Article/Study From JAMA

Feb. 27, 2001-- What do you think of this claim?: "A ban on gun sales, even to people convicted of a misdemeanor, reduces the incidence of violence."

Do you believe it? Doctors do!

They've just completed a major study with some sobering results. News Specialist Ed Yeates has more.

The study published in Tuesday's Journal of the American Medical Association actually shows a cause and effect relationship. When you deny the purchase of guns not only to felons but to those involved in aggressive misdemeanors, the rate of violence drops.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis used a change in the state law as a baseline for their study. As of 1991, California has denied handgun purchases to persons convicted of all violent misdemeanors.

Under this classification - that includes anyone who simply brandishes a firearm or hurts someone but doesn't cause a serious injury.

The study team evaluated arrest records, comparing data before and after the law was passed.

The results: Those with misdemeanor convictions who legally purchased handguns were 30% more likely to be arrested for a new violent crime.

Denying them that purchase reduced the risk.

GAREN WINTEMUTE, M.D., UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS: "WE THINK A 30 PERCENT REDUCTION IN RISK IS SIGNIFICANT. TO GIVE YOU SOME COMPARISONS-- IT'S GREATER FOR EXAMPLE THAN THE REDUCTION IN RISK OF A FATAL CRASH THAT WE SEE WITH AIRBAGS. IT'S COMPARABLE TO THE REDUCTION IN RISK THAT WE SEE WHEN WE GIVE CHOLESTEROL LOWERING DRUGS TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE HIGH CHOLESTEROL AND THEY'RE WORRIED ABOUT HEART ATTACKS."

For E-R doctors like Philip Bossart at the University of Utah, who takes care of the victims of handgun crimes, the JAMA study is simply a matter of public health - more ammunition for what appears to be a groundswell crusade in the medical community.

PHILIP BOSSART, M.D., CHIEF, DIV. OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, U OF U: "WE SEE THE HEALTH AND ECONOMIC BENEFIT OF DECREASING VIOLENCE IN GENERAL, AND IF CERTAIN GUN CONTROL MEASURES CAN HELP DO THAT, THEN WE'RE SUPPORTIVE."

"THE DETAILS OF OUR FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT THE REDUCED RATE OF GUN CRIME AND THE REDUCED RATE OF VIOLENT CRIME THAT WE SAW WAS THE DIRECT RESULT OF THE LAW AND NOT SOME OTHER FACTOR."

Some critics say California has gone too far in restricting handgun purchases, but listen to this! A new law in New Jersey denies the purchase of a handgun to those convicted of any crime.

Article/Study From JAMA