Public Health Not Corporate Health

On June 23, 2022, the US Supreme Court ruled in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association (NYSPRA) v. Bruen that the New York State law requiring individuals to show proper cause to obtain a license to carry a concealed firearm in public places for purposes of self-defense was unconstitutional (https://bit.ly/3DBV4vF). The significance of this ruling from political and public health perspectives cannot be underestimated. [AJPH December 2022]  Download paper here

Against the backdrop of growing political partisanship among US legislators and in the US Supreme Court, the persistent lobbying by gun rights groups and the gun industry to loosen gun regulations and promote gun sales, as evidenced by the NYSPRA ruling, exemplifies how commercial determinants undermine health and well-being. The commercial interests of the gun lobby and the gun industry that limit research and drive laws and practices to sustain the availability and presence of guns in the United States cause immediate and horrific public health harms—mass shootings, mass murders, homicides, suicides, and unintentional gun-related injuries and deaths. The physical and emotional costs of gun-related injuries and deaths to survivors, their friends, and families are staggering. An evaluation funded by Everytown for Gun Safety concluded that gun violence costs Americans $557 billion annually—the bulk of which is attributed to quality-of-life costs for victims and their families ($489.1 billion) and medical costs ($2.8 billion) (https://bit.ly/3Ubhw4N).

Full paper here> 

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