After a Mass Shooting, a Surge in Accidental Deaths

In the months following the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut, where 20 small children were killed along with six adults, gun purchases rose—a common pattern as firearms enthusiasts afraid of new laws or interested in self-defense rush to stores. Gun manufacturer stock prices tend to rise, too.

But a new study has found another potential knock-on effect from such tragedies: an increase in accidental deaths resulting from the attention paid to guns in their aftermath. Media reports and public debate over the role of guns in America seems to cause more people to handle, and discharge, firearms, according to “Firearms and Accidental Deaths: Evidence From the Aftermath of the Sandy Hook School Shooting” published Thursday in Science.