Reducing firearm injuries: The role of local public health departments

Objective, The purpose of this study was to gather data regarding local pub lic health departments' involvement in activities to prevent firearm-relate d morbidity and mortality. Methods. A questionnaire was sent to local public health departments sewing cities with populations greater than or equal to 60,000 to assess their pe rceptions of the magnitude of the firearm injury problem in their jurisdict ions and the activities in which they were engaged to reduce firearm-relate d injuries. Results. Almost half (49.7%) of respondents said that their departments had not seriously thought about being involved in activities to reduce firearm -related injuries. and fewer than one in five (17.8%) reported that their d epartments were involved in such activities. Respondents identified three b arriers to involvement in activities to reduce firearm injuries: limited fi nancial resources (62.7% of respondents), lack of expertise (50.8%), and no t enough time (47%). Conclusions. Despite the extent of firearm injuries in the US, systematic c ollection of local data on firearm morbidity and mortality to help guide po licy development is lacking.