Higher gun ownership rates lead to more gun homicides of pregnant women, new study says

Homicide rates among pregnant women increase with the rate of firearm ownership, according to a state-by-state study published this week in the medical journal JAMA Network Open.

Researchers found the firearm homicide rate for pregnant women was 37% higher than the rate for nonpregnant women. Suspected perpetrators were most often male for both pregnant and nonpregnant women.

The study builds on previous research showing that women are more likely to be killed when they are pregnant: Homicide is a leading cause of maternal death, with firearms involved in a majority of killings, according to previous research.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital analyzed data from 7,063 recorded homicides of women between 2018 and 2021 across 37 states.

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