Is gun violence a men’s health issue?
In 2016, more than 38,000 people in the United States died from gunshot wounds. Most of them—just under 33,000—were men. Compare that to a well known men’s health issue: prostate cancer. The American Cancer Society forecasts 31,620 deaths from prostate cancer in 2019, and a total of more than 174,000 new cases. Because of these risks, men are routinely screened for prostate cancer markers and clinical signs. And the result is that, around the globe, the incidence and mortality rate of prostate cancer has dropped substantially.
This is a great example of how medical science can work in the public interest. The problem was identified, quantified, characterized, and addressed through a mix of prevention, early detection, and treatment. And, while great progress has been made, research continues, because 31,000 deaths is still too many. There’s still progress to be made.
Why, then, is gun violence not the subject of intense public health research? And why is gun violence not seen as a men’s health issue, despite the fact that most victims are men? Are we, as a nation, really OK with losing 33,000 men a year to guns? How did we get here?
The answer isn’t simple, but one thing is clear: we need to learn more about this crisis. But since 1996, the Dickey Amendment has effectively curtailed use of federal funding for research into injuries and deaths associated with firearms. While the language of the amendment specified that CDC couldn’t use federal funds to promote gun control, the amendment has had a chilling effect on research into firearms violence. The Dickey Amendment was modified in 2018, and now explicitly permits CDC to study gun violence; to date this has not led to a substantial research undertaking at CDC.
The need for data-driven policy
Since gun violence disproportionately affects men, we should be advocating for serious research into the causes and outcomes of gun violence in the US. But, for the most part, we aren’t. The politics surrounding this issue have brought us to a state of paralysis. So it’s time to reframe the debate. Instead of a political fight, let’s have a public health discussion. Impartial research into this epidemic of gun violence is long overdue. We need to understand the specific conditions that lead to gun violence, and then address those causes head on. We need to do better.
