A public health approach to regulating firearms as consumer products

It is indisputable that firearms are consumer products. In the United States, there are an estimated 192 million firearms in private hands.1 Broadly speaking, firearms can be divided into two categories: handguns and long guns. About sixty-five million of all civilian-owned firearms are handguns.2 More than one in three households have at least one firearm, and about one in four U.S. adults personally own one.3 In rural areas and certain regions of the country, ownership rates are still higher. Like other consumer products, firearms are manufactured by foreign and domestic corporations, then sold to consumers through a system of distributors and dealers. In 1998, about 1.2 million handguns were produced in the United States; 532,000 more were imported.4 Also like most consumer products, firearms are advertised in both specialized publications and mainstream media.5