Green Jonathan, Damle Rachelle N, Kasper Rebecca E, Violano Pina, Manno Mariann, Nazarey Pradeep P, Aidlen Jeremy T, Hirsh Michael P
From the Department of Surgery (J.G., R.N.D.), University of Massachusetts Medical School; University of Massachusetts Medical School (R.E.K.), Worcester, Massachusetts; Injury Prevention, Community Outreach & Research Department (P.V.), Yale New Haven Children's Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut; Division of Pediatrics (M.M.), and Division of Pediatric Surgery (P.P.N., J.T.A., M.P.H.), University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts.
J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2017 Aug;83(2):284-288. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000001527.
Gun violence remains a leading cause of death in the United States. Community gun buyback programs provide an opportunity to dispose of extraneous firearms. The purpose of this study was to understand the demographics, motivation, child access to firearms, and household mental illness of buyback participants in hopes of improving the program's effectiveness.
A 2015 Injury Free Coalition for Kids gun buyback program which collaborated with local police departments was studied. We administered a 23-item questionnaire survey to gun buyback participants assessing demographic characteristics, motivation for relinquishing firearms, child firearm accessibility, and mental illness/domestic violence history.
A total of 186 individuals from Central/Western Massachusetts turned in 339 weapons. Participants received between US $25 and US $75 in gift cards dependent on what type of gun was turned in, with an average cost of $41/gun. A total of 109 (59%) participants completed the survey. Respondents were mostly white (99%), men (90%) and first-time participants in the program (85.2%). Among survey respondents, 54% turned in firearms "for safety reasons." Respondents reported no longer needing/wanting their weapons (47%) and approximately one in eight participants were concerned the firearm(s) were accessible to children. Most respondents (87%) felt the program encouraged neighborhood awareness of firearm safety. Three of every five participants reported that guns still remained in their homes; additionally, 21% where children could potentially access them and 14% with a history of mental illness/suicide/domestic violence in the home.
Gun buybacks can provide a low-cost means of removing unwanted firearms from the community. Most participants felt their homes were safer after turning in the firearm(s). In homes still possessing guns, emphasis on secure gun storage should continue, increasing the safety of children and families. The results of this survey also provided new insights into the association between mental illness/suicide and gun ownership.
Epidemiological, level III.
枪支暴力仍是美国主要的死亡原因之一。社区枪支回购计划为处理多余枪支提供了一个契机。本研究旨在了解回购参与者的人口统计学特征、动机、儿童接触枪支的情况以及家庭精神疾病状况，以期提高该计划的有效性。
对2015年与当地警察局合作开展的“儿童无伤害联盟”枪支回购计划进行研究。我们对枪支回购参与者进行了一项包含23个项目的问卷调查，评估人口统计学特征、上交枪支的动机、儿童获取枪支的可能性以及精神疾病/家庭暴力史。
来自马萨诸塞州中部/西部的186人上交了339件武器。参与者根据上交枪支的类型获得25美元至75美元不等的礼品卡，平均每支枪成本为41美元。共有109名（59%）参与者完成了调查。受访者大多为白人（99%）、男性（90%）且是该计划的首次参与者（85.2%）。在调查受访者中，54%“出于安全原因”上交枪支。受访者表示不再需要/想要他们的武器（47%），约八分之一的参与者担心儿童可以接触到枪支。大多数受访者（87%）认为该计划提高了社区对枪支安全的认识。五分之三的参与者表示家中仍有枪支；此外，21%的家庭中儿童有可能接触到枪支，14%的家庭有精神疾病/自杀/家庭暴力史。
枪支回购可以提供一种低成本的方式，从社区中清除多余的枪支。大多数参与者认为上交枪支后他们的家更安全了。在仍拥有枪支的家庭中，应继续强调安全存放枪支，以提高儿童和家庭的安全性。本次调查结果还为精神疾病/自杀与枪支拥有之间的关联提供了新的见解。
流行病学，三级。
