The article written by Fleegler et al. in the JAMA Internal Medicine Journal focuses on estimating the practical efficiency of the anti-firearms law passed in the United States. The work analyses the data related to the firearm deaths reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System. The researchers focus on the time period from 2007 to 2010. Such a choice is conditioned by the passed during established period legislations regarding firearms fatalities. The researchers examine the medical costs associated with firearm fatalities in the study. In order to provide an efficient analysis, the researchers focus on creating the legislative strength score approach for each state. Based on this, the authors of the article combine the firearms fatalities data with the legislative score of each state.
Additionally, the research calculates the statistical data regarding population characteristics such as race, ethnicity, sex, living conditions, education, employment, and others. Such data was collected through the USA Census. These characteristics were necessary to make the connection between the population and firearms ownership. The question which is being answered in the article is whether firearms legislation safeguards the citizens by minimizing the general rates of deaths.
The source appears to be credible due to the allocation of the data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System. This system combines governmental-approved data, which ensures its credibility. Moreover, JAMA Internal Medicine published the article, emphasizing the reliability and credibility of the conducted by authors’ research. In addition, researchers obtained empirical data from the WISQARS (Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System), which is also governmentally approved.