Gun Violence in Homicide and Suicide: Psychological, Social, and Environmental Factors

Dear Colleagues,

Gun violence represents a significant public health issue in much of the world. In the US, approximately 33,000 individuals die each year from gun violence and approximately 70,000 sustain non-fatal firearm injuries. Risk of gun-related death varies across race, gender, region, and veteran status.  As compared to women, men are approximately at a seven times higher risk of dying from guns (both suicide and homicide). For gun-related homicide, Black men are at a particularly high risk. In fact, death by gun violence is the primary source of death for Black males age 15–34 and their rate death from guns is 10 times higher than similarly aged White males. Guns are used in the majority of suicides occurring in the US but rates of gun suicide are particularly high for US military veterans. Risk of gun-related death also varies greatly across the US with much higher risk observed in southern and western states. The purpose of this Special Issue is to examine the environmental, social, attitudinal, and psychological factors associated with risk for death by firearms.

Dr. Joseph Constans
Guest Editor

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• Gun violence
• homicide
• suicide
• mental health
• trauma