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Accidental Shootings: Many Deaths and Injuries Caused by Firearms Could Be Prevented

PEMD-91-9 Published: Mar 19, 1991. Publicly Released: Apr 17, 1991.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the extent to which certain safety devices could prevent firearms-related deaths, focusing on the proportion of accidental deaths that might be averted by modifying the firearms with an automatic engaging childproof safety device or with a device that indicates whether a gun is loaded.

Recommendations

Matter for Congressional Consideration

Matter Status Comments
Congress should amend the Consumer Product Safety Act to clearly establish that the Consumer Product Safety Commission can regulate the risk of injury associated with firearms.
Closed – Not Implemented
Legislation was introduced to enact the recommendation in the last Congress, but it has not been reintroduced, and there are no current plans to do so.

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Topics

Accident preventionAccidentsComparative analysisFirearmsHealth hazardsProduct safetyPublic health legislationSafety regulationSafety standardsDeaths