Journal of public health policy
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J Public Health Policy · Jan 1999
"I didn't know the gun was loaded": an examination of two safety devices that can reduce the risk of unintentional firearm injuries.
Some handguns contain built-in safety devices intended to prevent injuries caused by erroneously believing that a handgun is loaded. A loaded chamber indicator indicates the presence of ammunition in the gun; a magazine safety prevents the gun from being fired when the ammunition magazine is removed, even if one round remains in the firing chamber. In our patent search these devices date back to the turn of the century. ⋯ S. adults, 34.8% of poll respondents (incorrectly) thought that a firearm with its ammunition magazine removed could not be shot, or said that they did not know. Some of the 1100 unintentional gun deaths in the U. S. each year might be prevented if the prevalence of these and other safety devices is increased through legislation, litigation, or voluntary manufacturer action.
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J Public Health Policy · Jan 1999
Biography Historical ArticleCharles V. Chapin (1856-1941), "Dean of City Health Officers".
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J Public Health Policy · Jan 1998
ReviewUpdate on health care in Canada: what's right, what's wrong, what's left.
Americans wanting to understand health care in Canada must take into account three issues: first, what's right about the system, and always has been--it is an accessible system providing universal access to comprehensive medical care. What isn't wrong with the system, that is, the lies promulgated in the United States press about long waiting lines for care and Canadians pouring across the border for care unavailable in Canada, is included. The second issue is what's wrong, and has always been wrong, with the Canadian system: it's a private-practice, fee-for-service medical (some would say "sickness") care system in which the social determinants of health and primary prevention have never been appropriately funded. Finally, for several years there have been, and continue to be, real and ever-escalating threats to the Canadian system in the form of block-granting and serious cuts.