve as a guide of sorts for gun policy. 'We wear our seat belts all the time because you don't know when you're going to get in a car accident,' he said, and it can be difficult to predict with firearms, too. 'So, in my mind, the way to avoid unpredictable events is to have smart, preventive pieces in place before those unpredictable moments may come up.' In 2023, about 3,500 children and teens died in gun-related incidents, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – accounting for nearly 1 in 5 deaths among those ages 1 to 18. Research dollars to understand how to best prevent gun injuries and protect children has been lagging for years, and experts warn that recent cuts to federal health programs under the current Trump administration raise risks. The new study came from unfunded research, Faust said, and relied on data from the CDC's Injury and Violence Prevention Center – which was recently gutted by staff cuts. 'We do it because we care about it. But that's not sustainable,' Faust said. 'Our system really does function well based on a synergy between public resources and extramural research, and I'm really worried that the cuts to the CDC will make it harder for us to track this and every other epidemic.' Last month, hundreds of leading national, state, and local medical, public health, and research organizations sent a letter urging federal lawmakers to fund federal firearm violence prevention research. 'Across this country, communities are suffering from preventable firearm-related injuries and deaths,' they wrote. 'The freedom of individuals to own firearms can and should be balanced with protecting children and their families from serious harm, and ensuring the health, security, and well-being of all people.'
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Readers sound off on police gun sales, an American pope and Knicks victories
Washington: In 'Guns, the NYPD, and NYC's next mayor' (op-ed, April 24), the authors miss the mark on who drives criminal firearm violence: criminals. The New York City Police Department does not sell used service firearms to the general public or to lawful and highly-regulated firearm retailers who can only sell firearms — new, used or other — to anyone without first running an FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) verification to ensure the purchaser is allowed to own a firearm. Criminals do not follow the laws, nor do they submit to a background check to obtain firearms. According to publicly available FBI crime data, the overwhelming majority of criminals who use firearms in the commission of a crime gain access to them through illicit means, including theft and the black market. Playing politics with the purchasing of law enforcement firearms to advance an anti-gun agenda puts officers' lives at risk. It is detrimental to New York City taxpayers and a possible anti-trust violation. The NYPD should be free to select the firearm that best meets their officers' needs. The firearms industry has long worked with local police departments on programs with proven track records of reducing firearm retail store thefts, educating retailers and the public about illegal straw purchases of firearms and keeping guns inaccessible to children. Don't play gun control politics with the lives of New York's Finest. Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president for government and public affairs, National Shooting Sports Foundation Charlotte, N.C.: Right-wing media figures and MAGA provocateurs are crying out in rage over the election of Chicago native Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV. President Trump loyalists are calling him the 'woke Marxist pope,' yet they're confused by the fact that he speaks five languages. How could that possibly be when they all know real Americans speak only one language? Ron Turek Brooklyn: So, a fellow American has been elevated to a position higher than Trump's. I wonder how he'll react. Martin Selbst Portsmouth, N.H.: I can hear it now: 'It was because of me, an American pope has been elected.' Elizabeth Smith Richmond Hill: Just a terrible and dangerous choice the cardinals have made to elect this new pope. After Jorge Mario Bergoglio, traditional Catholics were praying that the next pope would be a Catholic and not a heretic as he was. We fear the Church will be sinking deeper into apostasy. We beseech thee, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to guide the Church toward salvation in your holy name. I don't have much hope that the Council of Trent reforms will be implemented as they should be, once again including the Tridentine Mass. Also, I pray that some of the changes made by Vatican II will be reversed. Will Leo XIV be Francis Part II? Maria Suzanne Napoleone Chicago: Can you believe it? An American pope, no less, and a Chicago-born one besides. Better yet, he's promised to lead by example and not executive orders. Bob Ory Whitestone: Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stated: 'It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.' Is lynching so different from deporting law-abiding people legally living in the United States with green cards and visas to horrific prisons in El Salvador and Venezuela? Can U.S. citizens with full constitutional rights feel safe if they criticize and push back against the denial of civil rights by the Trump administration? I don't believe it is unfair to say that the authoritarian, neo-nationalist, racist Trump movement supports a new form of lynching. If so, contrary to MLK's belief in the protection of law, the law may not protect legal residents and even American citizens from being 'lynched.' Michael J. Gorman Manhattan: The theme of the 2025 Met Gala was 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,' exploring the history of Black style, particularly focusing on the Black dandy and the role of clothing in shaping Black identities. This year, there were many fabulous contributions to the style. Rihanna's fabulous Marc Jacobs design adequately displayed her baby bump, along with a stylish and spectacular frock! Cynthia Erivo was dazzling in a shimmering jacket and ball skirt by Givenchy. Bad Bunny was true to form in blending dandyism with his Puerto Rican heritage in a Prada suit and pava hat. But with all the fabulous outfits dazzling the blue carpet, only one superstar brought that room to a hush! Legendary 81-year-old Diana Ross rolled in with an 18-foot train, carried up the stairs by eight men. Ross reminds the world: I am here, I am relevant and I am still beautiful! Michael DeSouza Malverne, L.I.: The Knicks have beaten the Celtics on their home court, and now it's time for middle-aged folks like me to start believing in a championship. We can start counting: 10 more wins, two against the chump-change Celtics. The #1 Eastern Conference Cavaliers are also down 0-2. From the Western Conference, the Nuggets and Warriors are shells of their past finals victories. This could be the magical run for the Knicks. Kosmas Patikoglou Bronx: I think the Knicks' series versus Detroit toughened them up. Since Boston swept New York during the regular season, it was assumed the Celtics would beat them with no problem, but it was also assumed the Pistons would cave, and they didn't. They fought. Also, remember that Jalen Brunson won two college championships with Villanova University. He knows what it's like to win. When he says, 'We keep fighting,' that rubs off on the rest of the players. I think Boston saw how the Knicks kept fighting, believing they could win, and got nervous not seeing their opponent wilt and quit during the fourth quarter. I've been a Knicks fan since 1969, with terrific and tragic memories. This series isn't over. It will be a dogfight and will probably stand out like the days of the 1970s. We Knicks fans anticipate a glorious run. Eric Cummings Jr. Bronx: The Knicks are unbelievable! So many media pundits had given them up for dead. They said if the Knicks won one game of this series, they would be lucky. This team reminded me of Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, et al. Thank you, Brunson and the rest, for bringing me laughter and joy in this hour of darkness in America. Pauline Graham Binder Huntington, L.I.: In his response to my letter, Voicer Gerard Kay stated: 'Systemic racism in America is a fact, and it's not against white people.' The facts do not support this claim. I grew up in the Black neighborhood of Springfield Gardens, Queens, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Black families I knew consisted of married couples with children. Those kids were the same as me. Their fathers were mostly blue-collar workers while the mothers were homemakers. Their parents expected them to work hard and do well in school. They expected their children to do better in life than they had done. There was a great deal of promise for the future. It was sad to see that promise dashed by the expansion of the welfare state in the 1960s. So much was lost. Tom Saracco Dover, Del.: The people of Palestine have been displaced since 1948, when Zionists in England decided that after suffering during World War II, a group of people would go to Palestine and replace the inhabitants. No one consulted them and millions were told to leave the land they were working for decades. After ethnically cleansing the territory, it was labeled Israel. An outdoor prison was created by the new colonizers, and they called it Gaza and the West Bank. No right of self-defense, since the invaders had the latest weapons and tanks to keep supremacy over anyone who wasn't a Zionist. Israel can't claim the right to protect itself when all it does is continue invading its neighbors and killing innocent women and children. Zionism is not Judaism! Chalky White
