THE GLOBAL SCOURGE OF GUN VIOLENCE: A CALL FOR ACTION

Authors

  • Omair Khan Jadoon Department of Forensic Medicine, Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad-Pakistan
  • Salma Shazia Department of Forensic Medicine, Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad-Pakistan
  • Innayat Ullah Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad-Pakistan
  • Maimoona Haroon Women Medical Colleg Abbottabad, BBS Hospital Abbottabad-Pakistan
  • Adnan Alshifa Hospital, Islamabad-Pakistan
  • Fatima Inam Khyber Girls Medical College, Peshawar-Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55519/JAMC-04-14150

Keywords:

Firearms; Homicide; Gun violence

Abstract

Background: Firearm injuries are critically important in criminal proceedings and jurisprudence discussions. The aim of the current study was to reinforce the growing concern of firearm violence in society and authenticate findings through autopsy examinations in the casualty department of Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad. Method:

This retrospective observational study was conducted in the casualty department of Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad. Data was collected from registers spanning 1st September 2023 to 31st May 2024, after obtaining permission from the hospital administration. Result: Data from 56 cases were analyzed using SPSS 22. Among these, 50% suffered from firearm injuries, while the remaining 50% died due to sharp weapons, blunt weapons, poisoning, hanging, strangulation, road traffic accidents, electric shocks, or unknown causes. Of the total cases, 45 (80.4%) were male and 11 (19.6%) were female. The most affected age group was 20–40 years, comprising 36 (64.2%) cases. Furthermore, 42 (75%) cases were homicidal, 2 (3.6%) were suicidal, and 12 (21.4%) were accidental. Conclusion: The most common weapon used in homicidal deaths is firearms. Firearm violence should be prioritized as a critical issue in global health discussions.

Author Biography

Omair Khan Jadoon, Department of Forensic Medicine, Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad-Pakistan

 

References

1. Gun Violence. [Internet]. Amnesty International 2019. [cited 2024 Aug 1]. Available from: amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/arms-control/gun-violence

2. Wamser-Nanney R, Nanney JT, Conrad E, Constans JI. ”Childhood Trauma Exposure and Gun Violence Risk Factors among Victims of Gun Violence. Psychol Trauma 2019;11(1):99–106.

3. Grinshteyn E, Hemenway D. Violent death rates: the US compared with other high-income OECD countries, 2010. Am J Med 2016;129(3):266–73.

4. Gun Violence: Prediction, Prevention, and Policy, [Internet]. American psychological Association Washington DC 2013. [cited 2024 Aug 1]. Available from: https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/gun-violence-prevention

5. Warbick M, Bari I, Paichadze N, Hyder AA. Firearm violence: a neglected Global Health Issue. Glob Health 2021;17:1–5.

6. Richmond TS, Cheney R, Schwab CW. The global burden of non-conflict related firearm mortality. Injury Prev 2005;11(6):348–52.

7. Goldstick JE, Cunningham RM, Carter PM. Current causes of death in children and adolescents in the United States. N Engl J Med 2022;386(20):1955–6.

8. Dare AJ, Irving H, Guerrero-López CM, Watson LK, Kolpak P, Shigematsu LMR, et al. Geospatial, racial, and educational variation in firearm mortality in the USA, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia, 1990-2015: a comparative analysis of vital statistics data. Lancet Public Health 2019;4(6):e281–90.

9. Degli Esposti M, Pulcini CD, Fleegler EW, Weigend Vargas E, Vargas L, Yock-Corrales A, et al. Youth Firearm Mortality in the Americas From 2015 to 2022. JAMA Netw Open 2024;7(10):e2437395.

10. IHME GHDx. GDB results 2021. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. [Internet]. [cited 2024 Aug 1]. Available from: https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-results/

11. Degli Esposti M, Coll CVN, Murray J, Carter PM, Goldstick JE. The leading causes of death in children and adolescents in Brazil, 2000-2020. Am J Prev Med 2023;65(4):716–20.

12. Castilla Peón MF, Rendón PL, Gonzalez-Garcia N. Homicide is the leading cause of death in children and adolescents in Mexico. [Internet]. SSRN. Preprint posted online October 16, 2023. [cited 2024 Aug 1]. Available from: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4601306

13. Goldstick JE, Cunningham RM, Carter PM. Current causes of death in children and adolescents in the United States. N Engl J Med. 2022;386(20):1955–6.

14. Richmond T, Foman M. Firearm Violence: A Global Priority for Nursing Science. J Nurs Scholarsh 2019;51(3):229–40.

15. Branas CC Han S, Wiebe DJ. Alcohol use and firearm vio-lence. Epidemiol Rev 2016;38(1):32–45.

16. Hussain Z, Shah MM, Afridi HK, Arif M. Homicidal deaths by firearms in Peshawar: an autopsy study. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad 2006;18(1):44–7.

17. Hussain S, Mustehsan ZH, Syed S, Zeb M, Omer J, Riaz R. Pattern and demographic of firearm deaths in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, an autopsy based study. Pak Armed forces Med J 2020;70(5):1413–8.

18. McEvoy C, Hideg G. Global Violent Deaths 2017: Time to Decide. [Internet]. [cited 2024 Aug 1]. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327981120_Global_Violent_Deaths_2017_Time_to_Decide

19. Allen JJ, Anderson CA, Bushman BJ. The general aggression model. Curr Opin Psychol 2018;19:75–80.

20. Malik B, Ahmed MS, Hussain MA, Anwar HN, Khan S, Yousaf M. A review of firearm deaths in female victims – an experience of Forensic Medicine Department in Pakistan. J Med Sci 2020;28(2):121–24.

Downloads

Published

2024-11-25

How to Cite

Jadoon, O. K., Salma Shazia, Innayat Ullah, Maimoona Haroon, Adnan, & Fatima Inam. (2024). THE GLOBAL SCOURGE OF GUN VIOLENCE: A CALL FOR ACTION. Journal of Ayub Medical College Abbottabad, 36(4), 799–802. https://doi.org/10.55519/JAMC-04-14150

Issue

Vol. 36 No. 4 (2024): JOURNAL OF AYUB MEDICAL COLLEGE ABBOTTABAD

Section

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Omair Khan Jadoon, Salma Shazia, Innayat Ullah, Maimoona Haroon, Adnan, Fatima Inam

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Journal of Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad is an OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL which means that all content is FREELY available without charge to all users whether registered with the journal or not. The work published by J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad is licensed and distributed under the creative commons License  CC BY ND Attribution-NoDerivs. Material printed in this journal is OPEN to access, and are FREE for use in academic and research work with proper citation. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad accepts only original material for publication with the understanding that except for abstracts, no part of the data has been published or will be submitted for publication elsewhere before appearing in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. The Editorial Board of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of material printed in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. However, conclusions and statements expressed are views of the authors and do not reflect the opinion/policy of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad or the Editorial Board.

USERS are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

AUTHORS retain the rights of free downloading/unlimited e-print of full text and sharing/disseminating the article without any restriction, by any means including twitter, scholarly collaboration networks such as ResearchGate, Academia.eu, and social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and any other professional or academic networking site.