When NRA members attend their convention, ER doctors see fewer patients with gun injuries, study say
By MELISSA HEALY
FEB 28, 2018 | 5:10 PM
For all the fiery rhetoric issued during annual meetings of the National Rifle Assn., new research suggests that life gets a bit more peaceful in hospital emergency departments when the country's most ardent gun-rights advocates attend their yearly confab.
The rate at which Americans head to ERs seeking treatment for gun injuries dips during the days that the NRA typically holds its annual convention compared with three- and four-day periods just before and after the meeting, a new study shows.
The size of the downturn in gun-related injuries was small, largely because firearms injuries account for a tiny fraction of the ills that bring patients to hospital emergency departments.
During the non-meeting days included in the study, the rate of ER visits for firearm injuries was 1.49 per 100,000 total visits. During the NRA conventions, which are typically held for three or four days in April or early May, that rate fell to 1.19 per 100,000.
More:
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-nra-convention-gun-injuries-20180228-story.html