For Immediate Release

CDC releases preliminary conclusions on survey of research on efficacy of gun laws:
results inconclusive, more research needed

October 7, 2003

Some Media Reports Portray Survey Results Incorrectly

Baltimore, MD: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta released last Thursday the preliminary results of a survey of recent research on whether gun laws have proven effective in reducing violence (at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5214.pdf). The authors of the survey “found insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of any of the firearms laws or combinations of laws reviewed on violent outcomes. (Note that insufficient evidence to determine effectiveness should not be interpreted as evidence of ineffectiveness.)”

Leah Barrett, Executive Director of Ceasefire Maryland, the statewide coalition of groups and individuals devoted to reducing gun violence, said: “Whatever the wishful thinking of the gun lobby, the CDC survey concludes only that existing research is insufficient to prove anything, one way or the other, as to whether gun laws reduce violence. Sadly, some media outlets have given aid and comfort to those who would seek to arm every American, by reporting only half of the CDC conclusion, namely that there is no evidence that gun laws work. Such misreporting is damaging and reprehensible.”

Barrett cited a statement released Friday by the highly respected Center for Gun Policy and Research of the Bloomberg School of Public Health of Johns Hopkins University, which said: “The lack of sufficient evidence to prove that gun laws prevent violence does not mean that gun policies don’t work…This conclusion was based largely on the inadequate number of high-quality studies on gun laws.”

The Hopkins statement (at http://www.jhsph.edu/gunpolicy/Statement_CDC_report.pdf) also said: “The report underscores the importance of gun violence as a public health problem and the need for further scientific research to identify effective policies for prevention. For every public health intervention, there historically was a point at which there was insufficient evidence to scientifically prove its effectiveness. Nonetheless, those interventions were pursued, evaluated and refined, ultimately saving lives.”

Matt Fenton, Board Chair of CeaseFire Maryland, said: “The lack of conclusive evidence as to the efficacy of gun laws in America is partly due to the weakness of such laws in this country. Gun laws in America, which vary substantially from state to state, are generally very weak, relative to those of all other developed countries, which enjoy dramatically lower rates of gun violence than we do. It is no surprise that the survey was unable to find significant positive effects of our weak gun laws. This only points up the need for stronger gun laws.”

Barrett continued: “Whatever the inconclusive conclusions of the CDC survey, a cursory review of national and state gun laws and per capita rates of gun violence makes clear that legal systems that regulate access to guns, particularly handguns, often succeed in reducing gun violence. It is no coincidence that the United States, with the weakest gun laws of any country in the developed world, suffers from a rate of gun violence far higher than those of its fellows.”