ArticleThe journal of trauma and acute care surgery2019
Effect of mass shootings on gun sales-A 20-year perspective.
Article in The journal of trauma and acute care surgery, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- How advocacy groups on Twitter and media coverage can drive US firearm acquisition: A causal study.PNAS nexus · 2025Article
- Effecting change in the aftermath of school shootings.Science advances · 2023Review
- Article
- Gun shows and universal background check laws across state lines.Preventive medicine · 2022Article
- Suicide versus homicide firearm injury patterns on trauma systems in a study of the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB).Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Suicide prevention and mood disorders: Self-exclusion agreements for firearms as a suicide prevention strategy.Asia-Pacific psychiatry : official journal of the Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists · 2021Article
- K-12 School Shootings: Implications for Policy, Prevention, and Child Well-Being.Pediatric clinics of North America · 2021Review
- Self-Protection versus Fear of Stricter Firearm Regulations: Examining the Drivers of Firearm Acquisitions in the Aftermath of a Mass Shooting.Patterns (New York, N.Y.) · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundGranular data on gun sales has been historically difficult to obtain. In 2016, California (CA) made monthly data from 1996 to 2015 publically available. Control charts are a method to analyze how a process changes over time in response to nonroutine events. We utilized this technique to study the impact of US mass shootings on CA gun sales.
methodsMonthly gun sales were provided by the CA Department of Justice and monthly fatalities from the CDC Wonder Death Certificate Registry. Mass shooting events were obtained from after-action reports, news media, and court proceedings. Time-ordered data were analyzed with control charts with 95% confidence intervals (upper control limit, lower control limit) using QiMacros.
resultsIndividual gun sales of 9,917,811 occurred in CA with a median monthly rate of 41,324 (range, 20,057-132,903). A median of 263 people lost their lives monthly from firearms (124 homicides, 128 suicides), totaling 53,975 fatalities from 1999 to 2015. Fifteen of 21 current deadliest mass shootings occurred during this study period with 40% from 2012 to 2015. Also, 36 school shootings occurred during the study (mean, 5 deaths; range, 0-33; 6 injuries; range, 0-23) with 31% in 2012 to 2015 at rate of 3 events/year versus 1.4 events/year in the 17 prior years (p < 0.05). Sales were generally consistent from 1996 to 2011 (except post-Columbine, Col). Starting in 2011, sales exceeded the 95% predicted upper control limit every single month. Before October 2011, there was no statistically significant sustained effect of mass shootings on sales (except Col); however, since a statistically significant proportional spike in sales occurred in the months immediately following every single deadliest mass shooting event. Every year since 2012, CA has strengthened gun laws in response to mass shootings yet sales have risen immediately preceding enactment of these laws each January.
conclusionGun sales are more frequent since 2012, with an additional increase following both mass shootings and legislative changes enacted in response to these shootings. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Epidemiology, level III.
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