Announcing New State Firearms Database from E4A Grantee Michael Siegel, MD, MPH

Parent and child hold a gun

We’re excited to announce the release of a new publicly available, comprehensive, and interactive database of state firearm policies.
 
The database, which includes data on specific provisions of state-level gun policy over a 26-year period from 1991 to 2016, is the first step in a broader Evidence for Action funded research project led by Dr. Michael Siegel at the Boston University School of Public Health. Future research aims to delve more deeply into the relationship between social gun culture, gun ownership, firearm policy, and firearm violence.
 
Limited data on the effectiveness of different state firearm policies over time has made developing and implementing evidence-based state policies challenging for policymakers. This new database and the corresponding website offer researchers, advocacy groups, and decision makers data and tools to identify effective strategies for addressing firearm violence.

Learn more about the Database & Findings

 

 

Webinars

The State of Firearm Laws: Data for Building a Culture of Health around Gun Policy

 

Dr. Siegel shared preliminary insights resulting from the process of identifying and categorizing state firearm provisions; discussed the motivations behind doing this work and how the results and database may drive future policy change; described the various features and functionalities of the website; and answered participant questions. Mighty Fine from the American Public Health Association and Erin Hagan, E4A’s Deputy Director, joined Dr. Siegel for a conversation of the potential for the database and subsequent research to inform firearm policy and change social and cultural views of firearms.

The State Firearms Law Database: A Resource for Researchers Studying Firearm Policies

 

Dr. Siegel explained the methodology for developing the database and coding schematic; demonstrated how to download data and use the various functions of the website; and answered participant questions.

Twitter Interview
June 6, 2017 8am - 9am PDT/11am - 12pm EDT

Join a Twitter interview with Dr. Siegel to find out more about his motivations for doing this work, methodologies used to put together the database, initial findings, and more. Simply follow #E4AAsks. If you have a question you’d like us to ask Dr. Siegel, please tweet it @Evidence4Action or email EvidenceforAction@ucsf.edu.

Publications

The Changing Landscape of U.S. Gun Policy
Jane McClenathan, MPH, Molly Pahn, MPH, Michael Siegel, MD, MPH

This authors of this brief report outline the current firearm policy landscape in the U.S., highlight the need for a comprehensive, historical database on state firearm laws in order to examine their comparative effectiveness in reducing gun violence, offer insights into the methodologies used to create the database, and discuss initial findings and trends seen over the covered time period.

Firearm-Related Laws in All 50 US States, 1991-2016
Michael Siegel, MD, MPH, Molly Pahn, MPH, Ziming Xuan, ScD, MS, MA, Craig S. Ross, PhD, MBA, Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, MPH, Bindu Kalesan, PhD, MPH, MSc, Eric Fleegler, MD, MPH, and Kristin A. Goss, PhD, MPP
American Journal of Public Health
In this publication, the authors provide detailed methodology used to create the database, rationale for the why the database is needed and how it will be useful for future research, initial findings, and more.

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