New Second Amendment standards and suicide prevention: need for cross-disciplinary research and collaboration
will be applied by courts, we argue that injury prevention researchers should collaborate with scholars in history, law and communication science to develop and defend policies that prevent firearm suicides. We outline four areas for interdisciplinary collaboration.First, developing a nuanced understanding of characteristics that enhance the effectiveness of existing policies can guide policymaking if courts take issue with some policy features but not others. Second, highlighting ways in which firearm policies link to historical suicide prevention efforts can demonstrate how modern policies are consistent with past practices. Meanwhile, exposing historical misunderstandings regarding mental health and suicide can explain differences between modern and historical policies. Third, educating the public about firearm suicide and the efficacy of policies to prevent suicide can increase support for these policies, especially if informed by dissemination research. Fourth, interdisciplinary researchers can work with stakeholders to develop policy solutions garnering broad support that are resilient to Second Amendment challenges. As Second Amendment law evolves, interdisciplinary research into suicide prevention policies, their historical context and strategies for disseminating this information is essential.
Authors
- Eric Ruben (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6828-3284)
- Gabriela Kattan Khazanov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5506-400X)
Institutions
- Southern Methodist University (US)
- Yeshiva University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Injury Prevention
- Published
- 2026-04-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1136/ip-2025-045947
- Primary Topic
- Gun Ownership and Violence Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00