Start of US hunting season linked to increased firearm incidents, including violent crimes and suicide

Efforts to promote firearm safety at start of hunting season might help curb both hunting and non-hunting related firearm incidents, say researchers

BMJ Group

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The start of deer hunting season in the US - when firearms and ammunition are more available in certain states - is associated with increases in both hunting and non-hunting related firearm incidents, including violent crime and suicide, finds a study published by The BMJ today.

While increases in hunting related incidents are to be expected at this time, increases in non-hunting related firearm incidents “indicate the potential general effect of greater firearm availability on different types of firearm incidents,” say the researchers.

The results suggest that efforts to promote firearm safety at the beginning of hunting season could help reduce hunting and non-hunting related firearm incidents.

Increased rates of gun ownership have been associated with increased rates of firearm injuries, homicide, and suicide in the US. However, direct (causal) links between availability of firearms in the community and firearm incidents are difficult to study.

To obtain a clearer picture, the researchers measured rates of different firearm incidents during the opening of deer hunting season in 10 US states with the most hunting activity - Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin - when sales of firearms typically increase or guns are removed from secure storage areas.

Using the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), a publicly available database of gun violence incidents in the US, they compared the average weekly per capita rate of firearm incidents in a three week period around the opening of deer hunting season with the three week periods before and after the opening day (control periods) across these 10 states from 2016 to 2019, spanning 40 total state seasons.

Seasons typically began between late October and early December, with most occurring in early to mid November.

They defined nine firearm incident categories (hunting, suicide, involving alcohol or other substance, domestic violence, defensive use, home invasion or robbery, carry license related, child involved, and officer involved). 

Compared with control periods before and after the opening period, the start of the hunting season was associated with a 12% relative increase in the rate of firearm incidents overall (an absolute change from 1.34 to 1.50 incidents per 10 million population).

As expected, season opening was associated with a large (566%) increase in hunting incidents compared with control periods. 

However, there were also increases in non-hunting related incidents, including suicide (11%), incidents involving alcohol or other substances (88%), domestic violence (27%), defensive use (28%), home invasion or robbery (30%), and incidents related to firearm carry licenses (19%). 

There were no differences in incidents involving children or police officers.

The researchers acknowledge that these are observational findings, so no firm conclusions can be drawn about causality, and they can’t rule out the possibility that other unmeasured factors may have influenced their results.

Their analysis also relies on the assumption that the hunting season opener is not associated with other events that may increase availability of firearms across the states and years studied, and they note that results may not apply in states with other types of hunting seasons.

Nevertheless, they suggest that increased firearm availability around hunting season opening may lower barriers for firearms to be used in suicide attempts or against others, and might also be accompanied by increased interest in firearms and ammunition by non-hunters.

While further research is needed to establish precise possible causal pathways, they say “risk reduction efforts timed to coincide with hunting season onset might help curb hunting related firearm injuries and those related to violent crime and suicide.”

[Ends]

 

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Journal

The BMJ

DOI

10.1136/bmj-2024-082324 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Firearm availability and firearm incidents: quasi-experimental analysis using start of US hunting seasons

Article Publication Date

16-Apr-2025

COI Statement

All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at www.icmje.org/disclosure-of-interest/ and declare: no support from any organisation for the submitted work; no financial relationships with any organisations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous 3 years; and no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work. ABJ reports receiving (in the last 36 months) consulting fees unrelated to this work from Analysis Group. ABJ also reports receiving (in the last 36 months) income unrelated to this work from hosting the podcast Freakonomics, MD, from book rights to Doubleday Books, speaking fees from Harry Walker Agency and AAE, and authorship income from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Los Angeles Times. CMW reports receiving (in the last 36 months) consulting fees unrelated to this work from Alosa Health, Analysis Group, Atheneum, Berkshire Hathaway Home Companies, Chronius, FVC Health, GLG, Guidepoint, NuvoAir, Ogilvy, Philips, Simbo, Substack, Tell Health, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, and FVC Health, and income unrelated to this book from book rights to Doubleday Books and speaking fees from the Harry Walker Agency

 

Children face ‘lifelong psychological wounds’ from entrenched inequities made worse by pandemic, doctor warns

Taylor & Francis Group

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The COVID-19 pandemic deepened existing health disparities and thrust children into a mental health epidemic, altering the landscape of health and wellbeing for a generation.

This is the stark warning of Dr Jatinder Hayre in his critical analysis of ‘entrenched inequities’ in the UK, The Lost Generation of COVID-19.

He presents a breadth of research to set out how, after a prolonged period of cuts to UK public services, Britain’s struggle with COVID-19 has fundamentally reshaped its social, economic, and health landscape. Dr Hayre, who led the Independent SAGE report on COVID-19 and Health Inequality, outlines urgent policy shifts to redress the balance.

The author highlights the excessive impact on children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, in particular: “Surging anxiety, stunted social development, and heartbreaking loneliness have coalesced into a mental health epidemic that is likely to outlast the virus itself.

“Britain stands at a pivotal moment, teetering between a path of meaningful reform and a slide into deeper inequity. COVID-19 exposed and magnified the mental health vulnerabilities of our children. If unaddressed, these psychological wounds may define a generation: permanently blocking some children from realising their potential and cementing a landscape of enduring social inequality.”

While these disparities were not created by the pandemic, Dr Hayre explains how these issues were ‘thrust into sharper relief’ by the crisis. Dr Hayre explains how, after a decade of austerity, education provision was already under-funded with the most deprived areas facing the largest proportional losses.

So, he explains, when the pandemic arrived, ‘these existing fissures became chasms’; for example, children in lower income households lacking access to technology were unable to keep up with remote learning. Meanwhile, children in well-resourced families were able to adjust to remote learning, with private tutoring, parental oversight and dedicated study spaces.

Inequities in education have profound implications, as research unequivocally shows that adults with less schooling experience disproportionately higher rates of cardiovascular disease, obesity and mental health issues.

Besides the academic impact, school closures impacted children in other ways; children living in poverty no longer had access to free hot meals, while children from at-risk or violent households no longer had adult supervision and safeguarding.

Dy Hayre said: “For those already living in poverty, the combined effect of losing out on learning, school meals, and emotional support created a crisis of compounding vulnerabilities. Post-traumatic stress, heightened anxiety, and social isolation threated to derail development at a critical juncture, with long term implications for children’s longer term mental and physical health.”

Dr Hayre suggests a ‘hidden catastrophe’ of the pandemic is ‘the mental health crisis that has engulfed our youngest citizens’. He explains that mental health services were already stretched in 2019, with demand far outstripping supply, and the pandemic exacerbated this shortfall on multiple fronts.

Children, isolated from their peer groups and family, reported heightened rates of stress, depression, and suicidal ideation. Academic setbacks for those unable to afford laptops and tutors, thrust children into despair: “the mental anguish of being left out – of both education and social life – was sharp.”

Dr Hayre explains how children’s brains are susceptible to trauma, with prolonged stress rewiring emotional regulation, increasing the risk of lifetime anxiety and depression.

“For disadvantaged children, the mental health repercussions of repeated academic failure can solidify a cycle of poverty, poor health and reduced aspirations. This is how a mental health crisis transforms into a societal crisis, with ramifications for the very fabric of post-pandemic Britain,” he explains.

To address these disparities, Dr Hayre suggests urgent policy shifts to prioritise mental health, from education reform to welfare provision, with ring-fenced funding for child mental health services.  Besides the moral and social concerns of health inequity, the author points to the broader societal ramifications such as a shrinking workforce, economic stagnation and growing pressure on healthcare services.

Dr Hayre advocates for policy interventions and structural reforms anchored in equity and fairness, and warns: “If we fail to address the structural underpinnings of inequality, future crises will merely entrench them further. The question is not merely how to fix what is broken but how to imagine a society in which no group is systematically left behind.

“Failure to act decisively means condemning millions of children to carry the pandemics trauma well into adulthood, perpetuating cycles of poverty, ill health and despair.”

He argues for a system he calls ‘weighted universalism’, which amounts to universal access – with extra services weighted to the most disadvantaged areas, to front-load intervention where the need is higher.

For example, this includes free paediatric mental health services across the board, but with extra coverage in high poverty areas.

“By ensuring that every child is equipped, protected and empowered,” he explains, “we lay the cornerstone for a post pandemic Britain that not only recovers but thrives, forging a legacy of justice, progress, and unity for generations to come.”

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DOI

10.4324/9781003312529 

 

New research reveals socio-economic influences on how the body regulates eating

Durham University

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Published in the journal Food Quality and Preference, the research highlights how physiological signals, particularly those transmitted via the vagus nerve, interact with socio-economic factors to shape dietary behaviour. 

The study involved 96 students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds who participated in a chocolate tasting session.  

In a controlled laboratory setting, each participant was presented with a plate containing 70 milk chocolate pieces and invited to sample and rate them at their leisure.  

Researchers measured each student's heart rate variability (HRV) as a proxy for the activity of the vagus nerve – a part of the nervous system that regulates appetite and digestion. 

The study’s lead author, Professor Mario Weick of Durham University’s Department of Psychology, explained: “The findings suggest that while the vagus nerve plays a key role in transmitting signals between the gut and the brain, the extent to which these signals guide eating behaviour can vary with one’s socio-economic status.  

“Our research indicates that internal signals may be more closely aligned with eating behaviour in individuals from higher socio-economic backgrounds. 

“In contrast, those from lower socio-economic groups appear to show a weaker link between these physiological signals and their food consumption.” 

The research builds on longstanding theories regarding the impact of socio-economic factors on health and dietary habits.  

Traditionally, disparities in diet have been attributed to differences in food access and external factors.  

However, this study shifts the focus towards internal regulatory processes.  

The data revealed that participants from more advantaged backgrounds consumed more or less chocolate depending on their vagal tone, which can signal both hunger and satiety. 

Conversely, in individuals from less advantaged backgrounds, this physiological regulation was not as evident.  

Professor Milica Vasiljevic of Durham University, the study’s co-author added: “Our study does not support the idea that individuals from lower socio-economic groups eat more or are inherently more impulsive.  

“Rather, it highlights that the internal regulation of eating - how our bodies naturally signal when to eat and when to stop - may function differently depending on our socio-economic backgrounds.  

“This could have important implications for understanding broader health inequalities.” 

While the research focused specifically on chocolate consumption as a model for eating behaviour, the implications may extend to other types of food and dietary patterns.  

Future research is needed to explore whether similar patterns are observed across different populations and with other food categories. 

This work marks a significant step forward in disentangling the complex relationship between socio-economic status, physiological regulation, and dietary habits.  

By bringing attention to the role of internal bodily signals in shaping eating behaviour, the research offers new perspectives for developing public health strategies that address dietary inequalities and associated long-term health outcomes. 

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Journal

Food Quality and Preference

DOI

10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105491 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Article Title

Socio-economic status modulates the link between vagal tone and chocolate consumption

Article Publication Date

17-Apr-2025

 

Veterinary: UK dog owners prefer crossbreeds and imports to domestic pedigree breeds

BMC (BioMed Central)

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The UK pedigree dog population shrank by a yearly decline of 0.9% between 1990 and 2021, according to research published in Companion Animal Genetics and Health. The study highlights a rise in the populations of crossbreeds and imported pedigree dogs since 1990, but finds that only 13.7% of registered domestic pedigree dogs were used for breeding between 2005 and 2015.

There are more than 400 breeds of dogs globally, characterised by different appearances and behaviours. While the overall population of pet dogs in the UK has increased from 7.6 million in 2012 to 12 million in 2021, limited genetic diversity in pedigree (or purebred) dog populations has heightened the risk of inherited diseases, supported by accumulating evidence for breed-specific diseases. 

Joanna Ilska and colleagues analysed demographic data for 222 dog breeds from the Kennel Club’s electronic database, including breed, parentage, and country of origin. The ten most popular pedigree dog breeds represented 44% of the whole pedigree population, with Labrador Retrievers, French Bulldogs, and Cocker Spaniels being the most common. The researchers found that pedigree populations have decreased markedly since 2010. Yorkshire Terriers saw the largest decline in population of 10.6% from 1990 to 2021, while French Bulldogs saw the biggest increase of 22.1%. Meanwhile, trends for imported pedigree dogs rose sharply after 2010, with more than 3,000 dogs imported each year between 2011 and 2019. Ireland exported 11,577 dogs to the UK between 1990 and 2021, Russia exported 4,396 dogs, and Poland exported 3,905 dogs.

The authors suggest the pedigree population drop may be linked to negative attitudes towards dog breeding, compounded by the routine neutering of dogs — it is estimated that 44% of dogs in the UK are neutered. They note that the decline in the number of pedigree dogs may also reflect changing attitudes in favour of mixed and crossbred dogs, such as Cockapoos. Ilska and co-authors suggest management strategies for pedigree dogs should account for declining population sizes and be tailored to the circumstances of individual breeds, with the increased number of imported dogs used in breeding potentially benefiting the overall genetic diversity of dog populations.

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Journal

Companion Animal Health and Genetics

DOI

10.1186/s40575-025-00142-1 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Modern pedigree dogs in the United Kingdom Kennel Club: a journey through shifting population landscapes and demography

Article Publication Date

17-Apr-2025

 

Do “harm reduction” interventions for substance use lower or raise trust in government?

Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania

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“Harm reduction” interventions for substance use – measures like needle exchange programs and methadone distribution that aim to reduce the adverse effects of substance use, rather than punish or prevent it – have been repeatedly shown to lower the risk of overdoses, mortality, and drug-related crime. But in many communities in rural America, there is a stigma attached to these approaches. Consequently, policymakers and health professionals in some communities have hesitated to implement or recommend harm reduction measures, fearing backlash.

But does support for comprehensive drug policies, including harm reduction, actually erode the public’s trust in local government?

A team of psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) and the Social Action Lab aimed to answer this question empirically, by examining the relationship between harm reduction policies and citizens’ belief that their government is competent and has their best interests at heart. In a recently published paper, postdoctoral research associate Xi Liu of the Social Action Lab, research associate professor Man-Pui Sally Chan of the Annenberg School, and Penn PIK Professor Dolores Albarracín, director of APPC’s Communication Science Division and director of the Social Action Lab, report that trust in local government is positively associated with perceptions of governmental support for comprehensive drug policies. The paper is part of the Grid for the Reduction of Vulnerability project, which is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

“Comprehensive drug policies increase trust in local government: An analysis of authorities’ and residents’ perspectives in rural US Appalachian and Midwestern counties” begins by flipping a common premise on its head: instead of concerning itself with how trust in government influences policy support, it asks how policy choices might influence trust in government. The researchers surveyed authorities and residents in Appalachian and Midwestern counties of states vulnerable to the spread of HIV and hepatitis C, comparing leaders’ estimation of community trust in local government and residents’ actual trust in local government, and also analyzing trust as a function of perceived governmental support for comprehensive substance use policies – those that include harm reduction. They also conducted an experiment to test the effects of perceived government support for comprehensive drug policies on trust, and possible causes of those effects.

Data from the field surveys showed a clear positive association between the perception of governmental support for comprehensive drug policies and trust in the local government, both as assessed by the community authorities and as self-reported by the community residents.

In the experiment, participants were randomly assigned a role of either mayor or resident of a rural Appalachian town and given information about whether residents considered the local government to be supportive of harm reduction and substance use reduction policies. Then, they were asked to estimate the level of trust that community residents have in their local government. Once again, the researchers found evidence that support for comprehensive drug policies increases trust in local government, both among participants assigned to play authorities and those assigned to play residents, and regardless of political ideology. They also found evidence that this was because comprehensive drug policies enhanced perceptions of governmental effort, and engendered optimism about future improvement of drug-related issues.

“Our findings highlight the nuanced perceptions of comprehensive drug policy within Appalachian and Midwestern communities,” said Liu, the lead author. “Despite concerns that harm reduction policies might inadvertently promote drug use, residents trust local authorities more when the authorities promote these policies. These insights should alleviate the common fears of policymakers that prevent these life-saving policies from being implemented in their local communities.”

“Comprehensive drug policies increase trust in local government: an analysis of authorities’ and residents’ perspectives in rural US Appalachian and Midwestern counties” by Xi Liu, Sally Man-pui Chan, and Dolores Albarracín was published in the Harm Reduction Journal on March 17, 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-024-01148-x

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Journal

Harm Reduction Journal

DOI

10.1186/s12954-024-01148-x 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Comprehensive drug policies increase trust in local government: an analysis of authorities’ and residents’ perspectives in rural US Appalachian and Midwestern counties

 

Making desalination more eco-friendly: New membranes could help eliminate brine waste

Membranes packed with charge help overcome the current salinity limit, making it easier to crystallize ocean salts and harvest valuable minerals from desalination waste

University of Michigan

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Photos  //  Video

 

Desalination plants, a major and growing source of freshwater in dry regions, could produce less harmful waste using electricity and new membranes made at the University of Michigan.

The membranes could help desalination plants minimize or eliminate brine waste produced as a byproduct of turning seawater into drinking water. Today, liquid brine waste is stored in ponds until the water evaporates, leaving behind solid salt or a concentrated brine that can be further processed. But brine needs time to evaporate, providing ample opportunities to contaminate groundwater. 

 

Space is also an issue. For every liter of drinking water produced at the typical desalination plant, 1.5 liters of brine are produced. Over 37 billion gallons of brine waste is produced globally every day, according to a UN study. When space for evaporation ponds is lacking, desalination plants inject the brine underground or dump it into the ocean. Rising salt levels near desalination plants can harm marine ecosystems.

 

"There's a big push in the desalination industry for a better solution," said Jovan Kamcev, U-M assistant professor of chemical engineering and the corresponding author of the study published today in Nature Chemical Engineering. "Our technology could help desalination plants be more sustainable by reducing waste while using less energy."

 

To eliminate brine waste, desalination engineers would like to concentrate the salt such that it can be easily crystallized in industrial vats rather than ponds that can occupy over a hundred acres. The separated water could be used for drinking or agriculture, while the solid salt could then be harvested for useful products. Seawater not only contains sodium chloride—or table salt—but valuable metals such as lithium for batteries, magnesium for lightweight alloys and potassium for fertilizer.

 

Desalination plants can concentrate brines by heating and evaporating the water, which is very energy intensive, or with reverse osmosis, which only works at relatively low salinity. Electrodialysis is a promising alternative because it works at high salt concentrations and requires relatively little energy. The process uses electricity to concentrate salt, which exists in water as charged atoms and molecules called ions.

 

Here's how the process works. Water flows into many channels separated by membranes, and each membrane has the opposite electrical charge of its neighbors. The entire stream is flanked by a pair of electrodes. The positive salt ions move toward the negatively charged electrode, and are stopped by a positively charged membrane. Negative ions move toward the positive electrode, stopped by a negative membrane. This creates two types of channels—one that both positive and negative ions leave and another that the ions enter, resulting in streams of purified water and concentrated brine.

 

But, electrodialysis has its own salinity limits. As the salt concentrations rise, ions start to leak through electrodialysis membranes. While leak-resistant membranes exist on the market, they tend to transport ions too slowly, making the power requirements impractical for brines more than six times saltier than average seawater. 

 

The researchers overcome this limit by packing a record number of charged molecules into the membrane, increasing their ion-repelling power and their conductivity—meaning they can move more salt with less power. With their chemistry, the researchers can produce membranes that are ten times more conductive than relatively leak-proof membranes on the market today.

 

The dense charge ordinarily attracts a lot of water molecules, which limits how much charge can fit in conventional electrodialysis membranes. The membranes swell as they absorb water, and the charge is diluted. In the new membranes, connectors made of carbon prevent swelling by locking the charged molecules together.

 

The level of restriction can be changed to control the leakiness and the conductivity of the membranes. Allowing some level of leakiness can push the conductivity beyond today's commercially available membranes. The researchers hope the membrane's customizability will help it take off.

"Each membrane isn't fit for every purpose, but our study demonstrates a broad range of choices," said David Kitto, a postdoctoral fellow in chemical engineering and the study's first author. "Water is such an important resource, so it would be amazing to help to make desalination a sustainable solution to our global water crisis."

 

The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and relied on NSF-funded X-ray facilities at the University of Pennsylvania Materials Research Science and Engineering Center.

 

The team filed for patent protection with the assistance of U-M Innovation Partnerships.

 

Study: Fast and Selective Ion Transport in Ultrahigh Charge Density Membranes (DOI: 10.1038/s44286-025-00205-x)

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Journal

Nature Chemical Engineering

DOI

10.1038/s44286-025-00205-x