Spike in California Handgun Sales Linked to Increase in Firearms Injuries

"In the weeks following President Barack Obama’s re-election and the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012, Californians rushed to stock up on handguns.

Over the next year, firearm injuries in the state increased, according to a study released by the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program.

The study, the first to track the correlation between handgun purchases and firearm-related harm, showed that  gun injuries rose by 4 percent following a 55 percent increase in handgun sales.

The authors of the report, published in Injury Epidemiology, carefully hedged their findings to avoid drawing a direct cause-and-effect relationship. But they point out that, the number of guns purchased—36,142—above the normal pattern was associated with a greater risk of harm."

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