By Cayden Perry
In response to the surge in gun violence in recent years, the Arizona Public Health Association (AZPHA) released an analysis highlighting statistics and offering solutions to control this issue. This report was co-authored by an ASU alumna and member of the AIDE lab, Julia Jackman. The firearm mortality rate in Arizona was 42% higher than the U.S. rate during 1999-2020. Two-thirds (64%) of these were suicide-related, and nearly one-third were homicide-related deaths, with accidental and undetermined shootings making up the rest. These deaths were far from proportionate, with five times more men making up the data than women. However, the increase in the rate of school shootings tends to attract the most attention. In the first three years of this decade, Arizona has had more school shootings than any other decade before (6 of 20 total shootings since 1970). The accessibility of firearms has escalated arguments to violence, resulting in preventable fatal and non-fatal shootings and attempted suicides.
The analysis released by AZPHA identified multiple efforts from federal agencies such as the CDC and NIH and research organizations like RAND Corporation to propose laws and regulations in Arizona that would be most effective at dwindling these numbers. Arizona ranks 42nd out of 50 states for gun law strength (receiving a failing grade and 24 other states in 2023). The proposed legislation includes a Child Access Prevention law to prevent self-inflicted firearm injuries, requiring background checks and/or permits to purchase or carry a concealed firearm, and a Red Flag law that would allow someone to petition to temporarily restrict access to firearms for someone at risk of harming themselves or others. A common theme among these proposed laws is that they all focus on preventing reckless endangerment. It is not a matter of taking away one’s defense; it is a matter of public safety and addressing the problem (Jackman and Williams, 2023).
Cayden Perry is a member of the Summer 2023 SORT team. She is an ASU undergraduate student majoring in Forensic Science with a minor in Psychology.
For more information, visit these resources:
CDC Firearm Violence Prevention, June 14, 2023.
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/firearms/index.html Accessed July 1, 2023
Jackman, J., and Williams, J. AZPHA, 2023, Gun Violence in Arizona Data to Inform Prevention Policies, https://azpha.wildapricot.org/resources/Final%20Final%20-%2. Accessed 1 July 2023.
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