Topic Overview
Firearms violence has been on the rise in New York State, creating an urgent need for preventive measures. Based on current research, the frequency of gun-related incidents in New York State, especially NYC, has grown tremendously during the Coronavirus disease pandemic (Donnelly et al., 2021; Hsu et al., 2021; Sutherland et al., 2021). In 2019, there was an 8.1% increase in gun violence victims in NYC compared to the previous year, and the yearly shooting victimization rate exceeded 26/100.000 in 2016 (Braga et al., 2021). Regarding prevention, national and state-specific public health initiatives argue for a combination of legislative efforts, health literacy promotion, and individual work with those sustaining injuries. The interventions incorporate firearm policy reforms, media campaigns to address the gun culture’s prevalence, and violence intervention programs in emergency departments and trauma care centers (Bottiani et al., 2021; Gondi et al., 2019). Other promising approaches to explore include precision policing, addressing race-based socioeconomic/health disparities, and examining the predictors of underage citizens’ access to guns at home or in other environments (Chalfin et al., 2021; Rosenberg, 2021). These injury prevention modalities might require further research to promote significant results.
Target Population
The paper will focus on the prevention of gun violence and injuries in individuals aged 12-17 living in New York State. In 2016, the prevalence of gun violence among adolescents aged 12-18 reached 18.7% of all firearms-related injuries (Bender et al., 2021). However, the problem of adolescent gun use received less attention than adults’ access to firearms (Bender et al., 2021; McGraw et al., 2022). The health objective is to reduce the risks of firearms injuries by disseminating information on promising violence prevention approaches focusing on adolescents. The behavioral objective involves evaluating the usefulness of gun violence prevention frameworks aimed at the population in question.
References
Bender, A. K., Koegler, E., Johnson, S. D., Murugan, V., & Wamser-Nanney, R. (2021). Guns and intimate partner violence among adolescents: A scoping review. Journal of Family Violence, 36(5), 605-617. Web.
Bottiani, J. H., Camacho, D. A., Lindstrom-Johnson, S., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2021). Annual research review: Youth firearm violence disparities in the United States and implications for prevention. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 62(5), 563-579. Web.
Braga, A. A., Brunson, R. K., Cook, P. J., Turchan, B., & Wade, B. (2021). Underground gun markets and the flow of illegal guns into the Bronx and Brooklyn: A mixed methods analysis.Journal of Urban Health, 98(5), 596-608. Web.
Chalfin, A., LaForest, M., & Kaplan, J. (2021). Can precision policing reduce gun violence? Evidence from “gang takedowns” in New York City. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 40(4), 1047-1082. Web.
Donnelly, M. R., Barie, P. S., Grigorian, A., Kuza, C. M., Schubl, S., de Virgilio, C., Lekawa, M., & Nahmias, J. (2021). New York State and the nation: Trends in firearm purchases and firearm violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.The American Surgeon, 87(5), 690-697. Web.
Gondi, S., Pomerantz, A. G., & Sacks, C. A. (2019). Extreme risk protection orders: An opportunity to improve gun violence prevention training. Academic Medicine, 94(11), 1649-1653. Web.
Hsu, Y. T., Chen, Y. W., Chang, D. C., Perez, N. P., Westfal, M. L., Hung, Y. C., Kelleher, K. M., Masiakos, P. T., & Sacks, C. A. (2021). Annual incidence of hospitalization for nonfatal firearm-related injuries in New York from 2005 to 2016.JAMA Network Open, 4(7), 1-10. Web.
McGraw, C., Jarvis, S., Carrick, M., Lieser, M., Madayag, R. M., Berg, G. M., Banton, K. L., Hamilton, D., & Bar-Or, D. (2022). Examining trends in gun violence injuries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic across six trauma centers. Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open, 7(1), 1-5. Web.
Rosenberg, M. (2021). Considerations for developing an agenda for gun violence prevention research.Annual Review of Public Health, 42, 23-41. Web.
Sutherland, M., McKenney, M., & Elkbuli, A. (2021). Gun violence during COVID-19 pandemic: Paradoxical trends in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Baltimore. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 39, 225-226. Web.