Public health: a successful paradigm applied to firearm injuries.

Firearm injuries are a major contributor to injury mortality and morbidity in the United States and account for substantial loss of productive years of life. A public health approach to injury reduction, and particularly firearm injury prevention, has promise because it emphasizes prevention rather than reaction, it utilizes a scientific approach to policies and programs, it brings an integrative, multi-disciplinary approach to the effort, and it emphasizes the role of communities in solving health problems. The new Firearm Injury Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin exemplifies the public health approach to this vexing problem.