Correspondence

Firearm Injuries and Deaths

N Engl J Med 1996; 335:62-63July 4, 1996

Article

To the Editor:

In his letter to the Editor (Jan. 18 issue),1 Dr. Waters accuses the University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center of using funds from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) intended for the study of farm injuries to sponsor “Handgun Injuries: A Public Health Approach,” a conference held in Iowa City on January 29, 1992. Apparently, Dr. Waters does not appreciate the mission and scope of our center, nor does he understand the context and content of our symposium.

The University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center is 1 of 10 injury-control research centers funded by the CDC. Since its foundation in 1990, our center has carried out research and training aimed at the prevention not only of farm injuries but of all injuries in rural populations. Thus, we have sponsored research in the prevention of motor vehicle accidents, as well as research in the prevention of intentional injuries and domestic violence. Moreover, we have not limited our activities to research and training but have worked hard to disseminate the results of our research and that of other groups throughout the country both to the general public and to policy makers. The symposium that Dr. Waters objects to is one of a series of symposiums that we have sponsored during the past five years to disseminate research findings in the area of injury control.

Dr. Waters failed to describe the context of the symposium in question. On November 1, 1991, the epidemic of handgun violence that had been plaguing the United States struck the quiet university community of Iowa City. A disgruntled young physicist entered a meeting in the Physics Department and, using a .38-caliber handgun that he had purchased legally several weeks earlier, killed his dissertation advisor and another prominent astrophysicist. He also shot and killed a promising young postdoctoral student in astrophysics. He then walked to the office of the chairman of the Physics Department and shot and killed the chairman, another leading astrophysicist. He proceeded to the administrative offices of the university, where he killed a vice-president and injured a student receptionist in the vice-president's office, who was rendered quadriplegic. Finally, he killed himself.

In the wake of these tragic events, the Injury Prevention Research Center took the lead in organizing the symposium that offended Dr. Waters. However, we cannot claim all the credit for this successful, well-attended symposium. It was cosponsored by the University of Iowa, the University of Iowa Lecture Committee, and several other university and community organizations. Nine of the 10 speakers were researchers who summarized the results of the most recent research on firearm injuries in a format accessible to the general public. The presentations reviewed the national literature on intentional firearm injuries,2 unintentional firearm injuries,3 and the efficacy of gun laws,4 as well as the effects of firearm injuries in Iowa5 and other rural states.6 These presentations subsequently underwent peer review and were published as a special issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 7

Ms. Sarah Brady, of Handgun Control, was our after-lunch speaker. Because of her own experience with firearm violence, Ms. Brady spoke movingly and directly to a grieving community. Her talk played a major part in healing the hurt that afflicted our community after the November 1, 1991, shootings. Ms. Brady was sponsored by the University of Iowa Lecture Committee, a student-run group that brings stimulating and controversial figures to campus. Two conservative opponents of gun control were also invited to address the symposium but declined. Dr. Waters alleges that our center “diverted” funds from the study of farm injuries in order to sponsor this conference. In fact, our center has always included a public policy component to address the implications of injury-prevention research for public policy, and our contribution to the funding for this conference was taken from administrative and public policy components of our center, not from any of our research projects.

Craig Zwerling, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.
James A. Merchant, M.D., Dr.P.H.
University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center, Iowa City, IA 52242-5000

7 References

1. 1

   Waters WC IV. The attack on the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. N Engl J Med 1996;334:191-192
   Full Text | Web of Science | Medline

2. 2

   Kellermann AL. Preventing firearm injuries: a review of epidemiologic research. Am J Prev Med 1993;9:Suppl 3:12-15
   Web of Science

3. 3

   Lee RK, Harris MJ. Unintentional firearm injuries: the price of protection. Am J Prev Med 1993;9:Suppl 3:16-20
   Web of Science

4. 4

   Loftin C, McDowall D, Wiersema B. Evaluating effects of changes in gun laws. Am J Prev Med 1993;9:Suppl 3:39-43
   Web of Science

5. 5

   Zwerling C, Lynch CF, Schootman M. The epidemiology of firearm deaths in Iowa, 1980-1990. Am J Prev Med 1993;9:Suppl 3:21-25
   Web of Science | Medline

6. 6

   Gunderson P, Donner D, Nashold R, Salkowicz L, Sperry S, Wittman B. The epidemiology of suicide among farm residents or workers in five north-central states, 1980-1988. Am J Prev Med 1993;9:Suppl 3:26-32
   Web of Science

7. 7

   Zwerling C, McMillan D, eds. Firearm injuries: a public health approach. Am J Prev Med 1993;9:Suppl 3-Suppl 3