Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

The success of Australian firearms regulation: What it could mean for children

Christopher Johnson, MD
Policy
October 24, 2021
Share
Tweet
Share

An article in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2018 noted the sad milestone that firearms were causing 15% of all deaths in children and adolescents. Somewhat encouraging, a later study showed states with stricter firearm laws correlated with lower numbers of firearm deaths in children. The relationship was quite linear, as you can see below. The authors had specific criteria for weak vs. strong gun laws: if you’re interested in what they were specifically they’re in the link to the article.

Of course, there is a hot debate about what we could do about this sad statistic, specifically if we should pass gun laws aimed at reducing all firearm deaths, not just among children. There are some who insist nothing should be done, that this high death toll is somehow the price of freedom. I disagree. In this regard, the experience of Australia is instructive, an experience for which we now have 25 years to evaluate trends. Such an analysis was recently published in another New England Journal of Medicine article.

After a mass shooting in Tasmania in 1996, Australia’s state and territorial governments instituted an aggressive set of regulations. These included implementing or strengthening gun owner licensing, registration, safe-storage policies, and suicide prevention programs. A key part was banning certain classes of weapons, particularly “assault” type semiautomatic rifles with high-capacity magazines like the AR 15. For people who already owned these weapons, there was a buy-back program for the government to purchase these weapons from the owners and destroy them. What followed was dramatic. In the 20 years prior to the program, Australia had 11 mass shootings; in the 22 years that followed, there were none. There were additional improvements besides a decrease in mass shootings. Overall firearm deaths from suicides and homicides dropped to a third of what they were previously. This is shown in the graph below.

The drop in gun suicides was particularly striking. There was no evidence of replacement of suicide by gun with another method. Research in the USA has long shown the presence of a gun in the house is a strong risk factor for suicide. Globally, total gun ownership correlates highly with firearms deaths. Additionally, intimate partner violence by men against women increases 10-fold if there is a gun available. Of course, correlation is not necessarily causation, but I find the data quite convincing.

I can assure you I am not naive about firearms. I grew up in a small Minnesota town and was an avid hunter. I owned two shotguns and two rifles, one a small 0.22 caliber and one a high-powered 7 mm hunting rifle. I even had two pistols — a small 0.22 caliber and a powerful 0.357 magnum. I don’t have them anymore, but I am well acquainted with guns. For what it’s worth, I don’t think the AR 15 and similar are game hunting weapons; they are meant to kill people. After all, they were designed as military weapons. For those who insist they are wonderful for target shooting, find something else.

Overall the Australian experience, now spanning 25 years, indicates taking a public health approach to gun violence yields impressive results. I never want to see another child with a gunshot wound.

Christopher Johnson is a pediatric intensive care physician. He blogs at his self-titled site, Christopher Johnson, MD.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

4 money mistakes everyone makes

October 24, 2021 Kevin 0
…
Next

Physician suicide: Where are the leaders? [PODCAST]

October 24, 2021 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Pediatrics, Public Health & Policy

Post navigation

< Previous Post
4 money mistakes everyone makes
Next Post >
Physician suicide: Where are the leaders? [PODCAST]

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Christopher Johnson, MD

  • Do protocols and pathways improve care?

    Christopher Johnson, MD
  • Why are so many community hospitals transferring children to larger facilities?

    Christopher Johnson, MD
  • Everyone needs rudimentary statistical training

    Christopher Johnson, MD

Related Posts

  • We have an obligation to keep firearms out of the hands of children

    Shayla A. Sullivant, MD
  • Bullying immigrant children in the name of politics

    Linda Girgis, MD
  • A disturbing study about children and guns

    Christopher Johnson, MD
  • Why this physician divested from a firearms maker

    Cedric Dark, MD, MPH
  • Separating children at the border is a danger to their health

    Oscar J. Benavidez, MD
  • Do children need to exercise their Second Amendment rights?

    Jarret Patton, MD

More in Policy

  • The lab behind the lens: Equity begins with diagnosis

    Michael Misialek, MD
  • Conflicts of interest are eroding trust in U.S. health agencies

    Martha Rosenberg
  • When America sneezes, the world catches a cold: Trump’s freeze on HIV/AIDS funding

    Koketso Masenya
  • A surgeon’s late-night crisis reveals the cost confusion in health care

    Christine Ward, MD
  • The school cafeteria could save American medicine

    Scarlett Saitta
  • Native communities deserve better: the truth about Pine Ridge health care

    Kaitlin E. Kelly
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • The hidden cost of delaying back surgery

      Gbolahan Okubadejo, MD | Conditions
    • The dreaded question: Do you have boys or girls?

      Pamela Adelstein, MD | Physician
    • Rethinking patient payments: Why billing is the new frontline of patient care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • What happened to real care in health care?

      Christopher H. Foster, PhD, MPA | Policy
    • Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting

      American College of Physicians | Physician
    • The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam

      Anonymous | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Rediscovering the soul of medicine in the quiet of a Sunday morning

      Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD | Physician
    • An introduction to occupational and environmental medicine [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Does silence as a faculty retention strategy in academic medicine and health sciences work?

      Sylk Sotto, EdD, MPS, MBA | Conditions
    • Why personal responsibility is not enough in the fight against nicotine addiction

      Travis Douglass, MD | Conditions
    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 2 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • The hidden cost of delaying back surgery

      Gbolahan Okubadejo, MD | Conditions
    • The dreaded question: Do you have boys or girls?

      Pamela Adelstein, MD | Physician
    • Rethinking patient payments: Why billing is the new frontline of patient care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • What happened to real care in health care?

      Christopher H. Foster, PhD, MPA | Policy
    • Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting

      American College of Physicians | Physician
    • The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam

      Anonymous | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Rediscovering the soul of medicine in the quiet of a Sunday morning

      Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD | Physician
    • An introduction to occupational and environmental medicine [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Does silence as a faculty retention strategy in academic medicine and health sciences work?

      Sylk Sotto, EdD, MPS, MBA | Conditions
    • Why personal responsibility is not enough in the fight against nicotine addiction

      Travis Douglass, MD | Conditions
    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

The success of Australian firearms regulation: What it could mean for children
2 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...