Overview
In this module you can learn about Veterans’ experiences with firearm injuries outside of military service by watching, listening or reading the personal stories they shared with us. Our research team interviewed 40 Veterans from across the United States. The Veterans we spoke to were invited to share the story of their injury, including the context of how it occurred, the resulting physical and emotional impacts, and how they have coped in the aftermath of their incident. Included in this module are accounts of firearm injuries that were unintentional, a consequence of interpersonal violence, or a result of intentional self-harm. We also heard from a few Veterans who did not sustain an injury themselves, but were witness to a firearm incident that left lasting trauma. Beyond sharing the stories of their specific incidents, many Veterans highlight how they utilize their firearms, their beliefs about firearm ownership, their thoughts on how best to prevent firearm injuries from occurring, and the lessons they have for other Veterans who have experienced a firearm injury outside of military service.
Veterans we spoke to represent a wide range of ages, eras of military service, and experiences both in the military and after their return to civilian life. Some had been deployed during their military service and some had not. All of the participants in this project agreed on the importance of sharing one’s story in order to help other Veterans impacted by a firearm injury. In the following video you can hear a few of the Veterans describe the reason they decided to participate in this project.
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This website was designed to share the full range of experiences and stories that Veterans shared with us. The 40 interviews we gathered were broken into 17 different topic summaries covering a range of experience. Firearms are an integral part of many Veterans' lives, and we attempted to portray all of the experiences and viewpoints that were conveyed to us. All of the Veterans we interviewed spoke of the importance of firearm safety. Please visit our resources page for more information about firearm injury prevention and supportive services available to Veterans and their families.
In the following video, Dr. Kathleen Carlson [research investigator with the VA Portland Healthcare System and professor of epidemiology at the Oregon Health and Science University – Portland State University School of Public Health], provides background information on this topic and offers ideas for how to explore the module content.
Dr. Kathleen Carlson describes the importance of understanding firearm injuries from Veteran’s perspectives
Dr. Kathleen Carlson describes the importance of understanding firearm injuries from Veteran’s perspectives
Hello, I’m Dr. Kathleen Carlson and I am a Core Investigator at the Portland VA Medical Center in Portland, Oregon and a Professor in the School of Public Health at Oregon Health & Science University. I conduct research on all kinds of injury prevention, and I am deeply involved in research efforts to both understand and prevent firearm-related injuries and deaths. I am so happy to welcome you to this project where Veterans talk about-- in their own words-- their experiences with firearms and how they enjoy them and use responsible practices. They also describe their experiences with injury, or in a few cases, death, caused by firearms and how that affected them physically and emotionally. They offer recommendations to other firearm owners and to healthcare providers who treat people with firearm injuries. Firearm owners, Veterans, and patients are communities with so much knowledge, and I am grateful to the many individuals who shared their thoughts and their personal stories as part of this project, to help move the field forward.
For those of you who may be Veterans, or who enjoy owning firearms, or who may have had a similar injury, I hope these personal stories help you feel seen and maybe inspire you to make efforts to prevent firearm-related injuries and deaths in your community, or your own home. For those of you who are clinicians and researchers, I hope these stories expand your understanding of how these types of injuries can happen and encourage you to think about how you too can contribute to preventing harm, while also honoring the rights and individuality of firearm owners, Veterans, and our patients.
You can start viewing the topics within this module by clicking 'Next Topic' above; this will take you to the first of the topic summaries listed on the lefthand side of your screen. Or, you can select a different starting point from the list. You can also view 'Veterans’ Profiles' from the tab above for information on the individual people we talked to. Please note that the sub-topics under ‘Types of Injuries and How They Occurred’ and ‘Impact of Firearm Injuries’ include graphic accounts of firearm injuries, their context, and resulting physical and emotional impacts.
This project is funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Rural Health, Veterans Rural Health Resource Center – Portland, and is part of a larger project focusing on firearm injury prevention among Veterans (Grant Award Number 15528RH). This project also received assistance from the Oregon Clinical & Translational Research Institute, which is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health (Grant Award Number UL1TR002369).