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Community involvement in local firearms policy is advocated to be an important component of efforts to curtail violence. This report describes the first evaluation of one such effort, a gun buy-back program conducted in Seattle, WA, during the fall of 1992. The evaluation included (a) surveys of 500 participants and a description of the firearms exchanged; (b) monitoring police reports, trauma center admissions, and medical examiners' data to assess short-term effects on the frequency of firearm-related events; and (c) an assessment of community beliefs by random-digit dialing telephone interviews of 1,000 residents. Of the 1,172 firearms relinquished, 95 percent were handguns, 83 percent were operational, and 67 percent were owned for more than 5 years. Twenty-five percent were exchanged by women. The mean age of participants in the exchange program was 51 years. Females and persons in older age groups were more likely than males (83 percent versus 70 percent, P < 0.01) and minors (88 percent versus 55 percent, P < 0.05) to select safe disposal as motivation to participate. Comparing firearm-related events per month before and after the program, crimes and deaths increased, and injuries decreased, but the changes were not statistically significant. Telephone interviews revealed broad support for publicly funded gun buy-back programs even among households (61 percent) with firearms. Gun buy-back programs are a broadly supported means to decrease voluntarily the prevalence of handguns within a community, but their effect on decreasing violent crime and reducing firearm mortality is unknown.

Although the risk of serious head injury for horse riders is higher than for most other sports, few equestrians regularly wear protective headgear. This study indicates that riders are well informed about the need for helmets and that the main reason for nonuse is inadequate helmet design. In particular, riders perceive that existing helmets are uncomfortable, expensive, and inappropriate for some riding styles. Based on these findings, the authors developed strategies to increase usage and incorporated them into a successful program. These strategies included working with manufacturers to develop a low-cost, versatile helmet; efficiently distributing educational literature among the horse riding community; and encouraging individual clubs and equestrian organizations to mandate a helmet policy.

Injuries from falls are the main cause of trauma morbidity that leads to mortality among the elderly. One prevention strategy is to wear sturdy shoes. This study was undertaken to determine the attitudes towards and use of sturdy shoes among older adults. A random sample of persons ages 65 years and older was contacted by phone; 652 completed interviews. Sturdy shoes were worn by 26 percent of persons at the time of the call; more than two-thirds reported wearing such shoes at some time. Barriers to use of sturdy shoes included foot problems, difficulty putting them on, expense, style, and lack of knowledge about their importance. There was no difference in shoe use by the respondents' history of previous falls. The results provide information useful in the development of a program to increase the use of sturdy shoes by this population.