From: [b--re--s] at [4ccvw74.scg.hac.com] (Mark Burens)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
Subject: Re: NEJM 3:1 increase in murder rate for gun owners?
Date: 8 Oct 93 14:39:27 GMT

In article <[thothCEIn 03 CK 5] at [netcom.com]> [t--o--h] at [netcom.com] (Ben Cox) writes:
>
...snip...
>
>Does anyone have any more info about this new NEJM study?
>
>Ben Cox
>[t--o--h] at [netcom.com]

Headline:  Study says home gun triples odds of killing.
  Rather than improving personal safety, guns kept in homes tripled the odds
that a murder will occur there - with a family member or friend most likely
the victim, according to a study released Wednesday.
  The study published in today's New England Journal of Medicine did not find
proof that guns provided protection, even in cases where the homes were broken
into or the victims resisted the assailant.
  "That is crucial because that is why people keep guns - they are under the
illusion they are protective" said Dr. Frederick P. Rivara, a contributor to
the study and director of the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center
in Seattle.
  After examining 420 murders in three urban counties of Washington, Ohio and
Tennessee, researchers found that homes were nearly three times more likely to
be the scene of murders than similar homes without guns.
  "Firearms appear to increase rather than decrease the risk of homicide in
the home," said Dr. Arthur Kellermann, lead author of the study, the latest
examining the link between guns and home safety.
  A spokesman for the National Rifle Association criticized the study as
misleading because it did not account for guns that are used successfully
in self-defense when no one is killed.
  "Guns used protectively are almost never used fatally," said Paul Blackman,
research coordinator for the NRA.
  Furthermore, Blackman said the study fails to determine whether owning a
gun is risky for the average person because it focused only on urban areas.
  In Los Angeles, a police spokesman said the department supports at least
one of the study's key findings.
  "Firearms in the home are far more likely to be used by someone in the
home, either intentionally or accidentially against someone else in the home
than they are in a self-defense by a person in the home against an armed
intruder," said Los Angeles police spokesman Lt. John Dunkin.
  Since Janurary, there have been 308 fatal shootings in Los Angeles homes,
including 27 homicides tied to domestic violence but just three justified
as self-defense, Dunkin said.
  The study's researchers reached thier conclusions by comparing the histories
of the homicide victims with those of people who live nearby and are the same
age range and sex.
  By comparison, households where the murders occurred were more likely to have
a member who had previous arrests, used illegal drugs and had drinking problems,the study found.
  "Previous domestic violence was also strongly and independently linked to
homicide in the home," said Kellermann, director of the Center for Injury
Control at Emory University in Atlanta.
  Even after accounting for gun ownership and other factors, the researchers
found that the risk of a murder occuring in a home increased by more than four
times if someone had been hit or hurt in a family fight.
  Rivara said the study suggests the need for stiffer gun laws.
  In an editorial that acconpanied the study, Dr. Jerome P. Kassirer said the
increase in Los Angeles gun sales after the 1992 riots proves people buy
firearms with the intent of protecting themselves.
  But the study "found no protective benefit of gun ownership in the home even
in homicide cases that followed forced entry," Kassirer said.
  Of the homicides syudied, the study found:
    *Only 3.6 percent of the killings were legally justified, including four
people shot by police and the rest by a household member or another person in
self-defense.
    *More than three-fourths of the victims were killed by their spouse, a
relative or someone else they knew.
    *In 5 percent of the daeths, the victim unsuccessfully attempted to use
a gun for self-defense.
    *Together, quarrels and romantic triangles accounted for the bulk of the
murders, 50.9 percent.
    *Handguns were used in 42.9 percent of the murders, ahead of knives and
sharp instruments, which were used in 26.4 percent of the deaths.
--Copied from Thursday's Daily News here in Los Angeles.--
Mark - [b--re--s] at [caesi.scg.hac.com]
I wonder if Sarah Brady and HCI sponsored this study.  Hmmm.