Diana Halloran, MD, Analyzes New Study

Pregnant people and those within one year postpartum are at an elevated risk of homicide—in fact, homicide is one of the leading causes of death among this group.¹⁴ Some states have enacted policy changes by passing laws banning the possession of firearms by people convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors or who are under domestic violence restraining orders.¹⁵ Occasionally this law is paired with a second law requiring people banned from possessing firearms, such as the groups above, to turn in their firearms to law enforcement or gun dealers.¹⁵

What The Research Shows

A recent study, published in October of 2021 in Health Affairs, assessed data from 2011–2019 from the National Center for Health Statistics on pregnancy-associated homicides throughout the United States to determine if the implementation of domestic violence related firearm possession bans and relinquishment laws had an effect on the rates of pregnancy-associated homicide.¹³

During 2010–2018, 16 states did not have the possession ban nor a relinquishment law in effect, while 23 states had at least one of these laws. Eleven states implemented either the possession ban (with or without a relinquishment law) or a relinquishment law to support an already present possession ban during the study period. States that both prohibited firearm possession and required firearm relinquishment by people convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor experienced 3.74 fewer deaths per 100,000 live births than would have been expected in the absence of either law. Additionally, the authors found that the presence of a relinquishment law in addition to a prohibition ban was associated with 1.¹⁷ fewer deaths per 100,000 live births compared to a prohibition ban alone.

Public Health, Health Care Provision, and Policy Making

This analysis and the state laws discussed suggest that the policy regarding prohibition and relinquishment laws are effective interventions in the reduction and prevention of pregnancy-associated homicide. However, the effectiveness of these laws are most apparent when these laws are coupled together. Some states passed prohibition laws without an associated enforcement or relinquishment strategy and these states showed no significant reduction in pregnancy—associated homicide. This is in line with previous research, which revealed that prohibiting firearms without a relinquishment strategy may be ineffective in reducing the risk of intimate partner homicide.^15,16 This study emphasizes the strong intersection between public health, health care provision, and policy making, and the importance of firearm-related research to inform safe and effective public policy.